After 17 years heading the Downtown Denver Partnership, Tami Door will resign in November.
"Serving as president & CEO of this world-class organization in this world-class city has been a distinct privilege," Door said in a statement.
In an interview, Door said she isn't sure what she will do next, but it will relate to what she's done for the past 17 years.
"City building and place-making and business and community development -- those are at my core, not just professionally, but as a person," Door said. "So I'm going to take the next couple of months and really look at how I intertwine all these experiences and the things that I really cared about, and translate them into the next phase of my career."
Under Door, the businesses association has played a major role in developing the Central Business District and in shaping policy downtown. Downtown Denver has seen $13 billion of investments since 2004, according to the Partnership, and has founded huge events like Denver Startup Week.
The Partnership has advocated (and helped pay for) more bikeways, thrown its weight behind the 5280 Loop, and reimagined the 16th Street Mall as a place where people should linger more instead of just pass through.
Door's organization is also a political player that often allies with the Hancock administration, and has been part of controversial policy decisions.
Campaign finance records show that the organization helped fund the campaign to keep the urban camping ban, which makes it illegal for unhoused people to sleep in public, in 2019. Last year, Door said she supported the sales tax to address homelessness but DDP did not contribute to that campaign, records show. The Partnership also led the charge to hire private security guards for the 16th Street Mall, which some saw as a safety measure and others as a way to filter low-income people out.
The rumor mill has decided that Door, whose organization has often allied with the Hancock administration, will run for mayor.
Door would not rule out working in the public sector but said her focus right now is transitioning out of an intense role and resetting.
"I spent a lot of my career, obviously, on the private side and being a conduit for public clients," Door said. "And that's a really strong niche and a place that I personally find a lot of value in," Door said. "My focus is very much focused on city-building, placemaking, community-building, business-building, and I'm going to spend the next couple of months figuring out where my experience and my passions will best be used going forward."
Hancock said Door's "leadership has been integral in the growth of our downtown."
The Partnership's board has started a national search for Door's replacement.
