Western

— By Tami Lord, Senior Vice President, SRS Real Estate Partners — No longer the Cowtown of ages past, Denver has developed into an economically diverse, midsized city as demonstrated by both the residential and business growth over the last decade. Major companies now include Denver on their target list for potential headquarters, regional hubs, and distribution locations. Compared to the coastal markets, Denver is more affordable and offers a very desirable quality of life for employees, helping to put Denver on the short list. The pandemic only increased Denver’s growth trajectory. All of a sudden, people were able to maintain their current employment while living in a setting known for over 300 days of sun annually with easy access to hiking, skiing, biking, camping…the list goes on. The population growth has spurred rising housing and land prices. Coupled with rising construction costs, increasing real estate taxes, long permitting times and a tight employment market, traditional retail development has slowed. The lack of significant new development has pushed retail vacancy to a near-record low of 4.1 percent across the metro, according to data from CoStar. Many downtown retail markets across the country have been hit with higher vacancy rates in …