Why Denver Has Cutting-Edge Office Space

In the race to reinvent office space, Denver's a leader. That's because companies and their young talent are coming here in droves, and they want the best kinds of new office space, according to the speakers at our recent Future of Denver Office event at the Ritz-Carlton Denver.

Amenities are still a key consideration, our speakers noted—taking aspects of a building's space and giving them over to the enjoyment and enrichment of tenants. But now amenities need to go beyond the status quo, to become lifestyle amenities.

Office space has to facilitate the work/life balance, make possible the ability to work in different modalities, and provide opportunities for employee growth.

When new spaces are being built, that's the time for a company to step back and decide what it needs and what's best for its culture, the speakers explained. That's always been true in some ways, but the process has to be different now.

Deciding what's important in office space isn't a top-down decision anymore. It's one for the people who work there, and astute companies know this.

Shown are Galvanize Inc regional director Emilie Kinter and CBRE senior associate Carson Erard.

Tech is an increasingly important industry in Denver, and office space is reflecting that, our panelists noted. But in a deeper sense, all major industries are now tech—the need to keep and use data is just about universal. So any office space that can't handle the increasing need for data and power risks being obsolete, no matter where it is.

Above are Gensler project manager Adam Ambro and Hines associate Chris Crawford.

The future of office space is tied to a large extent to the growing transit system in Denver—but that's not an absolute. Driving to work and being able to park there are still very important.

While Downtown space in particular will be judged more in the future by its transit connections, and transit will be a good thing to have elsewhere, non-transit-oriented office still has a future, as long as people want to drive.

Here's Zeppelin Development project manager Chris Woldum and Transwestern VP Preston Dunn, who moderated.