Denver Pavilions purchased in major step toward revitalizing 16th Street

The Denver Downtown Development Authority plans to purchase the Denver Pavilions shopping center off 16th Street. The purchase will cost $37 million. It does not come out of the city budget. Instead, it will be funded by a downtown tax through the downtown development authority.  

"This is a pivotal moment for downtown Denver. It represents economic revitalization, community pride and a bold step towards the future," said Denver City Council President Amanda Sandoval, who serves on the DDA board.

For longtime Denver resident David Baloo, who works at the Spirit Halloween store now filling one of the vacant storefronts, the announcement brings hope.

"I remember when they were building this, and it was very exciting at the time because it was like all these new shops coming in, and, you know, it was trying to rejuvenate downtown," Baloo recalled. "I was just moving here, so I was very excited, because I'm from a small town in Texas. I'd never seen anything like this."

But in recent years, Baloo said COVID closures and rising safety concerns dimmed that excitement.

"I would say COVID is kind of what killed it. And the kind of the riffraff that wanders around. It wasn't as bad back then, and now it just kind of seems like it's gotten a little bit worse. But it seems like they're cleaning it up."

Baloo added he hopes new investment will bring back the shops that once made the Pavilions a destination.

"I would love to see some of these old shops come back, because they were just so classic, and it was just so nostalgic. When you had friends visiting, you were like, 'go to the Pavilions, you can get everything you need right there.' Now you're not really bragging. Hopefully that changes."

DDA Board Chair Doug Tisdale said the authority plans to bring in an international retail specialist to create a master plan for the property, which will also include parking lots behind the Pavilions.

"The DDA will put a master plan together and bring in an international retail specialist to partner with us in restoring and enriching the Denver Pavilions as a retail, entertainment and engagement venue that will support and enhance the new housing that we are creating in downtown Denver," Tisdale said. "Just as the revitalization of Union Station brought new life to lower downtown, a reimagined Pavilions will rejuvenate the landscape of upper downtown."

The purchase price for the Pavilions was about $37 million -- well below its estimated $140 million value just a decade ago.

Johnston emphasized that the project is about more than just retail -- it's about creating an anchor destination that draws both residents and visitors back downtown.

"This has been an incredibly important part of Denver for many, many years," Johnston said. "Our dream is that it remains a critical icon in the city for another 40 years, an anchor destination in upper downtown."

The mayor says there's potential for hotels, condos, adaptive reuse of existing spaces, and additional housing.

"We hope to have 2,000, 3,000, 4,000 more units of housing in downtown," he said. "Those folks are going to want a local restaurant, a grocery store, a movie to catch on a Friday night. This is an attraction for residents to want to move downtown, and it's also an attraction for more and more businesses to want to return or stay."

Officials stressed that the project will not use money from Denver's general fund. Instead, it is funded through the DDA's tax-increment financing tool, which reinvests incremental tax revenue from downtown growth into redevelopment projects.

"This is not the city and county of Denver, it's the Downtown Development Authority," Sandoval said. "Now, is the city a great partner? One hundred percent, we could not do this without the city. But this is just the first step of revitalizing the Pavilions."

Johnston said proposals for redevelopment will be solicited after the closing of the deal, which is expected by the end of the year.

"We will make sure this site is vibrant, it is activated, and it is a critical part of Denver's future," Johnston said.