Last year was a remarkable one for metro Denver, according to speakers at the recent NAIOP Economic Forecast Breakfast. For instance, 33 major companies located or expanded in the market, including 10 corporate HQs. Investors pumped more than $728M into the local economy.

Speakers at the event included Metro Denver Economic Development Corp CEO Tom Clark, Essex Financial Group principal Cooper Williams, NGKF director of research-Americas Robert Bach and Transwestern SVP Bill Lawrence.

For the Denver office market, a seven-year expansion has resulted in total absorption of 8.4M SF, with vacancies dropping from 20% to 14%. The development pipeline contains 4.5M SF, with 60% of that pre-leased.

The industrial market has had strong growth, reaching record levels for rental rates and new supply delivered in recent years. New supply that delivered vacant last year will allow space for continued growth in 2017.

There are challenges ahead for Denver's overall growth trajectory, the speakers said. Housing costs might discourage new companies from coming here. Transportation will also remain a challenge, considering congestion now and how to prepare for new driverless technologies in the years to come.