Denver's downtown skyline is reshaping with new towers in the works

A developer wants to build two 39-story towers on a prime piece of downtown Denver real estate — just the latest in a series of projects reshaping the city's skyline.

What's new: The proposed project along Broadway near the intersections of 18th and Welton streets would feature more than 600 condos, retail locations and a new hotel, the Denver Business Journal first reported.

• Next door the same developer — Vancouver, British Columbia-based Amacon — is building 38-story and 32-story condos at the former site of Shelby's Bar & Grill.

Why it matters: The towers represent a major project on a site mostly filled with parking lots and add to the half-dozen-plus major construction projects stretching from downtown to the River North district.

What they're saying: "We are starting to see some of these buildings coming through which are taller and will really be contributing to our iconic skyline," Denver's first chief urban designer, Eugenia Di Girolamo, told Axios Denver.

The big picture: The developments would bring more residential units to downtown Denver, where officials are looking to create a central neighborhood to bolster the existing business district.

• "This type of investment in downtown right now … is synergistic to the goals we have to really foster a more vibrant downtown," Di Girolamo adds.

Of note: The new construction will add loft to the east side of the city but not overshadow the current tallest towers, the 56-story Republic Plaza and 53-story 1801 California buildings.

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