2601 Blake St
2601 Blake St is a 5-story building in Greater Downtown Denver with 95% of its floor area within daylight reach of a facade. This screen estimates 30 homes and scores it 83 out of 100 for office-to-residential conversion suitability.
CO-1 · Screened 2026-09-19 · Strong candidate
Where 2601 Blake St is
Its block in Greater Downtown Denver, drawn from Denver's own building outlines and street centerlines.
- Already housing
- Not screened
- 2601 Blake St
This building does not pencil at default assumptions, even with a modeled RESIDE Act grant.
Across its 4 residential floors this building carries 1,447 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 2601 Blake St, 2026-09-19.
| Suitability scoreStrong candidate | 83 / 100 |
|---|---|
| Storiesfrom 64 ft aerial-survey height ÷ 12 ft floor-to-floor | 5 |
| Height bandsfloor plate by floor range, from the city's roof outlines | Floor 1: 11,810 sq ft · Floors 2–4: 9,736 sq ft · Floor 5: 968 sq ft |
| Floor platetypical floor, from the city outlines | 9,736 sq ft |
| Daylight efficiencyshare within 35 ft of a facade | 95% |
| Deepest interior pointviability threshold is 80 ft | 39 ft |
| Windowless coretypical floor; the building-wide total is in the text above | 482 sq ft |
| Estimated homesat 750 sq ft average | 30 |
| Conversion cost$360/sq ft all-in on 30,176 sq ft | $10.9M |
| Gap before grantshortfall against completed value | $3.8M |
| Modeled RESIDE grantbelow the statutory cap | $1.8M |
| BuiltDenver does not publish a construction year with this data | — |
| ZoningFive Points | I-MX-8 |
| Opportunity Zonenot in a 2018 designated tract | No |
The plan: window line, shape and floor rhythm
48 ft of exterior wall for each home the screen estimates — enough for two- and three-bedroom homes across the plan.
The typical floor has 404 ft of exterior wall, and across 4 residential floors the building carries 1,454 ft of it in total, divided among the 30 homes this screen estimates.
Its plate is compact at 0.75: 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 7.5 homes per floor. Its floors are not alike, though: the typical floor's deepest interior point is 39 ft from a facade, while its worst floor reaches 50 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 2601 Blake St scores 83 out of 100
Daylight efficiency 100, Interior depth 100, Scale 20, Finance 70 — each out of 100, then weighted.
Score components for 2601 Blake St. Points are the subscore times its weight.
| Component | Subscore | Weight | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight efficiency95% of the floor area within 35 ft of a facade, scored from 40% up to 90% | 100 | 45% | 45.0 |
| Interior depthdeepest interior point 39 ft from a facade, scored from 80 ft down to 40 ft | 100 | 25% | 25.0 |
| Scale30 estimated homes, scored from 0 up to 150 | 20 | 15% | 3.0 |
| Financeremaining gap is 18% of conversion cost, scored from 60% down to 0% | 70 | 15% | 10.4 |
Most of what it earns comes from daylight efficiency, and what holds it back most is scale, at 20 out of 100: 30 estimated homes, scored from 0 up to 150.
What the conversion would cost
$360 per square foot all-in across 30,176 sq ft of converted floor, or $10.9M in total — about $362K for each of the 30 homes.
All-in cost per square foot for 2601 Blake 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 1,447 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 30 homes is $7.1M.
What would have to be true
A $3.8M gap before any grant, $2.0M after the modeled one. The smallest single change that would close it: average unit size 17% down.
The shortfall before any grant is $3.8M. Closing it from the value side means each of the 30 homes finishing at $362K rather than the $236K the model assumes — 53% more. Closing it from the cost side means getting all-in cost down from $360 to $235 per square foot.
A modeled RESIDE grant of $1.8M moves that threshold to $302K a home. That is still above the $236K assumed, leaving $2.0M uncovered, which is why the grant does not unlock this one.
Nor do all four levers have to move. For 2601 Blake St, one alone would close the gap at:
Single-assumption flip points for 2601 Blake St, each holding the other three at their defaults.
| Average unit sizethe binding constraint — the least this building would need | 17% downto 621 sq ft |
|---|---|
| Circulation efficiency | 21% upto 97% |
| Conversion cost per square foot | 25% downto $194/sq ft |
| Completed value per home | 28% upto $302K |
All four are sliders in the survey, where 2601 Blake St re-scores against your own numbers.
How it compares in Greater Downtown Denver
2601 Blake St ranks 63rd of the 214 buildings screened here, against a median score of 72.
Its floor plate is better lit than 85% of them, and shallower than 85% of them at its deepest interior point. On size it is the 213th 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 Five Points
5th of 20 in Five Points — the comparison that shares its rules, rents and streets.
Denver places 20 of the screened buildings in Five Points. 2601 Blake St ranks 5th of them against a median score of 68. 9 score 70 or more, their median deepest interior point is 61 ft from a facade against this building’s 39 ft, and together they would hold an estimated 5,122 homes. The group’s top scorer is 3355 Denargo St, at 90.
Its nearest match in size: 1570 N Grant St
The screened building closest to 2601 Blake St in converted floor area is 1570 N Grant St: 30,486 sq ft over 5 stories, against 30,176 sq ft over 5 here.
The two land within a few points of each other — 83 here, 85 there — so at this size the screen reads them as much the same prospect. On the money they sit in the same place: each falls short even with the modeled grant. The two stand about 7,000 ft apart.
Would it qualify for a RESIDE Act grant?
The model awards 2601 Blake St $1.8M, 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 2601 Blake St
The 4 closest the screen also covers, from 490 ft away. They are the colored outlines on the plan at the top of this page.
- 2500 N Broadway10 stories · 90% daylit · already an apartment buildingabout 490 ft away
- 1451 24th St7 stories · 89% daylit · already an apartment buildingabout 790 ft away
- 2401 Blake St7 stories · 84% daylit · 257 estimated homes · scores 86/100 (Strong candidate)about 810 ft away
- 2500 Wewatta Way9 stories · 84% daylit · already an apartment buildingabout 970 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.