The Art Studios at 1200 Lincoln St. is an adaptive reuse project that opened in 2023. (Sara Wilson/Colorado Newsline)
Businesses and individuals who want to convert commercial properties to at least half residential use would be eligible for a new tax credit under a proposed Colorado bill .
Nearly four years since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, many office spaces, especially in cities like Denver, remain vacant as people continue to work remotely. And as those commercial real estate vacancies grow — and the property values drop — Colorado continues to confront its affordable housing shortage.
“A lot of this commercial space should, and can, be converted to residential space and meet our urgent need, which is the housing crisis across Colorado,” Democratic Rep. Alex Valdez of Denver said.
“This bill acts as a launching pad where we’d have the opportunity to see how to do this right and how to create housing in this time of desperate need,” he said.
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