He Has a Plan to Rescue Denver From Its Empty Offices

Downtown Denver's office glut has a new would-be savior. Writing for the Wall Street Journal, Peter Grant profiles developer Asher Luzzatto, who has bought four office buildings in the city's hollowed-out core—including the 785,000-square-foot Energy Center—for a relative pittance, then mapped out a plan to turn them into roughly 1,100 apartments and a mini-neighborhood of bookstores, galleries, child care, and bars.

His efforts are part of a broader national shift: Office-to-apartment projects in the US jumped 28% in a year to more than 90,000 units in the pipeline, per RentCafe. That's in part because the math is finally not so unfavorable, thanks to cratering building prices and a greater availability of city-supplied subsidies. Denver was a very intentional choice: Nearly 40% of its central business district's office space sits vacant, the highest rate among America's top 50 cities.

Luzzatto's four buildings, which at one time were valued at $275 million, cost him $8.45 million. The Downtown Denver Development Authority is providing a $63 million loan. But he still faces high construction costs, asbestos removal, strict building codes, and a basic question: Will people actually choose to live in a downtown many have already abandoned? For more on his gambit, read the full story.