1660 N Lincoln St
1660 N Lincoln St is a 31-story building in Greater Downtown Denver with 82% of its floor area within daylight reach of a facade. This screen estimates 431 homes and scores it 71 out of 100 for office-to-residential conversion suitability.
CO-1 · Screened 2026-09-19 · Strong candidate
Also addressed as 1655 N Sherman St: Denver’s address records place both on this one footprint.
Where 1660 N Lincoln St is
Its block in Greater Downtown Denver, drawn from Denver's own building outlines and street centerlines.
- Already housing
- Not screened
- 1660 N Lincoln St
This building does not pencil at default assumptions, even with a modeled RESIDE Act grant.
Across its 30 residential floors this building carries 90,175 sq ft of windowless core — area that must be gutted, re-plumbed and sprinklered but can never be rented as an apartment.
Modeled conversion metrics for 1660 N Lincoln St, 2026-09-19.
| Suitability scoreStrong candidate | 71 / 100 |
|---|---|
| Storiesfrom 367 ft aerial-survey height ÷ 12 ft floor-to-floor | 31 |
| Height bandsfloor plate by floor range, from the city's roof outlines | Floors 1–3: 30,246 sq ft · Floors 4–8: 19,455 sq ft · Floors 9–29: 14,761 sq ft · Floors 30–31: 13,266 sq ft |
| Floor platetypical floor, from the city outlines | 14,761 sq ft |
| Daylight efficiencyshare within 35 ft of a facade | 82% |
| Deepest interior pointviability threshold is 80 ft | 59 ft |
| Windowless coretypical floor; the building-wide total is in the text above | 2,648 sq ft |
| Estimated homesat 750 sq ft average | 431 |
| Conversion cost$360/sq ft all-in on 494,283 sq ft | $177.9M |
| Gap before grantshortfall against completed value | $76.2M |
| Modeled RESIDE grantat the statutory per-award cap | $10.0M |
| BuiltDenver does not publish a construction year with this data | — |
| ZoningNorth Capitol Hill | D-C |
| Opportunity Zonenot in a 2018 designated tract | No |
The plan: window line, shape and floor rhythm
38 ft of exterior wall for each home the screen estimates — enough for two- and three-bedroom homes across the plan.
The typical floor has 486 ft of exterior wall, and across 30 residential floors the building carries 16,216 ft of it in total, divided among the 431 homes this screen estimates.
Its plate is compact at 0.79: close to a square or a circle, the most efficient envelope an office can have and the least generous one for apartments: little perimeter to divide among homes. How window line and plate shape are measured.
At the model’s 750 sq ft average, the plan works out at about 14.4 homes per floor. Its floors are not alike, though: the typical floor's deepest interior point is 59 ft from a facade, while its worst floor reaches 62 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 1660 N Lincoln St scores 71 out of 100
Daylight efficiency 84, Interior depth 52, Scale 100, Finance 38 — each out of 100, then weighted.
Score components for 1660 N Lincoln St. Points are the subscore times its weight.
| Component | Subscore | Weight | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight efficiency82% of the floor area within 35 ft of a facade, scored from 40% up to 90% | 84 | 45% | 37.6 |
| Interior depthdeepest interior point 59 ft from a facade, scored from 80 ft down to 40 ft | 52 | 25% | 13.0 |
| Scale431 estimated homes, scored from 0 up to 150 | 100 | 15% | 15.0 |
| Financeremaining gap is 37% of conversion cost, scored from 60% down to 0% | 38 | 15% | 5.7 |
Most of what it earns comes from daylight efficiency, and what holds it back most is finance, at 38 out of 100: remaining gap is 37% of conversion cost, scored from 60% down to 0%.
What the conversion would cost
$360 per square foot all-in across 494,283 sq ft of converted floor, or $177.9M in total — about $413K for each of the 431 homes.
All-in cost per square foot for 1660 N Lincoln 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 90,175 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 431 homes is $101.7M.
What would have to be true
A $76.2M gap before any grant, $66.2M after the modeled one. The smallest single change that would close it: average unit size 39% down.
