Some big steps, like the face-lift of the 16th Street mall, and smaller steps, such as the planned conversion of an office building into apartments, have been taken to inject new life into downtown.

The latest effort, by the , to dole out $570 million in voter-approved funds is the biggest swing yet. This year alone, the city has committed more than $160 million across 13 projects aimed at reshaping downtown.

This means visitors and residents downtown can expect to see more cafes and ice cream shops, expanded retail, upgraded parks and buildings, and spaces designed to encourage people to linger, explore and return, if proposals submitted to the DDA are approved.

Denver’s existing DDA was established in 2008 and allowed the city to generate revenue from a portion of the property and sales taxes collected in the area of Union Station and Market Street Station.

Last year, additional borrowing authority of up to $570 million, allowing the city to fund projects.

The DDA is funded primarily through which is generated by increases in sales and property tax revenues within the DDA boundaries.

The DDA’s development zone generally encompasses most of downtown, stretching from 21st Street to Speer Boulevard to Logan Street and from Union Station to Civic Center Park.

“We’ve had over 80 applications already this year, and that����ap just such a huge amount, and it����ap been so gratifying to see all the interest in our downtown core and just the excitement that����ap out there,” said Laura Swartz, the city’s Communications Director for the Department of Finance.

Swartz said the city oversees the full application process for the DDA, including collecting submissions, conducting all vetting of the applications and leading community engagement.

The Department of Finance is also one of the agencies that staffs the DDA, and they collaborate with several other city departments, including the Denver Economic Development & Opportunity Department and Denver Arts & Venues.

In its pilot year, Swartz said the DDA originally expected to run two funding award cycles, one in the summer and one in the winter.

However, because of strong interest, the program completed four funding award cycles within the year.

As of Dec. 9, over 80 applications have been submitted for DDA funding, according to documents obtained from a city public records request.

Application submissions ranged from public art activations, business incentives, building revitalizations and restaurant openings to business expansions within the DDA boundaries, including Convivio Café eyeing a downtown spot for a potential second brick-and-mortar location.

While many applications focused on business growth and physical improvements, others emphasized the preservation of cultural heritage, most notably Sakura Square.

The application highlighted plans for the redevelopment of the Sakura Square Temple and Cultural Community Center,19th and Lawrence streets, an effort aimed at strengthening the site’s role as a cultural touchstone for the community.

“Sakura Square is the last remaining block of Denver’s historic Japantown and one of downtown’s most important cultural anchors,” said Nozomu Tim Higashide, CEO of Sakura Square, in an email statement regarding their DDA application.

“Our proposed redevelopment would reshape the block into a modern cultural, residential, and public destination that enhances downtown’s vibrancy and strengthens Denver’s collective identity. Central to this effort is protecting elements that already make Sakura Square so meaningful — the Tri-State/Denver Buddhist Temple, legacy businesses like Pacific Mercantile, and the community organizations rooted here.”

Higashide said the DDA investment would be a critical catalyst that would allow the project, and its long-term community benefits, to move forward.

Swartz said there are about 25 applications currently in review, while about 13 projects are underway, guided by a .

The city conducted surveys of downtown residents and visitors to determine how Denverites would like to see this money spent and used those findings to create the plan, which was adopted by Denver City Council on Dec. 9, 2024.

Since March, the , including $68 million in redevelopment opportunities, $46 million in new housing, $42 million in parks and public spaces, $6.1 million in business support and $3.8 million in downtown safety.

In early August, Milk Tea People founders Kevin Ung and Timothy Gardner announced they had received a to support their expansion into a larger space.

“When we first started, our commitment was simple: to serve this community and the people who make it so special. That promise has never wavered, and this expansion will allow us to double down on that commitment,” they said in a news release.

Milk Tea People’s DDA application said the popular tea shop will expand and relocate to a storefront along 16th Street, according to documents obtained through a public records request. The move is expected to create more jobs, add vibrancy to downtown and increase foot traffic.

A few other projects currently underway through DDA funding include $4.3 million for a new retail space for Green Spaces Market, $400,000 to renovate space for the Denver Immersive Repertory Theater, $17 million toward converting the historic Symes Building into 116 units of housing with updated retail and a new patio, $30 million for improvements to Civic Center Park and $7 million to reimagine the McNichols Building.

