1601 19th St
1601 19th St is a 15-story building in Greater Downtown Denver with 90% of its floor area within daylight reach of a facade. This screen estimates 712 homes and scores it 83 out of 100 for office-to-residential conversion suitability.
CO-1 · Screened 2026-09-19 · Strong candidate
Also addressed as 1600 20th St, 1901 Wazee St, 1951 Wazee St, 1991 Wazee St and 1999 Wazee St: Denver’s address records place all 6 on this one footprint.
Where 1601 19th St is
Its block in Greater Downtown Denver, drawn from Denver's own building outlines and street centerlines.
- Already housing
- Not screened
- 1601 19th St
This building does not pencil at default assumptions, even with a modeled RESIDE Act grant.
Across its 14 residential floors this building carries 76,451 sq ft of windowless core — area that must be gutted, re-plumbed and sprinklered but can never be rented as an apartment.
Part of this building is already homes. Denver's property records list 103 condominiums here, alongside 23 non-residential records. The figures here treat the whole building as convertible, so read them as an upper bound and check which floors are already housing.
Read with caution. This footprint carries 6 street addresses across 58,433 sq ft, which usually means the city’s GIS has merged a block or complex into a single polygon rather than describing one convertible building.
Modeled conversion metrics for 1601 19th St, 2026-09-19.
| Suitability scoreStrong candidate | 83 / 100 |
|---|---|
| Storiesfrom 184 ft aerial-survey height ÷ 12 ft floor-to-floor | 15 |
| Height bandsfloor plate by floor range, from the city's roof outlines | Floors 1–2: 74,468 sq ft · Floor 3: 73,571 sq ft · Floor 4: 65,786 sq ft · Floors 5–10: 58,433 sq ft · Floors 11–12: 51,918 sq ft · Floor 13: 51,171 sq ft · Floor 14: 24,157 sq ft · Floor 15: 1,247 sq ft |
| Floor platetypical floor, from the city outlines | 58,433 sq ft |
| Daylight efficiencyshare within 35 ft of a facade | 90% |
| Deepest interior pointviability threshold is 80 ft | 53 ft |
| Windowless coretypical floor; the building-wide total is in the text above | 5,663 sq ft |
| Estimated homesat 750 sq ft average | 712 |
| Conversion cost$360/sq ft all-in on 744,833 sq ft | $268.1M |
| Gap before grantshortfall against completed value | $100.1M |
| Modeled RESIDE grantat the statutory per-award cap | $10.0M |
| BuiltDenver does not publish a construction year with this data | — |
| ZoningUnion Station | PUD-G |
| Opportunity Zonenot in a 2018 designated tract | No |
The plan: window line, shape and floor rhythm
40 ft of exterior wall for each home the screen estimates — enough for two- and three-bedroom homes across the plan.
The typical floor has 2,267 ft of exterior wall, and across 14 residential floors the building carries 28,812 ft of it in total, divided among the 712 homes this screen estimates.
Its plate is highly articulated at 0.14: a long, notched or wing-shaped outline with far more facade than its area needs — wasteful as an office envelope, and close to ideal for apartments. How window line and plate shape are measured.
At the model’s 750 sq ft average, the plan works out at about 50.9 homes per floor. Its floors are not alike, though: the typical floor's deepest interior point is 53 ft from a facade, while its worst floor reaches 68 ft. The score follows the typical floor, so a podium that could not hold a bedroom does not by itself sink a slim tower above it — but it is there, and it is part of what would have to be drawn around.
Why 1601 19th St scores 83 out of 100
Daylight efficiency 99, Interior depth 67, Scale 100, Finance 44 — each out of 100, then weighted.
Score components for 1601 19th St. Points are the subscore times its weight.
| Component | Subscore | Weight | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight efficiency90% of the floor area within 35 ft of a facade, scored from 40% up to 90% | 99 | 45% | 44.8 |
| Interior depthdeepest interior point 53 ft from a facade, scored from 80 ft down to 40 ft | 67 | 25% | 16.8 |
| Scale712 estimated homes, scored from 0 up to 150 | 100 | 15% | 15.0 |
| Financeremaining gap is 34% of conversion cost, scored from 60% down to 0% | 44 | 15% | 6.6 |
Most of what it earns comes from daylight efficiency, and what holds it back most is finance, at 44 out of 100: remaining gap is 34% of conversion cost, scored from 60% down to 0%.
