The empty storefronts on the ground level of Denver's newest apartment buildings tell a story the city isn't tracking.

State of play: Denver mandates ground-floor retail in new apartment projects across several neighborhoods, with the goal of fostering vibrant street life.

• But in practice, many of those spaces remain dark.

Why it matters: The city isn't collecting data on how many of these spaces are vacant, Axios Denver has learned. That presents a critical blind spot that makes it hard to know whether these policies are working.

What they're saying: "Apartment developers don't know retail, don't like retail, and I think they would never build retail. They are forced to by planning departments," Cary Bruteig, founder of Apartment Insights, tells Axios Denver.

• It's "an economic drain," Bruteig says. "Planners trying to do the right thing … have hurt apartment buildings and ended up with space that isn't very usable."

Between the lines: Vacant storefronts can harm a building's reputation and keep tenants from moving in or into the surrounding neighborhood.

• "Empty retail sends the wrong signal," Wyatt Lovera, founder of Denver-based lease-up and marketing firm The Dwelling Collection, told Bisnow.

State of play: According to Bruteig, several factors are fueling the vacancies:

• The spaces often lack visibility and foot traffic — retail's lifeblood.
• Apartment developers also aren't equipped to attract or manage retail tenants like they are residential ones.

Zoom in: Even high-profile projects like the One River North apartments — hailed as one of the city's most anticipated buildings — have struggled to rent their retail spaces.

• That building is located in the River North Art District, which has been hit particularly hard by the city's ground-floor retail zoning requirements.

The other side: There are some exceptions, including on Tennyson Street.

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Denver metro renters, it's your time.

The big picture: The metro area's apartment vacancy rates during the first quarter of 2025 hit 7% for the first time in 15 years, per an Apartment Association of Metro Denver (AAMD) report released yesterday.

• The vacancy rate prompted rents to dip to their lowest levels since 2022.

Why it matters: Increased vacancy rates and lower rents translate to more manageable monthly payments and concessions for renters navigating an expensive market.

By the numbers: Average rents dipped to $1,819 in the first quarter, down $23 from the previous quarter and $56 from the same period in 2024.

• Vacancies rose to 7% from 5.8% during the same stretch in 2024.

The intrigue: The metro area's rental market added 20,000 new apartment units last year, a roughly 5% increase to its total inventory.

What they're saying: It's a renter's market now — and probably will be for the next few years, industry experts predict.

• With lower rents, now is the best time to sign a 12-month lease, AAMD executive vice president Mark Williams said. Nearly 31,000 units are currently available in metro Denver.

What's next

Colorado can anticipate a "normal" wildfire season, but authorities cautioned there will still be fires.

Reality check: A normal fire season equates to approximately 6,000 wildfires with 150,000 acres burned.

• "Some will get big, and we're going to be busy," warned Stan Hilkey, director of public safety.

The big picture: Fire season is year-round in Colorado, as evidenced by the Marshall Fire that erupted in December 2021 and became the most devastating blaze in state history.

• In its wake, the state bolstered its wildfire fighting arsenal, prioritizing prevention and mitigation efforts, as well as adding two firehawk helicopters to attack blazes, the second of which is set to debut this August.

What they're saying: "We are ready for this fire season," Hilkey said.

Between the lines: Massive layoffs and budget cuts at the federal level are not expected to affect Colorado firefighting, authorities said.

Full story

🏈 With the 20th pick, the Denver Broncos drafted cornerback Jahdae Barron from the University of Texas — a surprise move given the team's current strength at that position. (9News)

• University of Colorado Heisman winner Travis Hunter was drafted No. 2 overall by the Jacksonville Jaguars following a massive trade. (Axios Boulder)

🗳️ A referendum to allow victims of childhood sexual abuse to file civil lawsuits against decades-old perpetrators failed in the state Senate, with all Republicans opposed. (Colorado Sun)

💵 A U.S. district judge has blocked President Trump's attempt to withhold federal money from so-called sanctuary cities, something his administration has threatened to do to Denver. (Reuters)

🕊️ The Archdiocese of Denver will host a special Mass starting at 12:10pm tomorrow at the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception to commemorate Pope Francis' Funeral, Esteban reports.

⚖️ A Denver man who spent 15 years in prison was freed yesterday after an Adams County judge ordered his release after new research came to light. (9News)

Denver Botanic Gardens is a social media star.

Driving the news: Its Instagram account is the third most popular among U.S. botanical gardens, per data from Sprout Social.

By the numbers: With 176,000 Instagram followers, it trails only New York Botanical Garden (334K) and Philadelphia's Longwood Gardens (329K).

• One of the garden's most popular posts is this August 2024 Reel explaining why archivists wear gloves when handling old books.

The big picture: The garden is popular in real life, too. Last year, it landed at the No. 3 spot in Vogue's ranking of the best botanical gardens in the country.

Go deeper: Instagram loves these gardens