Longtime Denver developer Bill Mosher will step down as a consultant to the Denver Mayor’s Office effective immediately, according to an announcement made Friday.
Denver Mayor Mike Johnston brought Mosher, who had headed the redevelopment of Union Station, out of semi-retirement to serve as his manager of special projects in 2024.
“When Bill joined the team, he said he wanted to help the city, the mayor, and downtown. I can confidently say he has done all three,” Johnston said in the announcement. “Bill is an amazing advocate for Denver and has forgotten more about downtown than most of us will ever know.”
Mosher has assisted the city’s efforts to redevelop the Burnham Yard area into a new stadium for the Denver Broncos and to revive Upper Downtown.
The region’s largest concentration of office towers, which were built mostly during the oil and gas boom, has fallen on hard times since the pandemic sent workers home. Many towers sit more than half empty, and some have sold at 5 cents on the dollar paid in better times.
“After 50 years of experience in nonprofit and real estate, the last place I expected to end up was in City Hall, but I’ll forever be grateful that I did,” Mosher said in a statement. “I’m incredibly proud of the work we’ve done to address downtown’s challenges, particularly around the revitalization of 16th Street and Upper Downtown, as well as the commitment we’ve made to invest as a community through the Downtown Development Authority (DDA).”
Denver voters in 2024 expanded the boundaries of the DDA, which was created to assist in the redevelopment of Union Station and Market Street Station, and approved $570 million in funding.
A little over half of the money has been allocated, with the two largest awards funding a low-interest loan for the redevelopment of the twin towers of the Denver Energy Center and the purchase of the Denver Pavilions and two nearby parking lots.
Mosher has compared the importance of the Denver Pavilions to Upper Downtown’s renewal to what Union Station represented for the LoDo area.
“Bill’s impact on Denver goes well beyond any single project or initiative. He brought decades of development experience to lead DDA at a moment when downtown needed both fresh thinking and experienced leadership,” said Matt Archuletta, regional director of The Beck Group, which is closely involved in restoring several buildings. “We are a better Denver because Bill chose to invest his expertise back into this community.”
Mosher, a Denver native, will continue to serve as CEO of the Denver Convention Center Hotel Authority, the nonprofit corporation behind the $285 million, 1,100-room Hyatt Convention Center Hotel built in 2005 and recently renovated.
Mosher’s consulting responsibilities will transition to Chief of Staff Jenn Ridder and Deputy Chief Projects Officer Jen Welborn.
