520 W Colfax Ave

Where 520 W Colfax 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

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

The typical floor has 1,175 ft of exterior wall, and across 8 residential floors the building carries 9,242 ft of it in total, divided among the 276 homes this screen estimates.

Its plate is moderately compact at 0.48: 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 34.5 homes per floor. Its floors are not alike, though: the typical floor's deepest interior point is 66 ft from a facade, while its worst floor reaches 87 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 520 W Colfax Ave scores 49 out of 100

Daylight efficiency 49, Interior depth 35, Scale 100, Finance 20 — each out of 100, then weighted.

Most of what it earns comes from daylight efficiency, and what holds it back most is finance, at 20 out of 100: remaining gap is 48% of conversion cost, scored from 60% down to 0%.

What the conversion would cost

$360 per square foot all-in across 401,050 sq ft of converted floor, or $144.4M in total — about $523K for each of the 276 homes.

That cost is charged across every converted square foot, including the 141,616 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 276 homes is $65.1M.

What would have to be true

A $79.2M gap before any grant, $69.2M after the modeled one. The smallest single change that would close it: average unit size 51% down.

The shortfall before any grant is $79.2M. Closing it from the value side means each of the 276 homes finishing at $523K rather than the $236K the model assumes — 122% more. Closing it from the cost side means getting all-in cost down from $360 to $162 per square foot.

A modeled RESIDE grant of $10.0M moves that threshold to $487K a home. That is still above the $236K assumed, leaving $69.2M uncovered, which is why the grant does not unlock this one.

Nor do all four levers have to move. For 520 W Colfax Ave, one alone would close the gap at:

All four are sliders in the survey, where 520 W Colfax Ave re-scores against your own numbers.

How it compares in Greater Downtown Denver

520 W Colfax Ave ranks 197th of the 214 buildings screened here, against a median score of 72.

Its floor plate is better lit than 5% of them, and shallower than 14% of them at its deepest interior point. On size it is the 75th 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 PUD zone

17th of 23 in Civic Center, 19th of 21 zoned PUD — the comparison that shares its rules, rents and streets.

Denver places 23 of the screened buildings in Civic Center. 520 W Colfax Ave ranks 17th 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 66 ft, and together they would hold an estimated 5,064 homes. The group’s top scorer is 1314 N Elati St, at 92.

21 of the screened buildings are zoned PUD. 520 W Colfax Ave ranks 19th of them against a median score of 77. 12 score 70 or more, their median deepest interior point is 49 ft from a facade against this building’s 66 ft, and together they would hold an estimated 5,808 homes. The group’s top scorer is 300 E 17th Ave, at 96.

Its nearest match in size: 1431 15th St

The screened building closest to 520 W Colfax Ave in converted floor area is 1431 15th St: 371,780 sq ft over 10 stories, against 401,050 sq ft over 9 here.

520 W Colfax Ave scores 49 to its 62, and with the size held roughly equal most of that shortfall comes from daylight efficiency: 49 out of 100 here, 77 there (79% 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 4,100 ft apart.

Would it qualify for a RESIDE Act grant?

The model awards 520 W Colfax Ave $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 520 W Colfax Ave

The 4 closest the screen also covers, from 380 ft away. They are the colored outlines on the plan at the top of this page.

• 490 W Colfax Ave
  8 stories · 56% daylit · 263 estimated homes · scores 30/100 (Marginal)
  about 380 ft away
• 1350 N Speer Blvd
  7 stories · 77% daylit · already an apartment building
  about 590 ft away
• 1300 N Fox St
  6 stories · 71% daylit · 88 estimated homes · scores 53/100 (Worth a feasibility study)
  about 650 ft away
• 1250 Welton St
  5 stories · 99% daylit · 133 estimated homes · scores 94/100 (Strong candidate)
  about 670 ft away