Engineering Firm HDR Leases 74K SF In Denver's Block 162 Office Tower

Engineering and architecture firm HDR will relocate its Denver offices downtown toward the end of the year, leasing space on three floors of the Block 162 office tower.

HDR is leasing 74K SF on floors 13, 14 and 15 for around 500 employees at Block 162, located at 675 15th St., according to the Denver Business Journal. HDR’s current lease at 1670 Broadway, where the company has been since 2013, expires in October.

Colorado area manager Brad Martin told DBJ that HDR is relocating because of the larger floor space and opportunity to customize the offices at Block 162, as well as the location and amenities. 

Martin said though the company doesn’t have a full-time in-office mandate, it still wants a space that will entice employees to come in.

The Class-A tower, opened in 2021, is 606K SF and features a cafe, a sky terrace, an outdoor activity lawn, garage parking and a fitness center, according to a leasing website. Leven Deli is also planning to open its Leven Downtown location in the building early this year.

With the HDR lease, DBJ estimates the building’s vacancy is below 13%. Around 72K SF is still available to lease.

In the last quarter of 2025, Block 162 had the second-largest lease in the downtown submarket, leasing 29K SF to Bank of America, according to CBRE.

The building is an outlier in the area. CBRE’s Q4 data showed the downtown vacancy rate at 38.2%, the highest of any submarket. However, while leasing activity declined by almost 30% year-over-year, downtown was the most active of the submarkets.

Class-A properties continue to fare better, seeing lower vacancy rates and higher average rents.

In addition to Denver, HDR’s other Colorado offices are located in Colorado Springs, Fort Collins, Grand Junction, Durango and Englewood. The company employs more than 14,000 people globally.