In addition, earlier this month, the Denver City Council voted unanimously to have the DDA pay $37 million to acquire the 350,000-square-foot Denver Pavilions at 500 16th St, plus $23 million for the two parking lots on both sides of Glenarm Place at the Denver Pavilions block on 15th Street, creating opportunities for mixed-use private redevelopment.

An additional $8 million is set aside for mall renovations and lease incentives.

Roughly 48 applications were declined for DDA funding, according to Swartz.

“Some applications were ineligible for DDA funding because they were not located at sites within the DDA’s geographic boundary (i.e., the downtown core). Others were duplicate applications submitted,” Swartz said.

“The primary reason for not selecting applications is that, with limited resources, the DDA must select the projects that are the best aligned with the criteria in the adopted Plan of Development, that are the most likely to come to fruition, and that will have a transformative impact on Downtown Denver.”

Applications are still being considered, but applications for projects in the Arts, Culture, and Activation category are temporarily on hold.

Swartz said this pause came after realizing that many proposals, while strong in concept, lacked feasible sites or the necessary property-owner approvals.

As a result, the city and DDA are revising the application process to give clearer guidance on eligible sites and requirements, with plans to reopen the category in early 2026.

Looking ahead, no additional project announcements are expected for the remainder of the year, Swartz said.

Swartz said that the DDA will hold a board meeting on Dec.17 as an annual wrap-up, during which the board will approve next year’s budget, review accomplishments from the past year and refine goals and programs based on applicant feedback.

The DDA is overseen by a seven-member board, and are appointed by the Mayor for four-year terms.

The board includes the president of the Denver City Council, Amanda Sandoval, and six members who are residents, landowners or business tenants within the boundaries of the DDA.

In 2026, the DDA plans to streamline operations, focus on awarded projects, continue funding projects across various investment areas and open applications for two expiring board seats.

Denver Parks and Recreation, which is still working to finalize the acquisition of the land, would get $70 million to transform the golf course into one of the largest parks in the city.

It����ap not yet clear exactly what the dollars will be used for, since the city hasn’t finished a detailed plan for amenities at the 155-acre park. The new park is likely to need major infrastructure updates, though.

The park allocation flew somewhat under the radar as City Council members debated which projects should be included in the $950 million bond proposal. The council approved the package’s five bond questions for the ballot on Monday after weeks of back-and-forth with the mayor’s office over the process.

Save Open Space Denver, a group that has opposed new development on the land in favor of green space, was pleased to see the project included in the bond.

“We are happy with the $70 million allocation,” said Penfield Tate, a former state senator and mayoral candidate. “I think it����ap safe to say we wish it was more.”

The property has long been a source of tension among Denverites, some of whom wanted to see the land partially developed with housing while others pushed to keep it as open space. But Denverites handily rejected a plan to develop the land in 2023, and the site has been closed ever since.

In January, Mayor Mike Johnston announced the city would acquire the property through a land swap with the owner, Westside Investment Partners, for property out by Denver International Airport.

While the council approved the agreement in May, the deal is still under a 90-day due diligence period before it����ap finalized. That will happen in early October at the latest, said city spokesman Jon Ewing.

While officials initially said they would aim to open the park this summer with minimal enhancements, that milestone may not happen until early fall, he said.

Denver Parks and Recreation is working to develop a full-area plan, executive director Jolon Clark said. That includes potential amenities it has solicited ideas for.

“What we’re working with the community on right now is: Where do those things go? How does it interact with its nearby neighbors?” he said during a July 28 council meeting. “And what are the things that might be different and special about this regional park than other parks?”

Clark also said the department will need to make repairs on the property.

“There are concerns that the irrigation system has been vandalized and damaged,” he said. DPR will also have to set up lighting throughout the park, he said.

Tate said originally, his group estimated the cost for the entire park conversion project to be $125 million, in part due to the poor condition of the infrastructure there.

“Major work needs to be done,” he said, referencing damage to the clubhouse and the irrigation system.

Mayor Mike Johnston told Denver Post journalists this week that he anticipates the $70 million will finance the entire buildout.

“It����ap not the Cadillac version, but it is 155 acres of a fully functional, accessible park,” he said of what the bond project would bring.

