701 16th St
701 16th St is a 30-story building in Greater Downtown Denver with 81% of its floor area within daylight reach of a facade. This screen estimates 392 homes and scores it 68 out of 100 for office-to-residential conversion suitability.
CO-1 · Screened 2026-09-19 · Worth a feasibility study
Also addressed as 705 16th St, 707 16th St, 709 16th St, 713 16th St, 715 16th St, 717 16th St, 700 17th St, 1605 California St, 1615 California St, 1617 California St, 1627 California St and 1641 California St: Denver’s address records place all 13 on this one footprint.
Where 701 16th St is
Its block in Greater Downtown Denver, drawn from Denver's own building outlines and street centerlines.
- Already housing
- Not screened
- 701 16th St
This building does not pencil at default assumptions, even with a modeled RESIDE Act grant.
Across its 29 residential floors this building carries 88,398 sq ft of windowless core — area that must be gutted, re-plumbed and sprinklered but can never be rented as an apartment.
Read with caution. This footprint carries 13 street addresses across 49,101 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 701 16th St, 2026-09-19.
| Suitability scoreWorth a feasibility study | 68 / 100 |
|---|---|
| Storiesfrom 354 ft aerial-survey height ÷ 12 ft floor-to-floor | 30 |
| Height bandsfloor plate by floor range, from the city's roof outlines | Floors 1–4: 49,101 sq ft · Floor 5: 40,359 sq ft · Floor 6: 40,067 sq ft · Floor 7: 37,861 sq ft · Floor 8: 30,189 sq ft · Floor 9: 18,069 sq ft · Floor 10: 7,598 sq ft · Floors 11–28: 7,168 sq ft · Floors 29–30: 3,034 sq ft |
| Floor platetypical floor, from the city outlines | 49,101 sq ft |
| Daylight efficiencyshare within 35 ft of a facade | 81% |
| Deepest interior pointviability threshold is 80 ft | 63 ft |
| Windowless coretypical floor; the building-wide total is in the text above | 17,390 sq ft |
| Estimated homesat 750 sq ft average | 392 |
| Conversion cost$360/sq ft all-in on 456,540 sq ft | $164.4M |
| Gap before grantshortfall against completed value | $71.8M |
| Modeled RESIDE grantat the statutory per-award cap | $10.0M |
| BuiltDenver does not publish a construction year with this data | — |
| ZoningCBD | D-C |
| 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 1,058 ft of exterior wall, and across 29 residential floors the building carries 15,797 ft of it in total, divided among the 392 homes this screen estimates.
Its plate is moderately compact at 0.55: 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 13.5 homes per floor, repeated on every residential floor, since this building's outline does not change as it rises.
Why 701 16th St scores 68 out of 100
Daylight efficiency 81, Interior depth 43, Scale 100, Finance 37 — each out of 100, then weighted.
Score components for 701 16th St. Points are the subscore times its weight.
| Component | Subscore | Weight | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight efficiency81% of the floor area within 35 ft of a facade, scored from 40% up to 90% | 81 | 45% | 36.6 |
| Interior depthdeepest interior point 63 ft from a facade, scored from 80 ft down to 40 ft | 43 | 25% | 10.8 |
| Scale392 estimated homes, scored from 0 up to 150 | 100 | 15% | 15.0 |
| Financeremaining gap is 38% of conversion cost, scored from 60% down to 0% | 37 | 15% | 5.6 |
Most of what it earns comes from daylight efficiency, and what holds it back most is finance, at 37 out of 100: remaining gap is 38% of conversion cost, scored from 60% down to 0%.
What the conversion would cost
$360 per square foot all-in across 456,540 sq ft of converted floor, or $164.4M in total — about $419K for each of the 392 homes.
All-in cost per square foot for 701 16th 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 88,398 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 392 homes is $92.5M.
What would have to be true
A $71.8M gap before any grant, $61.8M after the modeled one. The smallest single change that would close it: average unit size 40% down.
The shortfall before any grant is $71.8M. Closing it from the value side means each of the 392 homes finishing at $419K rather than the $236K the model assumes — 78% more. Closing it from the cost side means getting all-in cost down from $360 to $203 per square foot.
A modeled RESIDE grant of $10.0M moves that threshold to $394K a home. That is still above the $236K assumed, leaving $61.8M uncovered, which is why the grant does not unlock this one.
Nor do all four levers have to move. For 701 16th St, one alone would close the gap at:
Single-assumption flip points for 701 16th St, each holding the other three at their defaults.
| Average unit sizethe binding constraint — the least this building would need | 40% downto 450 sq ft |
|---|---|
| Conversion cost per square foot | 52% downto $125/sq ft |
| Completed value per home | 67% upto $394K |
All four are sliders in the survey, where 701 16th St re-scores against your own numbers.
How it compares in Greater Downtown Denver
701 16th St ranks 128th of the 214 buildings screened here, against a median score of 72.
Its floor plate is better lit than 43% of them, and shallower than 22% of them at its deepest interior point. On size it is the 52nd 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 CBD and the D-C zone
47th of 75 in CBD, 47th of 72 zoned D-C — the comparison that shares its rules, rents and streets.
Denver places 75 of the screened buildings in CBD. 701 16th St ranks 47th of them against a median score of 71. 40 score 70 or more, their median deepest interior point is 56 ft from a facade against this building’s 63 ft, and together they would hold an estimated 33,698 homes. The group’s top scorer is 918 17th St, at 97.
72 of the screened buildings are zoned D-C. 701 16th St ranks 47th 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 63 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: 410 17th St
The screened building closest to 701 16th St in converted floor area is 410 17th St: 462,365 sq ft over 27 stories, against 456,540 sq ft over 30 here.
701 16th St scores 68 to its 74, and with the size held roughly equal most of that shortfall comes from interior depth: 43 out of 100 here, 68 there (deepest interior point 53 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 1,000 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. 2 of those entries resolve to this building: “700 17th St” and “1605–1615 California St”.
That is an outside opinion reached by different means — architects reading plans, not a model reading outlines — and this screen partly agrees: 701 16th St scores 68 here, worth a feasibility study but not in this screen’s strongest tier. The difference is the money rather than the geometry: at default assumptions the gap here is $71.8M, 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 701 16th 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 701 16th St
The 4 closest the screen also covers, from 150 ft away. They are the colored outlines on the plan at the top of this page.
- 724 17th St12 stories · 95% daylit · 259 estimated homes · scores 94/100 (Strong candidate)about 150 ft away
- 1600 Stout St24 stories · 90% daylit · 241 estimated homes · scores 89/100 (Strong candidate)about 210 ft away
- 815 16th St14 stories · 77% daylit · 249 estimated homes · scores 64/100 (Worth a feasibility study)about 350 ft away
- 600 17th St34 stories · 82% daylit · 651 estimated homes · scores 73/100 (Strong candidate)about 350 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.