The shortfall before any grant is $76.2M. Closing it from the value side means each of the 431 homes finishing at $413K rather than the $236K the model assumes — 75% more. Closing it from the cost side means getting all-in cost down from $360 to $206 per square foot.
A modeled RESIDE grant of $10.0M moves that threshold to $390K a home. That is still above the $236K assumed, leaving $66.2M uncovered, which is why the grant does not unlock this one.
Nor do all four levers have to move. For 1660 N Lincoln St, one alone would close the gap at:
Single-assumption flip points for 1660 N Lincoln St, each holding the other three at their defaults.
| Average unit sizethe binding constraint — the least this building would need | 39% downto 454 sq ft |
|---|---|
| Conversion cost per square foot | 52% downto $126/sq ft |
| Completed value per home | 65% upto $390K |
All four are sliders in the survey, where 1660 N Lincoln St re-scores against your own numbers.
How it compares in Greater Downtown Denver
1660 N Lincoln St ranks 111th of the 214 buildings screened here, against a median score of 72.
Its floor plate is better lit than 47% of them, and shallower than 47% of them at its deepest interior point. On size it is the 46th 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 North Capitol Hill and the D-C zone
31st of 41 in North Capitol Hill, 38th of 72 zoned D-C — the comparison that shares its rules, rents and streets.
Denver places 41 of the screened buildings in North Capitol Hill. 1660 N Lincoln St ranks 31st of them against a median score of 85. 32 score 70 or more, their median deepest interior point is 47 ft from a facade against this building’s 59 ft, and together they would hold an estimated 8,820 homes. The group’s top scorer is 1776 N Grant St, at 97.
72 of the screened buildings are zoned D-C. 1660 N Lincoln St ranks 38th of them against a median score of 73. 39 score 70 or more, their median deepest interior point is 57 ft from a facade against this building’s 59 ft, and together they would hold an estimated 32,881 homes. The group’s top scorer is 721 19th St, at 95.
Its nearest match in size: 701 16th St
The screened building closest to 1660 N Lincoln St in converted floor area is 701 16th St: 456,540 sq ft over 30 stories, against 494,283 sq ft over 31 here.
1660 N Lincoln St scores 71 to its 68, and with the size held roughly equal most of that lead comes from interior depth: 52 out of 100 here, 43 there (deepest interior point 63 ft from a facade, scored from 80 ft down to 40 ft). On the money they sit in the same place: each falls short even with the modeled grant. The two stand about 2,100 ft apart.
The city's own study picked this building too
In August 2023 Denver and the architecture firm Gensler rated 21 downtown office buildings good candidates for conversion to housing and published the top 16 by address. One of them resolves to this building: “1660 Lincoln St”.
That is an outside opinion reached by different means — architects reading plans, not a model reading outlines — and this screen agrees with it: 1660 N Lincoln St scores 71 out of 100 here, in the same top tier. The difference is the money rather than the geometry: at default assumptions the gap here is $76.2M, which no modeled RESIDE grant closes. A study asking whether a building can be converted and a model asking whether it would pencil are answering different questions.
Mile High CRE, Study Identifies 21 Downtown Denver Office Buildings as Good Candidates for Conversion. The full comparison across all 16 is on the Greater Downtown Denver page.
Would it qualify for a RESIDE Act grant?
The model awards 1660 N Lincoln 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 1660 N Lincoln St
The 4 closest the screen also covers, from 110 ft away. They are the colored outlines on the plan at the top of this page.
- 1673 N Sherman St7 stories · 99% daylit · 43 estimated homes · scores 84/100 (Strong candidate)about 110 ft away
- 25 E 16th Ave38 stories · 73% daylit · 817 estimated homes · scores 63/100 (Worth a feasibility study)about 310 ft away
- 1660 N Sherman St12 stories · 78% daylit · 159 estimated homes · scores 72/100 (Strong candidate)about 320 ft away
- 1700 N Broadway59 stories · 68% daylit · 2,073 estimated homes · scores 56/100 (Worth a feasibility study)about 400 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.