What the conversion would cost
$360 per square foot all-in across 744,833 sq ft of converted floor, or $268.1M in total — about $377K for each of the 712 homes.
All-in cost per square foot for 1601 19th St: base cost plus the code work a change of use triggers.
| Base conversion cost | $260/sq ft |
|---|---|
| Plumbing risers to every unit | $40/sq ft |
| Operable windows and glazing | $30/sq ft |
| Additional egress stair | $18/sq ft |
| Fire sprinklers (NFPA 13R) | $12/sq ft |
| All-in | $360/sq ft |
That cost is charged across every converted square foot, including the 76,451 sq ft of windowless core, which has to be gutted, re-plumbed and sprinklered like the rest of the building and then earns nothing. Against it the model sets a completed value of $236K a home, which for 712 homes is $168.0M.
What would have to be true
A $100.1M gap before any grant, $90.1M after the modeled one. The smallest single change that would close it: average unit size 35% down.
The shortfall before any grant is $100.1M. Closing it from the value side means each of the 712 homes finishing at $377K rather than the $236K the model assumes — 60% more. Closing it from the cost side means getting all-in cost down from $360 to $226 per square foot.
A modeled RESIDE grant of $10.0M moves that threshold to $363K a home. That is still above the $236K assumed, leaving $90.1M uncovered, which is why the grant does not unlock this one.
Nor do all four levers have to move. For 1601 19th St, one alone would close the gap at:
Single-assumption flip points for 1601 19th St, each holding the other three at their defaults.
| Average unit sizethe binding constraint — the least this building would need | 35% downto 489 sq ft |
|---|---|
| Conversion cost per square foot | 47% downto $139/sq ft |
| Completed value per home | 54% upto $363K |
All four are sliders in the survey, where 1601 19th St re-scores against your own numbers.
How it compares in Greater Downtown Denver
1601 19th St ranks 65th of the 214 buildings screened here, against a median score of 72.
Its floor plate is better lit than 73% of them, and shallower than 58% of them at its deepest interior point. On size it is the 20th largest by estimated homes. The full survey of all 214 buildings ranks and maps every one of them, and the list by address links each to its own page.
Within Union Station
12th of 55 in Union Station — the comparison that shares its rules, rents and streets.
Denver places 55 of the screened buildings in Union Station. 1601 19th St ranks 12th of them against a median score of 69. 23 score 70 or more, their median deepest interior point is 61 ft from a facade against this building’s 53 ft, and together they would hold an estimated 13,167 homes. The group’s top scorer is 1600 17th St, at 95.
Its nearest match in size: 201 W Colfax Ave
The screened building closest to 1601 19th St in converted floor area is 201 W Colfax Ave: 782,553 sq ft over 16 stories, against 744,833 sq ft over 15 here.
1601 19th St scores 83 to its 38, and with the size held roughly equal most of that lead comes from daylight efficiency: 99 out of 100 here, 37 there (58% of the floor area within 35 ft of a facade, scored from 40% up to 90%). On the money they sit in the same place: each falls short even with the modeled grant. The two stand about 5,400 ft apart.
Would it qualify for a RESIDE Act grant?
The model awards 1601 19th St $10.0M, on the assumption it qualifies. Whether it does, no published dataset can say.
That figure assumes the building meets the Act’s vacant-and-abandoned test, which turns on code-enforcement and receivership records no city publishes.
It does not sit in a 2018 designated Opportunity Zone, so it would not draw that Section 201 priority.
Other buildings screened near 1601 19th St
The 4 closest the screen also covers, from 290 ft away. They are the colored outlines on the plan at the top of this page.
- 1711 19th St8 stories · 94% daylit · 102 estimated homes · scores 79/100 (Strong candidate)about 290 ft away
- 1863 Wazee St7 stories · 82% daylit · already a condominium buildingabout 340 ft away
- 1890 Wynkoop St8 stories · 84% daylit · 86 estimated homes · scores 69/100 (Worth a feasibility study)about 340 ft away
- 1981 Blake St6 stories · 83% daylit · 72 estimated homes · scores 66/100 (Worth a feasibility study)about 430 ft away
A screen, not a feasibility study, from outlines and heights rather than plans: the method and how to correct a figure. If you know this building’s interior, you know what this model cannot see.