Downtown Area Plan Adopted by Denver City Council

Tonight, Monday, November 17, Denver City Council voted to adopt the 2025 Downtown Area Plan, marking a significant milestone for the future of Downtown Denver. The Plan – a collaborative effort between the Downtown Denver Partnership and the City and County of Denver’s Department of Community Planning and Development – is the result of a year-long planning process that incorporates thousands of community voices and will serve as a blueprint for establishing Downtown Denver as a central neighborhood that is the epicenter of economic activity, a cultural and community hub, and a celebrated place for generations to come.

“Today marks an incredibly important milestone not only for downtown, but for the future of our city. This plan addresses our current needs while charting a bold vision for the next decade, creating a downtown where communities thrive and businesses flourish,” said Kourtny Garrett, President and CEO of the Downtown Denver Partnership. “As we move to implementation, we’re energized by the unified commitment for downtown that will bring this vision to life.” 

“This plan reflects thousands of voices, from neighbors at pop-up events to families at community celebrations, all calling for a downtown that’s easier to reach, more affordable to live in, and more joyful to spend time in,” said Denver Mayor Mike Johnston. “By opening the door to more opportunities in our city center, we’re committing to a downtown that is playful, livable, and resilient.” 

As Downtown Denver is a significant economic driver for Denver, the Front Range and the Mountain West, the Plan identifies four core opportunities that address current market headwinds while planning for the next 20 years of growth and development. The first opportunity focuses on breaking down barriers to make downtown easier to reach and navigate by enhancing our transit and pedestrian infrastructure and making downtown accessible and welcoming to the surrounding neighborhoods. Another opportunity focuses on catalyzing investment, especially public investment, in key areas to spark private development, particularly leveraging the Denver Downtown Development Authority to support the transformation and adaptive reuse of aging office buildings into vibrant mixed-use spaces.

A core theme is choosing to play that creates a connected network of parks, plazas, and public spaces, from the transformational Skyline Park renovation to the signature 5280 Trail, through programming and activation that bring these spaces to life through events, art, and community gatherings. The final opportunity addresses the housing imperative by aiming to double downtown’s residential population while ensuring housing diversity and affordability, preserving existing affordable units and creating new ones, supporting a range of housing types, including family-friendly options, and identifying partners to provide stable, affordable homeownership opportunities.

“This is the bold, action-driven vision that our downtown core deserves and that will bring people, investment and joy into our city center,” said CPD Executive Director Brad Buchanan. “I applaud the outstanding work of our team for bringing the community into this process and delivering a great plan.”  

“Downtown is everybody’s neighborhood, and this plan makes that real. The Downtown Area Plan gives us a clear path to create more homes, safer streets, and a city center that works for every Denverite,” said District 10 Councilman Chris Hinds.  

“This new Downtown Area Plan envisions an urban core that thrives both economically and as a community hub, thoughtfully connecting Denver's neighborhoods to the heart of our city,” said District 9 Councilman Darrell Watson.  

The Downtown Area Plan is a 20-year roadmap developed through extensive public engagement, with thousands of touchpoints with the community including over 8,400 visits to the website, more than 2,200 survey responses, more than 750 public meeting attendees and 3,300 of people at pop-up events. This collaborative process also included seven community advisory committee meetings, as well as dedicated focus groups and interviews with underrepresented communities.

The Downtown Area Plan community process was led by Sasaki with project partners, Radian, OV Consulting, SB Friedman, Root Policy Research, Affiliated Engineers, Inc, ArLand Land Use Economics and Historic Denver. 

The Downtown Area Plan community process was co-led by the City and County of Denver and the Downtown Denver Partnership in collaboration with lead consultant Sasaki and project partners, Radian, OV Consulting, SB Friedman, Root Policy Research, Affiliated Engineers Inc., ArLand Land Use Economics and Historic Denver. For more information, including to download the final Plan, visit: denverdowntownareaplan.com.