Denver has a park fund filled by a 0.25% dedicated sales tax, but Johnston said using that bucket to pay for the buildout would take far too long.

“There have been three citywide votes of every Denver resident on this topic,” he said. “To say, ‘We’ll work on this, but we’ll bring it to you in six installments over eight years,’ I think, would not be a reasonable response.”

As structured, nearly half of the proposed bond would pay for transportation, mobility and road safety projects, while about 25% would go toward improvements for city buildings and cultural facilities. Parks and recreation projects account for nearly 20% of the total. Further changes are still possible.

A couple of the proposed big-ticket items — for repairs, improvements and other work on the aging Sixth and Eighth avenue viaducts over Burnham Yard — would direct nearly $140 million in spending near one potential site for a new Denver Broncos stadium. That was among points that generated discussion during Tuesday’s committee meeting.

The 13-member council will take a first look at the on Monday. It’s designed to provide a six-year funding stream for parks, transportation projects, health and human services programs, city facilities — new and existing — and housing and shelter efforts.

A final decision on whether to give voters a say on the measure is slated for Aug. 4.

“I think it is ready,” Councilman Darrell Watson said. “And we do not have time to delay this anymore.”

Watson, who represents District 9 in northern Denver, cautioned his colleagues against increasing the funding request from voters any further. Earlier this year, the prevailing estimate on the package’s size was $800 million.

“Nine-hundred-thirty-five million dollars is, I think, an extraordinary amount,” he said.

The vote tally on Tuesday was 6-1, with Councilman Chris Hinds casting the lone no vote.

Some council unease about list

The meeting revealed fundamental unease — and some disagreement — among council members about which projects and which communities the city should prioritize for funding.

Hinds, who represents a central swath of the city, asked why improvements to East 13th and 14th avenues — between Broadway and Quebec Street — weren’t on the project list, given the number of accidents that happen on the one-way thoroughfares.

“I’m going to vote no because I don’t think this is ready,” he said.

Council President Amanda Sandoval spoke about the need to direct money to the West 38th Avenue corridor, where on Monday night a cyclist was killed by a hit-and-run driver near Tejon Street. The bond list includes about $55 million for multimodal and pedestrian safety improvements on 38th, from Sheridan Boulevard east to Fox Street.

But she worried that competition for Vibrant Denver funding could spur unwanted disputes between historically underserved neighborhoods.

“I do not want to pit Black communities against Brown communities,” Sandoval said.

Councilwoman Sarah Parady asked Patrick Riley, the bond program manager with Denver’s Department of Finance, whether improvements to the Sixth and Eighth avenue viaducts were getting big billing in the bond package because of the potential plans of the Broncos’ ownership nearby.

“It is impossible to ignore the Broncos as a thing in Denver,” Riley acknowledged. “So telling you that there’s no weight there, or that there’s no consideration there, would be insulting to everybody at this table.”

But he also said the condition of the viaducts has long been the subject of discussion and that work on them is an “independent need.”

The most expensive project listed is $89 million for the Eighth Avenue viaduct, including replacement of some of it with an at-grade road. Another $50 million would go to repairs and improvements on the Sixth Avenue viaduct.

What’s on the list?

Johnston announced the Vibrant Denver initiative in February. But getting council members and the mayor to see eye to eye on what should be funded, and at what level, has been a bumpy road in recent weeks.

In all, there are 59 projects listed for funding. Other high-cost items include $75 million for a newly consolidated first responder training center. Another $75 million would go toward making road improvements and building a railroad underpass at the National Western Center.

The buildout of a park on the former Park Hill golf course property would be allocated $70 million. Support for affordable housing projects by the city’s private partners would receive $50 million.

And Red Rocks Amphitheatre is identified to receive $39 million for backstage expansion and accessibility improvements. Riley pointed out that the iconic concert venue in Jefferson County essentially subsidizes Denver’s arts scene.

“Our arts and cultural health exists because Red Rocks allows it to,” he said.

Other notable projects include improvements at Boettcher Concert Hall, replacement of a Denver Health family clinic in west Denver, replacement of the Sixth Avenue and Lincoln Street bridges over Cherry Creek at Speer Boulevard, and renovations of the Denver Animal Shelter, the Montbello Branch Library and the Blair-Caldwell African American Research Library.

