DENVER RISING
Trammell Crow Company ' s The Russel in Arvada ( Erin Shumaker )
Recently the Metro Denver apartment market surpassed 400,000 apartment homes ! This landmark gives us the opportunity to take a look back at the history of Denver ’ s housing development , a look forward to what ’ s next , a close look at who ’ s building in Denver , and an evaluation of the market as a whole .
Denver was founded 165 years ago by a group of gold miners in 1858 . From 1870 to 1890 , after gold had dried up in Cherry Creek and the South Platte rivers , the city diversified itself with other trades and manufacturing . By the latter part of the century the population hit six figures ; and rental housing was born . From mainly duplexes and rowhouses , which were built for the city ’ s working class , Denver now had a rental housing industry .
The first dedicated apartment buildings were built in the 1890s , and by 1905 there were 42 different apartment buildings . In 1906 the first National Western Stock Show was hosted in Denver , and nearby ranching continued to drive the economy . By the 1940s the number of apartment buildings had increased to over 900 communities and an estimated 35,000 units in the Denver area ; but it would take until the early 1970s to hit 100,000 apartment units ( approximately 80 years to build the first 100,000 apartment homes ).
The early 1970s saw a boom and it only took 15 more years to build the next 100,000 . In 1986 the Denver area had 200,000 apartment homes , but it took 27 years to reach 300,000 . The development cycle that began ten years ago has brought us to where we are today : 400,000 apartment homes !
When will we hit half a million apartments ? Based upon the current rate , it ’ s possible that there will be 500,000 units before the end of the decade .
The Mezz at Fiddler ' s Green ( Garrett Companies ) in 2020 . ( Cary Bruteig )
Pipeline to 500,000 Units
While it took nearly a century for the Metro Denver area to develop 100,000 apartment units , it ' s estimated it will develop 100,000 more units in the next seven years .
FIRST 100K UNITS 80 YEARS ( 1890 - 1971 )
100K - 200K UNITS
15 YEARS ( 1971 - 1986 )