CREW Denver held a luncheon event recently on "Cars and Parking: Game Changer for Commercial Real Estate Development?" The short answer: yes.

Autonomous vehicles are definitely a disruptive technology, the speakers said. Some of the disruptions will be a benefit for everyone. Self-driving cars will reduce accidents — a terrible problem for Colorado — and CDOT has established a new group, Road X, to look at the implications.

If autonomous vehicles are used for public transportation instead of individually owned, it would also help solve the "last mile" issue that's a big deterrent for commuters using the light rail system here.

For commercial real estate, parking might eventually be eliminated in new office properties. Existing properties would also be able to convert the parking spaces in phases to more office space. A vanguard of progressive cities, like Denver/Boulder and those in the Pacific Northwest, are looking into the possibilities of what this would mean and how it would work.

Participating in the discussion were the Rocky Mountain Institute's E.J Klock-McCook; Gensler's Brent Mather; Parkhill Development's Bill Parkhill; CDOT's Peter Kozinski; and United Properties Courtney Schneider, who moderated.