Changes to the list in recent weeks — in response to council concerns — included more than a dozen projects added. At the same time, a project at the Denver Zoo was reduced from $50 million to $3 million, and a project for the Denver Museum of Nature and Science also took a hit, going from $10 million to $3 million.

Denver’s most recent bond programs were , a 10-year, $937 million general obligation bond package approved by voters in 2017, and , a five-year, $260 million program approved in 2021 — both of which still have projects underway or in the queue.

The city says the bonds issued under Vibrant Denver wouldn’t result in a property tax increase because they’d replace earlier debt as it was paid off.

The city would pay for projects like road and park improvements by issuing debt — in the form of a general obligation bond — if voters approve in November. Earlier this year, city officials estimated the proposal would reach about $800 million, but this week they said the project list added up to nearly $1 billion.

Before voters get a say, the council has to give its stamp of approval and settle on a final project list with the mayor. That could be difficult if a — which included tense exchanges between the mayor’s staff and council members — is any indication.

“I think there’s still work to be done,” Councilwoman Diana Romero-Campbell said.

“You don’t have seven votes to refer this to the ballot,” said Councilwoman Amanda Sawyer, referring to the majority threshold needed to place the item on the ballot. “Somebody needs to fix this quick.”

“I don’t see it happening,” Councilman Paul Kashmann said of the proposed timeline.

Council members have become increasingly vexed by the Vibrant Denver bond process, calling it rushed. In some cases, council members don’t think the projects it would fund would be beneficial enough for their districts.

The irritation peaked after the mayor’s office last week sent out the bond executive committee’s without any dollar amounts attached to them.

The list included projects like repairs to bridges and underpasses, new pedestrian crossings, Santa Fe Drive improvements, construction of the Denver Children’s Advocacy Center’s Children’s Justice Center, and new safety lighting along the Cherry Creek and Highline Canal trails. It also included a project to begin converting the former Park Hill Golf Course into a city park.

The bond issuance wouldn’t increase taxes — since payments would replace retiring debt — and wouldn’t impact the general fund budget, which mostly pays for personnel and day-to-day operations. That is the part of the city budget that Johnston recently announced has a $250 million shortfall over two years.

Now, the mayor’s office is meeting with each member of the council to try to tinker with the list and persuade them to support it.

Last week’s proposal recommended 48 projects and would have amounted to about $970 million total. An updated list, which was still being discussed Wednesday, added eight more projects while whittling down the total cost — by dropping some costly projects — to require $50 million less in debt.

The largest share of the revised project list — about 43% of the dollars — is set aside for “connectivity” ideas like road and pedestrian improvements. Another 41% of the debt would be for parks and cultural facilities. About 15% would be for public health and safety.

Each of the 11 council districts now has four to six projects, said Laura Swartz, a spokeswoman for the Department of Finance. Two council members are elected at large.

The new list still includes some of the major street projects, including updates to bridges, Santa Fe Drive between Sixth and 13th Avenues, and West 38th Avenue between Sheridan Boulevard and Fox Street. It also still includes finding a location for an American Indian Cultural Embassy as well as designing it and preparing a site — but not construction.

The new concept also includes traffic signal improvements along Evans Avenue and site research for a future recreation center in Council District 4, which covers far-southeast Denver.

The mayor’s staff withdrew a proposal to build a bridge over Airlawn Road at North Quebec Street.

The specific amounts allocated to each project are still under discussion.

“There may be additional changes,” Swartz said.

Johnston’s team is set to present the final list, which hasn’t yet been made public, to the council during a committee meeting next Tuesday. The council will also have a chance to offer amendments as it considers the proposal.

Johnston presented some of the most recent changes earlier this week during his regular .

“There’s always more capital improvements to be done than we have dollars available,” he told them. “The bond is a chance to try to catch up.”

Council members, several of whom have complained before about feeling rushed by the mayor on his initiatives, still had concerns about the process this week. Swartz said there’d been progress with council members following the one-on-one meetings.

During Tuesday’s public meeting with Johnston, Councilman Darrell Watson indicated that he was ready to work with the mayor’s staff to make sure the bond goes through.

