Mayor Mike Johnston touted a celebratory message about the state of downtown Denver at the Downtown Denver Partnership’s annual meeting Tuesday.
During his election campaign, Johnston pledged to make downtown the most vibrant city center in the country. He aimed to invest millions of dollars into the area, as well as ending street homelessness in downtown.
On Tuesday, in front of a crowd of leaders and employees of various businesses operating in downtown, like DaVita and Southwest, Johnston said the city’s made considerable progress on that goal.
“If you think about where we were a year ago when we were talking about the visions that [Kourtny Garrett, President of Downtown Denver Partnership] and the Downtown Denver Partnership had for the city and what we had for the city, it is a dramatic change from where we were a year ago,” Johnston said.
Johnston said efforts to curb crime and homelessness in the area have worked. Denver’s point-in-time data shows less people are sleeping outdoors — though homelessness in the broader Denver area has increased this year.
The mayor spoke at Skyline Park, overlooking a newly reopened strip of 16th Street Mall, which has been under construction for over two years and is slated for completion next year. He said tenants on reopened blocks are reporting increases in revenue and that he expects empty storefronts to be filled up in the near future.
“We have had three times the number of leasing requests and inquiries over the last three months as we have over the last three years combined,” he said. “That is the sign of a downtown that is making a comeback.”
Voters have an opportunity this November to decide whether to invest more money into downtown. Denver Ballot Issue 6A, which Johnston endorsed Tuesday, would raise the city’s debt by $847 million to invest in the Denver Downtown Development Authority, to be paid for by existing taxes on downtown.
The authority has been at the center of Denver’s efforts to revitalize downtown. Money from the program has mostly been used for the area surrounding Union Station, but Johnston now wants to use the money for a greater area.
During his brief speech, Johnston doubled down on his promise that he would transform downtown Denver into a hot destination.
“If you own property in downtown Denver, keep it. If you don't own downtown Denver property, you should buy it. If you have office space in downtown, you should keep it,” Johnston told the crowd. “If you don't, you should get some, because what you're going to find is three years from now, but three years from now when every other city in the country is traveling to Denver to say, you have to go see what Denver did with their downtown.”
Do you buy the idea of a downtown comeback? Let us know at [email protected].
