The developer requested $29M from the Denver Downtown Development Authority to convert one of the Denver Energy Center's two office towers into 386 apartments, with a total project cost of $145 million.
Alpha Score of 50 reflects moderate overall profile with moderate momentum, weak value, moderate quality, moderate sentiment.
Asher Luzzatto is back for a second bite at Denver's office-to-residential conversion pipeline. The developer requested $29 million from the Denver Downtown Development Authority in late March to help turn one of the two towers at the Denver Energy Center into apartments.
"This is a really critical location to add residents," Luzzatto said. "I think the low-cost nature of these units is going to be really helpful for maintaining reasonable rents."
The application came a week after Luzzatto received DDDA funding for a separate residential conversion downtown. The Denver Energy Center, at 1625 and 1675 N. Broadway, is a 28- and 29-story office complex totaling 785,000 square feet at the entrance of the 16th Street Mall. Luzzatto bought the property for $5.3 million, or $6.80 per square foot, in December 2025.
His plan calls for converting the vacant 1625 Broadway tower into 386 apartments. The other tower, 1675 Broadway, stays office space. He said he wants to put a market, a gym, and coworking space in the complex. He also has bigger ideas.
"We are talking with even larger potential grocery partners," Luzzatto said. "We do really want to get a grocer in downtown. For us, it's a key component."
The total project cost is $145 million, according to the application. The DDDA funds would go only to the residential tower, Luzzatto said. At $75,000 per unit, it would be the cheapest DDDA-backed conversion so far.
"This is their low-cost option at their high-priority location," he said.
The office tower is seeing more leasing activity. Luzzatto said he is in negotiations with multiple tenants totaling 100,000 square feet. Currently, 1675 Broadway's office space is about 20% occupied.
"It's becoming clear to me that the discrepancy between Cherry Creek and downtown occupancy will not continue if the downtown rents are reset to a basis where tenants again see the value in being there," Luzzatto said.
Gross rents have pushed below $30 per square foot for some spaces in the building. CBRE, which tracks the Denver market, reported an average Upper Downtown net asking rent of $37 in the first quarter of 2026. CBRE Group Inc. carries an Alpha Score of 42/100.
Luzzatto said his projects are as much about culture as about housing. He launched his own design firm, Atelier 111, and is relocating from Taos, New Mexico, to Denver.
His other conversion, at 621 and 633 California St., received a $63 million DDDA loan in March. That project has already held live music performances in vacant spaces.
"We're still on track to submit for permits in July," Luzzatto said. "We're still on schedule and a lot of this will just come down to where the debt markets end up being over the next couple of months and where construction costs end up landing."
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