“This bond is necessary,” he said. “I know there is a way for us to get to a bond that can be presented and that can pass in November.”

The council has until Aug. 25 to give final approval for the bond to appear on the November ballot. Still to come are committee approval and two readings before the full council.

A public hearing has been set for the July 28 council meeting.

Vowing to move 1,000 homeless people from the streets into shelter in his first six months in office? Win.

Announcing the city’s acquisition of Park Hill Golf Course in a land swap, long before the details were settled? Another win.

Asking voters last November to approve a big new sales tax to pay for affordable housing? No dice.

During his first two years in office — a milestone he’ll officially hit on Thursday — Johnston has repeatedly gone “all in” on his initiatives, sometimes acting first and thinking out the details later. Those big swings have delivered mixed results.

He has managed to decrease visible homelessness, launch a redesign of the city’s permitting system, survive a tense congressional hearing without a viral embarrassment and make strides toward improving downtown’s popularity.

But he’s also announced upcoming layoffs of city workers — the first in 15 years — amid a $250 million budget gap after his administration dipped deeper into the city’s savings account than what’s recommended, exacerbating its financial challenges. He’s faced criticism that he’s not doing enough to make Denverites feel safe. And he’s strained his relationships with City Council members as he barrels forward with his agenda.

“The mayor is an ideas guy,” said Robin Kniech, a former Denver council member who’s now director of at the University of Colorado Denver. “And that has inspired folks, and it has also meant leaping without partners, without data and without plans.”

Johnston’s closest observers say he’s a well-spoken, charismatic leader with strong values and ambitious plans. But learning when to hold his cards instead of playing them could make him more successful, some of them say.

“Thinking about really big ideas and planning the details out strategically … I would say that����ap probably one of his weaknesses,” council President Amanda Sandoval said.

Johnston, who confirmed to The Denver Post that he plans to run for a second term in 2027, has no intention of changing his style.

“I don’t regret swinging big and moving fast,” he said in an interview last week. “We won’t be slowing down.”

Denverites weigh in on Mayor Mike Johnston’s first two years, from cheers to disappointments

Over the next two years, as he prepares for a reelection bid, Johnston will have to navigate the massive budget deficit, ongoing negotiations with the Broncos over potential options for a new stadium -- which could determine whether the storied NFL franchise stays in Denver -- as well as, most likely, continued tension with the Trump administration.

All of that while trying to make progress on some of his biggest and most complex campaign promises, including solving street homelessness and making housing more affordable.

A 'failed poet' takes office

This isn't Johnston's first time in politics. The 50-year-old mayor, who grew up in Vail, served in the state legislature from 2009 to 2017, unsuccessfully campaigned for Colorado governor in the 2018 Democratic primary and briefly ran for the U.S. Senate in 2020.

Before his time in office, he was a teacher and a school principal.

He has described himself as a "failed poet" who spends hours thinking about word choice and writes all his own speeches -- often editing them up until the moment he starts speaking.

That semi-improvisational approach can create powerful moments with captivated crowds. At other times, it prompts him to blurt things out during interviews -- like when he last fall, after President Donald Trump's election, that he would station Denver police officers at the county line to resist mass deportations.

He later changed course, saying he would take those comments back if he could. But in that same , he drew the spotlight again by saying he was to stand in the way of deportations he considers illegal.

Some of the words he chooses, however, are extremely calculated.

His trademark term "vibrant," which he and his team often use to describe the future Denver they're trying to create, wasn't selected by a marketing firm or political consultants. He chose it himself from a list of other adjectives, he once told a Post reporter. He also adopted it for the name of that he hopes to put before voters this November.

His personable, arm-pat-with-a-handshake style landed big with voters two years ago. He defeated opponent Kelly Brough by a 10-point margin in the 2023 runoff election.

But since then, some bets haven't gone his way.

Ballot Issue 2R, which would have added a 0.5% local sales tax to pay for affordable housing -- and generated an estimated $100 million per year -- failed at the ballot box last year amid criticism that there wasn't a clear plan for the dollars.

“It was my fault that we didn’t pass it,” he said last week.

Johnston doesn't regret the lack of a detailed plan, though. He believes he just needed clearer messaging.

