The proposed deal
Denver City Council is reviewing a proposed 12-year lease for Alterra Mountain Co. at 101 W. Colfax Avenue, the former Denver Post building. The October 20 Denver Post reports a planned 64,654-square-foot tenancy with a base rent of $22 per square foot on a triple-net basis, an initial rent-free year, two years of free employee parking and modest scheduled rent increases. These are reported proposed terms, not a completed lease.
Why the concessions matter
A triple-net rate excludes expenses such as operating costs, taxes and insurance, so it should not be compared directly with a full-service gross asking rent. The report describes a discount relative to advertised downtown rents, but actual negotiated rents can differ substantially from listing prices. Denver's incentive is to occupy a city-owned asset and encourage nearby restaurant and retail activity.
Eric Hyatt's analysis: occupancy versus asking rent
The meaningful measure for an office property is not simply the headline price per square foot. It is the effective rent after concessions, tenant-improvement costs, downtime, operating expenses and the probability of retaining tenants. A city may accept near-term concessions in exchange for predictable occupancy and neighborhood foot traffic. That does not mean every downtown building can achieve the same outcome.
What it means for the surrounding neighborhood
The proposed agreement includes an employee attendance expectation of at least three days a week and a stated goal of neighborhood activation. Those commitments could support local businesses, but future foot traffic and residential demand remain uncertain. For homeowners and investors, downtown office performance matters through retail vitality, perceptions of safety, adaptive reuse opportunities and the long-term tax base, not through an automatic home-price effect.
The broader context
CBRE's October 13 third-quarter report put Downtown Denver office vacancy at 40.1%, illustrating the challenge of stabilizing commercial districts. The reported move-out of one large tenant accounted for much of the quarter's increase, so a single quarterly statistic should not be mistaken for a universal decline in every building. Sources: The Denver Post, October 20, 2026; CBRE, Denver Downtown Office Figures Q3 2026. Colorado property insights: https://www.erichyattrealestate.com/ .