420 W 12th Ave

Where 420 W 12th Ave is

Its block in Greater Downtown Denver, drawn from Denver's own building outlines and street centerlines.

The plan: window line, shape and floor rhythm

46 ft of exterior wall for each home the screen estimates — enough for two- and three-bedroom homes across the plan.

The typical floor has 514 ft of exterior wall, and across 9 residential floors the building carries 4,172 ft of it in total, divided among the 90 homes this screen estimates.

Its plate is moderately compact at 0.50: a squarish plan, with enough perimeter for a conventional double-loaded corridor. How window line and plate shape are measured.

At the model’s 750 sq ft average, the plan works out at about 10.0 homes per floor. Its floors are not alike, though: the typical floor's deepest interior point is 35 ft from a facade, while its worst floor reaches 49 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 420 W 12th Ave scores 90 out of 100

Daylight efficiency 100, Interior depth 100, Scale 60, Finance 75 — each out of 100, then weighted.

Most of what it earns comes from daylight efficiency, and what holds it back most is scale, at 60 out of 100: 90 estimated homes, scored from 0 up to 150.

What the conversion would cost

$360 per square foot all-in across 86,761 sq ft of converted floor, or $31.2M in total — about $347K for each of the 90 homes.

That cost is charged across every converted square foot, including the 1,608 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 90 homes is $21.2M.

What would have to be true

A $10.0M gap before any grant, $4.6M after the modeled one. The smallest single change that would close it: average unit size 14% down.

The shortfall before any grant is $10.0M. Closing it from the value side means each of the 90 homes finishing at $347K rather than the $236K the model assumes — 47% more. Closing it from the cost side means getting all-in cost down from $360 to $245 per square foot.

A modeled RESIDE grant of $5.4M moves that threshold to $287K a home. That is still above the $236K assumed, leaving $4.6M uncovered, which is why the grant does not unlock this one.

Nor do all four levers have to move. For 420 W 12th Ave, one alone would close the gap at:

All four are sliders in the survey, where 420 W 12th Ave re-scores against your own numbers.

How it compares in Greater Downtown Denver

420 W 12th Ave ranks 24th of the 214 buildings screened here, against a median score of 72.

Its floor plate is better lit than 89% of them, and shallower than 88% of them at its deepest interior point. On size it is the 164th 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 Civic Center and the D-GT zone

3rd of 23 in Civic Center, 3rd of 15 zoned D-GT — the comparison that shares its rules, rents and streets.

Denver places 23 of the screened buildings in Civic Center. 420 W 12th Ave ranks 3rd of them against a median score of 67. 10 score 70 or more, their median deepest interior point is 62 ft from a facade against this building’s 35 ft, and together they would hold an estimated 5,064 homes. The group’s top scorer is 1314 N Elati St, at 92.

15 of the screened buildings are zoned D-GT. 420 W 12th Ave ranks 3rd of them against a median score of 76. 8 score 70 or more, their median deepest interior point is 54 ft from a facade against this building’s 35 ft, and together they would hold an estimated 2,397 homes. The group’s top scorer is 1314 N Elati St, at 92.

Its nearest match in size: 1770 N Sherman St

The screened building closest to 420 W 12th Ave in converted floor area is 1770 N Sherman St: 86,842 sq ft over 9 stories, against 86,761 sq ft over 10 here.

420 W 12th Ave scores 90 to its 82, and with the size held roughly equal most of that lead comes from interior depth: 100 out of 100 here, 81 there (deepest interior point 48 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 4,400 ft apart.

Would it qualify for a RESIDE Act grant?

The model awards 420 W 12th Ave $5.4M, 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 420 W 12th Ave

The 4 closest the screen also covers, from 230 ft away. They are the colored outlines on the plan at the top of this page.

• 1234 N Elati St
  16 stories · 91% daylit · already a condominium building
  about 230 ft away
• 1120 N Delaware St
  7 stories · 75% daylit · 102 estimated homes · scores 60/100 (Worth a feasibility study)
  about 440 ft away
• 1244 N Speer Blvd
  11 stories · 77% daylit · 152 estimated homes · scores 67/100 (Worth a feasibility study)
  about 630 ft away
• 290 W 12th Ave
  7 stories · 100% daylit · already a condominium building
  about 690 ft away