“I should have done a better job of making the case of why we were doing it,” he said. “If you have a kid in a building that����ap on fire, you don’t say, 'Let����ap start a blue ribbon commission to figure out how to get them out.' You break down the door.”

In a city where voters have typically approved new taxes, including another item on the same ballot for Denver Health, they rejected Johnston’s proposal by only about 3,700 votes.

"If there had been real co-ownership and a real plan for the ballot measure funding," Kniech said, "it would have been a totally different campaign than it just being a vague set of Mike's promises."

Big moves on homelessness

Johnston also went all in when he vowed to end street homelessness in the city by the end of his term, even naming his key initiative on the issue "All In Mile High." On his first day in office two years ago, he declared a state of emergency on homelessness and began racing to open additional shelter beds, hosting 60 town halls over six months.

As a result, encampments no longer fill city sidewalks downtown.

The initiative, which now costs the city about $58 million per year, opened micro-communities and hotels as non-congregate shelters, helping the mayor reach his initial goal of bringing 1,000 people off the streets by the end of 2023. The city has sheltered about as part of the "All In Mile High" initiative, contributing to what the mayor's office has declared as the largest multiyear decrease in street homelessness in any American city in history.

Overall homelessness is still increasing, however. Now, Johnston will have to find a way to address more of its root causes, like costly housing and substance use, to get people off the streets permanently -- including moving residents of those temporary shelters to more stable housing.

In comments to The Post in recent weeks, dozens of residents who responded to a call-out for views on the mayor's performance said they had seen a significant difference in homelessness in the city.

“I think he was charged with getting homeless people off the streets. I think for the most part he’s been successful,” said David Powell, a Northfield resident. “I don’t think people realize what a complex problem getting unhoused people off the street is.”

Some respondents expressed the opposite view. Daniel Lampert, a southeast Denver resident who lives near one of the hotel shelters, called the efforts "political theater."

"The so-called 'All In Mile High' initiative is not only fiscally irresponsible -- it's an insult to working-class Denverites. It is draining our city's budget and pushing our public servants to the brink, all while achieving no measurable improvement in public safety or housing outcomes," he said.

Advocates for homeless people and some council members also have voiced concerns about how the shelters operate. The council rejected a contract with The Salvation Army earlier this year after several violent incidents occurred at one of the hotel shelters it operates.

The council has continued to push back on the facilities, commenting that they feel Johnston’s administration is rushing the contracts.

“That����ap been very troubling and frustrating,” Sandoval said of that process.

An increasingly irritated council

Council members have repeatedly said they feel out of the loop on Johnston's initiatives.

"Sometimes City Council -- and I have mentioned this to the mayor -- feels like we're not in the planning processes," said Sandoval, the council president.

Sandoval notes that in general, she feels Johnston has been a collaborative, thoughtful partner who listens intently when she brings him concerns.

But when he announced in March that a women's soccer stadium would be constructed in Baker as part of a deal to bring a National Women's Soccer League expansion team to Denver, he didn't say how much the city's contribution would cost. While he implied it was virtually a done deal, council members emphasized that the proposal still needed their approval.

The not-yet-named team would pay to build the 14,500-seat stadium on part of the former site of the Gates Rubber Company, and the city would purchase the land and pay for necessary infrastructure improvements. At the time, an excited Johnston said the stadium would be "a transformational addition to southwest Denver."

The council was skeptical of the proposal, but it gave preliminary approval for the $70 million capital investment in May. Multiple members implied they might rescind their support if the city's budget situation worsened before the deal was finalized this fall.

A week after the council voted on the stadium deal, Johnston held a press conference announcing the city's budget was in a crisis.

Signaling the bleak outlook, he said then: "We are going to try in every way we can to avoid services being impacted. I don't know that it will be possible."

The projected $250 million budget gap accounts for an anticipated $50 million shortfall in expected tax revenue this year compared to expenses, plus a $200 million gap expected next year. The city's costs have grown for years, while its main source of revenue -- sales taxes -- hasn't kept up.

Johnston’s team contributed to the situation by choosing to cut into the city’s savings account. The city typically keeps 15% of its expenditures as a rainy day fund. Over the past two years, it has gone below that level. It's now at about 11%.

