A plan to convert a Denver office tower into residential units is one step closer to fruition. 

A commercial construction permit was filed with the city of Denver on Sept. 10 to transform one of two towers at the Denver Energy Center into 386 residential units.

Los Angeles developer Asher Luzzatto purchased the two-tower property at 1625 and 1675 Broadway for about $5.3M last September, nearly 97% less than what the previous owner paid in 2013. Built in 1979 and 1980, the buildings span 900K SF, according to previous Bisnow reporting.

Luzzatto plans to convert Tower 2 at 1625 Broadway into apartments and keep Tower 1 at 1675 Broadway as office space with a 32K SF gym, cafe and coworking space, he told Bisnow.

Tower 2 will span about 375K SF and feature 16-unit configurations. Units offered will range from studios to two-bedrooms with a den, according to architectural and interior drawings submitted to the city on Aug. 6.

The 29-story tower will also include a fitness center, yoga studio, sauna, media room, cinema, playroom and restaurant, according to the drawings.

Denver architecture and construction firm The Beck Group is the designer and builder on the project. Denver’s S.A. Miro is the civil engineer. Greenwood Village-based IMEG Corp. will do the mechanical, electrical and plumbing work, according to the drawings. 

Construction on Tower 2 is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2027 and wrap up in early 2029, Luzzatto told Bisnow.

Construction valuation for Tower 2 is estimated to be about $62M, including $10M in electrical, according to a building log filed with Denver on July 31. Luzzatto estimates the project will cost $150M, he said.

Luzzatto’s company, The Luzzatto Co., requested $29M from the Denver Downtown Development Authority for this project, according to the Denver Business Journal. 

The Luzzatto Co. is also converting office towers at 621 and 633 17th St. into 700 apartments, a daycare and retail spaces. He will receive a $63M loan from the DDA for the project but expects the project to cost $310M, he said.

The Luzzatto Co. bought the 17th Street properties, totaling nearly 1M SF, for $3.2M, down from a $200M valuation in 2019, according to previous Bisnow reporting.

Denver’s office-to-residential conversion pipeline is one of the most active in the country, with nearly 3,000 units planned, due to the city’s surplus of office space, with vacancies hovering around 27%, and demand for more housing. 

Shea Properties completed a conversion project in the Denver Tech Center earlier this year. The former 124K SF office building at 4340 S. Monaco St. is now a 143-unit apartment building called Lofts on Monaco. 

Another proposed conversion is at the Denver Dry Goods building at California and 16th streets. Developer Perry Rose LLC plans to convert three stories of the commercial building into 55 income-restricted units.