909 17th St
909 17th St is a 14-story building in Greater Downtown Denver with 88% of its floor area within daylight reach of a facade. This screen estimates 402 homes and scores it 76 out of 100 for office-to-residential conversion suitability.
CO-1 · Screened 2026-09-19 · Strong candidate
Also addressed as 910 18th St, 1725 Champa St, 1775 Champa St and 1795 Champa St: Denver’s address records place all 5 on this one footprint.
Where 909 17th St is
Its block in Greater Downtown Denver, drawn from Denver's own building outlines and street centerlines.
- Already housing
- Not screened
- 909 17th St
This building does not pencil at default assumptions, even with a modeled RESIDE Act grant.
Across its 13 residential floors this building carries 53,736 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 5 street addresses across 47,942 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 909 17th St, 2026-09-19.
| Suitability scoreStrong candidate | 76 / 100 |
|---|---|
| Storiesfrom 168 ft aerial-survey height ÷ 12 ft floor-to-floor | 14 |
| Height bandsfloor plate by floor range, from the city's roof outlines | Floors 1–6: 47,942 sq ft · Floor 7: 46,103 sq ft · Floor 8: 37,904 sq ft · Floor 9: 22,486 sq ft · Floors 10–13: 20,795 sq ft · Floor 14: 1,426 sq ft |
| Floor platetypical floor, from the city outlines | 47,942 sq ft |
| Daylight efficiencyshare within 35 ft of a facade | 88% |
| Deepest interior pointviability threshold is 80 ft | 62 ft |
| Windowless coretypical floor; the building-wide total is in the text above | 9,106 sq ft |
| Estimated homesat 750 sq ft average | 402 |
| Conversion cost$360/sq ft all-in on 430,811 sq ft | $155.1M |
| Gap before grantshortfall against completed value | $60.2M |
| 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
41 ft of exterior wall for each home the screen estimates — enough for two- and three-bedroom homes across the plan.
The typical floor has 1,528 ft of exterior wall, and across 13 residential floors the building carries 16,312 ft of it in total, divided among the 402 homes this screen estimates.
Its plate is elongated at 0.26: 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 30.9 homes per floor, repeated on every residential floor, since this building's outline does not change as it rises.
Why 909 17th St scores 76 out of 100
Daylight efficiency 95, Interior depth 46, Scale 100, Finance 46 — each out of 100, then weighted.
Score components for 909 17th St. Points are the subscore times its weight.
| Component | Subscore | Weight | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight efficiency88% of the floor area within 35 ft of a facade, scored from 40% up to 90% | 95 | 45% | 42.8 |
| Interior depthdeepest interior point 62 ft from a facade, scored from 80 ft down to 40 ft | 46 | 25% | 11.5 |
| Scale402 estimated homes, scored from 0 up to 150 | 100 | 15% | 15.0 |
| Financeremaining gap is 32% of conversion cost, scored from 60% down to 0% | 46 | 15% | 6.9 |
Most of what it earns comes from daylight efficiency, and what holds it back most is finance, at 46 out of 100: remaining gap is 32% of conversion cost, scored from 60% down to 0%.
What the conversion would cost
$360 per square foot all-in across 430,811 sq ft of converted floor, or $155.1M in total — about $386K for each of the 402 homes.
All-in cost per square foot for 909 17th 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 53,736 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 402 homes is $94.9M.
What would have to be true
A $60.2M gap before any grant, $50.2M after the modeled one. The smallest single change that would close it: average unit size 35% down.
The shortfall before any grant is $60.2M. Closing it from the value side means each of the 402 homes finishing at $386K rather than the $236K the model assumes — 63% more. Closing it from the cost side means getting all-in cost down from $360 to $220 per square foot.
A modeled RESIDE grant of $10.0M moves that threshold to $361K a home. That is still above the $236K assumed, leaving $50.2M uncovered, which is why the grant does not unlock this one.
Nor do all four levers have to move. For 909 17th St, one alone would close the gap at:
Single-assumption flip points for 909 17th St, each holding the other three at their defaults.
| Average unit sizethe binding constraint — the least this building would need | 35% downto 491 sq ft |
|---|---|
| Conversion cost per square foot | 45% downto $143/sq ft |
| Completed value per home | 53% upto $361K |
All four are sliders in the survey, where 909 17th St re-scores against your own numbers.
How it compares in Greater Downtown Denver
909 17th St ranks 94th of the 214 buildings screened here, against a median score of 72.
Its floor plate is better lit than 64% of them, and shallower than 35% of them at its deepest interior point. On size it is the 50th 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
30th of 75 in CBD, 30th of 72 zoned D-C — the comparison that shares its rules, rents and streets.
Denver places 75 of the screened buildings in CBD. 909 17th St ranks 30th 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.
72 of the screened buildings are zoned D-C. 909 17th St ranks 30th 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 62 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: 1301 N Broadway
The screened building closest to 909 17th St in converted floor area is 1301 N Broadway: 437,965 sq ft over 11 stories, against 430,811 sq ft over 14 here.
909 17th St scores 76 and 1301 N Broadway only 35, and the difference is a hard fail rather than a matter of degree: the lower one is capped at 35 because its deepest interior point is 87 ft from a facade, past the 80 ft threshold beyond which conversion requires carving a light well. 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 909 17th 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 909 17th 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.
- 999 17th St28 stories · 83% daylit · already an apartment buildingabout 140 ft away
- 821 17th St15 stories · 98% daylit · 361 estimated homes · scores 87/100 (Strong candidate)about 200 ft away
- 801 17th St12 stories · 73% daylit · 251 estimated homes · scores 60/100 (Worth a feasibility study)about 340 ft away
- 918 17th St10 stories · 100% daylit · 176 estimated homes · scores 97/100 (Strong candidate)about 370 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.