The budget announcement was another example of the council feeling left behind. Its members went on their annual budget retreat before Johnston's news conference, meaning they didn't have necessary information when they discussed their financial priorities.

Choices like that could make it harder for Johnston to pass his initiatives in the future, said Councilwoman Jamie Torres.

"We continue to be an afterthought to the mayor. He needs to think about us as 13 key partners, or he's going to continue to hit a brick wall," she said.

Torres said that despite her irritations, she does believe Johnston's policy priorities are the right ones.

"I think he is, philosophically, the mayor we need right now," she said. "It is a relief to me that I've got a mayor that I don't have to convince to support immigrants or innovative recovery options for our unhoused, (or) to find creative ways to get people shelter.”

In the coming weeks, the city is expected to begin layoffs to address the budget shortfall. City officials haven't said how many there will be, but the Career Service Board recently voted to allow merit to be considered in the decisions, rather than just seniority.

In yet another sign of the council being out of step with the mayor: 11 of the 13 members signed a letter opposing that change, which has rankled many longtime city employees.

New Trump tensions

When Johnston came into office, he inherited an expensive and hotly debated issue: the migrant crisis.

In late 2022, tens of thousands of migrants who had crossed the border began arriving in Denver on buses, many of them Venezuelans seeking asylum. Surges continued through early 2024, especially as Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's office chartered buses to cities like Denver that were considered to have "sanctuary" policies for immigrants.

The Mile High City chose to provide shelter and services to the people who arrived, costing about $95 million between 2022 and 2024.

When Johnston entered office in mid-2023, he continued the efforts of his predecessor, Michael Hancock, and stood behind the city's and Colorado's already-existing policies not to allow local law enforcement to coordinate with immigration enforcement.

Those choices, and the viral comments about his willingness to go to jail, put Johnston in the crosshairs of Trump when the president was inaugurated in January.

Johnston also was thrust onto the national stage when he was called before a congressional committee in March, alongside three other mayors, to testify about Denver's immigration policies. Johnston stayed level-headed while members of Congress threatened to have him arrested and grilled him over the city's immigrant-friendly policies.

Since then, the federal government has rescinded certain grants, citing those policies, and the Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit against Denver and Colorado. The city is involved in several other court cases with the Trump administration over its policies and the grants.

That conflict with Trump has proven to be somewhat popular among Denverites, thousands of whom participated in anti-Trump "No Kings" protests last month.

"I respect his stance on immigration," Caroline Daley, a Capitol Hill resident, said of Johnston. "Denver feels relatively strong and humane in that area, and I appreciate that he's publicly opposed Trump. That matters.”

The tension with Trump is an issue that could either help or hurt Johnston's political future, said Paul Teske, the dean of CU Denver's School of Public Affairs and a longtime observer of Denver politics.

Despite wide opposition to Trump locally, there's a risk: “That����ap not necessarily a winning hand when they could just cut funding," he said of the Trump administration.

Partners beyond city hall

Johnston is balancing the Washington, D.C., tension with another urgent issue closer to home: housing affordability.

As Johnston seeks to ease costs for Denverites, developers are keeping a close eye as this mayor -- like many before him -- takes on the city's cumbersome construction permitting process. Developers have complained for years that the city's reviews take far too long, which makes their projects more expensive to build and therefore more costly for the eventual residents.

In April, Johnston signed his first executive order, creating the Denver Permitting Office and setting a goal of processing all construction permits within 180 days, or roughly six months. If the new one-stop shop fails to do so, the city says it will refund up to $10,000 in applicants’ fees.

The first round of deadlines under that new promise won't happen until mid-November. As of Thursday, the dashboard tracking shows that lately, it's taken an average of about 276 days to process permits for new multifamily residential buildings.

Carl Koelbel, with the real estate development firm Koelbel and Company, said he’s cautiously optimistic about the direction of the planning department.

“I think the new office that they’ve created is the right move," he said, "but I think it����ap going to take, unsurprisingly, another couple of years before we find out if it had the desired effect on permit timelines."

Supporters of multimodal transportation are also watching Johnston closely. Jill Locantore with the Denver Streets Partnership said she doesn’t believe improving the city's bike lanes and pedestrian infrastructure has turned out to be a priority for Johnston.

