More Room for Multifamily in Denver: Here's How.

Denver has a recipe for accelerated mixed-use and multifamily development. It's why we're excited to present Bisnow's 3rd Annual Denver Multifamily event at the Sheraton Denver Downtown on July 23 at 7:30am. Well, what's in this multifamily recipe? Here's a small taste.

Legacy Partners senior managing director Spencer Stuart Jr. (right, in the Italian Alps), who will be a speaker, tells us the future of Denver multifamily is bright because the best markets for appreciation aren't usually the best markets for high current returns. "Coastal cities like San Francisco and New York should provide the best long-term appreciation," he says. "But the best current yields are found in the Midwest and Mid-South. Denver provides excellent opportunities for both appreciation and good current returns."

Perry Rose managing partner Chuck Perry, who will also be a speaker, tells us the challenge for Denver multifamly is creating communities that can adapt to change, and make people want to live, play and work for decades if not generations. High-quality amenities are important toward that goal, but so is an engaging public realm: "These communities will focus on healthy living, locally grown food and active lifestyles."

Chuck adds that successful mixed-use communities in the future will combine mixed-income multifamily housing with market rate apartments, affordable apartments and condominiums (such as Rose's Via Verde development in the Bronx). They'll be connected to transit and their surrounding neighborhoods by pedestrian, bike and open space networks. Finally, water conservation (less bluegrass and more local landscape materials) and renewable energy (solar and wind) will be important features.

Finally, Savills Studley’s chief economist, Heidi Learner (snapped with colleague Steve Coutts), tells us that demographics are definitely on the side of future growth for metro Denver apartments. "Even when the outright number of jobs declined during the 2007-2009 recession, the population here continued to grow—suggesting that young people 'made it work'—even if they weren’t part of the traditional office-using job market," she says. Also, the unemployment rate of those aged 25-34 across Colorado rose—but not nearly as much as for the same age group nationwide.” Sign up here for our July 23 Denver Multifamily event.