821 16th St
821 16th St is a 11-story building in Greater Downtown Denver with 73% of its floor area within daylight reach of a facade. This screen estimates 220 homes and scores it 61 out of 100 for office-to-residential conversion suitability.
CO-1 · Screened 2026-09-19 · Worth a feasibility study
Also addressed as 823 16th St, 825 16th St, 829 16th St, 837 16th St, 826 17th St, 828 17th St, 830 17th St, 1600 Champa St, 1608 Champa St, 1616 Champa St, 1620 Champa St, 1640 Champa St, 1650 Champa St, 1660 Champa St, 1670 Champa St, 1680 Champa St and 1690 Champa St: Denver’s address records place all 18 on this one footprint.
Where 821 16th St is
Its block in Greater Downtown Denver, drawn from Denver's own building outlines and street centerlines.
- Already housing
- Not screened
- 821 16th St
This building does not pencil at default assumptions, even with a modeled RESIDE Act grant.
Across its 10 residential floors this building carries 77,830 sq ft of windowless core — area that must be gutted, re-plumbed and sprinklered but can never be rented as an apartment.
Part of this building is already homes. Denver's property records list 0 apartments here, alongside 17 non-residential records. The figures here treat the whole building as convertible, so read them as an upper bound and check which floors are already housing.
Read with caution. This footprint carries 18 street addresses across 40,544 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 821 16th St, 2026-09-19.
| Suitability scoreWorth a feasibility study | 61 / 100 |
|---|---|
| Storiesfrom 137 ft aerial-survey height ÷ 12 ft floor-to-floor | 11 |
| Height bandsfloor plate by floor range, from the city's roof outlines | Floors 1–2: 50,402 sq ft · Floor 3: 49,912 sq ft · Floors 4–5: 40,544 sq ft · Floor 6: 25,391 sq ft · Floors 7–9: 21,948 sq ft · Floor 10: 11,149 sq ft · Floor 11: 508 sq ft |
| Floor platetypical floor, from the city outlines | 40,544 sq ft |
| Daylight efficiencyshare within 35 ft of a facade | 73% |
| Deepest interior pointviability threshold is 80 ft | 62 ft |
| Windowless coretypical floor; the building-wide total is in the text above | 10,005 sq ft |
| Estimated homesat 750 sq ft average | 220 |
| Conversion cost$360/sq ft all-in on 284,295 sq ft | $102.3M |
| Gap before grantshortfall against completed value | $50.4M |
| Modeled RESIDE grantat the statutory per-award cap | $10.0M |
| BuiltDenver does not publish a construction year with this data | — |
| ZoningCBD | D-TD |
| Opportunity Zonenot in a 2018 designated tract | No |
The plan: window line, shape and floor rhythm
36 ft of exterior wall for each home the screen estimates — enough for two- and three-bedroom homes across the plan.
The typical floor has 1,166 ft of exterior wall, and across 10 residential floors the building carries 7,985 ft of it in total, divided among the 220 homes this screen estimates.
Its plate is elongated at 0.37: a slab or an L, which is why so much of the floor lies within reach of a window: the outline buys daylight that a square plan of the same area would not. How window line and plate shape are measured.
At the model’s 750 sq ft average, the plan works out at about 22.0 homes per floor, repeated on every residential floor, since this building's outline does not change as it rises.
Why 821 16th St scores 61 out of 100
Daylight efficiency 65, Interior depth 44, Scale 100, Finance 34 — each out of 100, then weighted.
Score components for 821 16th St. Points are the subscore times its weight.
| Component | Subscore | Weight | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight efficiency73% of the floor area within 35 ft of a facade, scored from 40% up to 90% | 65 | 45% | 29.4 |
| Interior depthdeepest interior point 62 ft from a facade, scored from 80 ft down to 40 ft | 44 | 25% | 11.0 |
| Scale220 estimated homes, scored from 0 up to 150 | 100 | 15% | 15.0 |
| Financeremaining gap is 39% of conversion cost, scored from 60% down to 0% | 34 | 15% | 5.1 |
Most of what it earns comes from daylight efficiency, and what holds it back most is finance, at 34 out of 100: remaining gap is 39% of conversion cost, scored from 60% down to 0%.
What the conversion would cost
$360 per square foot all-in across 284,295 sq ft of converted floor, or $102.3M in total — about $465K for each of the 220 homes.
All-in cost per square foot for 821 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 77,830 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 220 homes is $51.9M.
What would have to be true
A $50.4M gap before any grant, $40.4M after the modeled one. The smallest single change that would close it: average unit size 44% down.
The shortfall before any grant is $50.4M. Closing it from the value side means each of the 220 homes finishing at $465K rather than the $236K the model assumes — 97% more. Closing it from the cost side means getting all-in cost down from $360 to $183 per square foot.
A modeled RESIDE grant of $10.0M moves that threshold to $420K a home. That is still above the $236K assumed, leaving $40.4M uncovered, which is why the grant does not unlock this one.
Nor do all four levers have to move. For 821 16th St, one alone would close the gap at:
Single-assumption flip points for 821 16th St, each holding the other three at their defaults.
| Average unit sizethe binding constraint — the least this building would need | 44% downto 421 sq ft |
|---|---|
| Conversion cost per square foot | 55% downto $118/sq ft |
| Completed value per home | 78% upto $420K |
All four are sliders in the survey, where 821 16th St re-scores against your own numbers.
How it compares in Greater Downtown Denver
821 16th St ranks 166th of the 214 buildings screened here, against a median score of 72.
Its floor plate is better lit than 21% of them, and shallower than 24% of them at its deepest interior point. On size it is the 102nd 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-TD zone
61st of 75 in CBD, 15th of 20 zoned D-TD — the comparison that shares its rules, rents and streets.
Denver places 75 of the screened buildings in CBD. 821 16th St ranks 61st 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 62 ft, and together they would hold an estimated 33,698 homes. The group’s top scorer is 918 17th St, at 97.
20 of the screened buildings are zoned D-TD. 821 16th St ranks 15th of them against a median score of 69. 10 score 70 or more, their median deepest interior point is 57 ft from a facade against this building’s 62 ft, and together they would hold an estimated 8,599 homes. The group’s top scorer is 918 17th St, at 97.
Its nearest match in size: 716 16th St
The screened building closest to 821 16th St in converted floor area is 716 16th St: 274,943 sq ft over 10 stories, against 284,295 sq ft over 11 here.
821 16th St scores 61 to its 53, and with the size held roughly equal most of that lead comes from daylight efficiency: 65 out of 100 here, 53 there (66% 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 600 ft apart.
Would it qualify for a RESIDE Act grant?
The model awards 821 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 821 16th St
The 4 closest the screen also covers, from 140 ft away. They are the colored outlines on the plan at the top of this page.
- 815 16th St14 stories · 77% daylit · 249 estimated homes · scores 64/100 (Worth a feasibility study)about 140 ft away
- 918 17th St10 stories · 100% daylit · 176 estimated homes · scores 97/100 (Strong candidate)about 230 ft away
- 951 16th St9 stories · 71% daylit · 161 estimated homes · scores 61/100 (Worth a feasibility study)about 310 ft away
- 724 17th St12 stories · 95% daylit · 259 estimated homes · scores 94/100 (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.