“He hasn't necessarily stopped any initiatives that were moving forward, but we haven't seen much leadership from him on what����ap next,” she said.

In June, the city's Department of Transportation and Infrastructure announced it had completed its long-awaited update to , which outlines future projects for bike lane expansions.

Several Denverites referenced a lack of emphasis on multimodal transportation in their comments to The Post about Johnston's performance so far.

“His full 180 on multimodal transit has been a huge blow to my view of him," said John Reilly, a Sloan's Lake resident. "Complaining about not having funds to improve bike infrastructure and then literally paying to tear up and worsen existing bike infrastructure destroyed any remaining iota of trust in him.”

Denver recently spent $200,000 to remove vertical safety barriers from some protected bike lanes downtown for replacement with sturdier but less protective alternatives, . The department had also been hearing complaints from neighbors of some of the new protected bike lanes about "visual clutter."

In the past year, the transportation department has scaled back plans for some prominent bike corridors in response to local pressure, .

One group that has supported Johnston strongly is opponents of the development of Park Hill Golf Course.

In January, Johnston announced the land would open to the public as a large park after city officials negotiated to acquire the land through a land swap with the owners, Westside Investment Partners. The deal he referenced took several months to finalize, but the council approved it in May.

A required due diligence period is still underway before the park can open this summer, said Stephanie Figueroa, a spokesperson for Denver Parks and Recreation. The city plans phased improvements as it adds amenities to the new park.

The luck of the draw

How successful Johnston will be in his first term -- and the likelihood of him serving a second -- will all break on how the next two years take shape.

The impending layoffs, the budget shortfall, the unresolved Broncos stadium question, downtown's recovery following the reopening of the 16th Street mall and the national political landscape will all help determine the strength of his position when Election Day rolls around in April 2027.

So far, said Teske, the CU Denver analyst, Johnston's progress has been slowed by problems largely outside his control, including the migrant crisis, a slowing national economy and Trump's scrutiny.

“He has had a lot of bad luck,” he said. “You have to expect that and be ready for that, but it does seem like it����ap been a lot at different levels."

But if initiatives like the women's soccer stadium and efforts to improve downtown do help Denver recover, voters could view him favorably in 2027.

"It's likely Denver will be turning in a more positive direction," Teske said. "He might be able to take credit for that."

Kniech said she sees a trend of Johnston sometimes overpromising and later inflating his wins.

"Time will tell whether this catches up with him with the electorate," she said.

One thing is for certain: Johnston plans to continue betting big on whatever hand he’s dealt.

"We have three big values in the city: listen, dare and deliver. So a core value for us is 'dare,' " he said. "But the key is, you also have to deliver."

“At Hampden and Locust, it����ap like you take your life in your hands when you’re trying to cross those streets,” said Sandra Prodan, a Southmoor Park resident. “That needs to be improved.”

“Repave Monaco! Please!” interjected another Denverite.

During 11 meetings at schools, recreation centers and churches across Denver over the last two months, City Council members and Johnston have listened to hours and hours of people sharing their ideas on how to improve the city. The “community conversations” are part of Johnston and the council’s “” proposal for the city to take on new debt — in the form of a general obligation bond likely reaching hundreds of millions of dollars — to underwrite dozens of city projects.

The bond, which must first get voter approval, could pay for things like road projects, new bike lanes and recreation centers, along with building renovations and upgrades.

“What we are doing is identifying key opportunities for investment and capital projects in your neighborhood that create moments of joy,” Johnston said at the gathering Wednesday. He has attended each of the community meetings.

City officials plan to take the public input they solicited through the community meetings and surveys and create a list of projects the bond could finance. Then voters will get to decide in the November election if they like the plans enough to authorize the new debt.

The bond, if approved, wouldn’t increase property taxes because it would replace earlier debt currently being paid off. While city officials say the exact figure won’t be pinned down until the project list is final, it’s likely to amount to around $800 million in investment.

During the public input period, which ended Thursday, more than 750 people attended the in-person meetings and 5,300 filled out the city’s survey, said Laura Swartz, the communications director for the city’s Department of Finance.

A new library? How about pickleball courts?

The highest number of responses by neighborhood came, in descending order, from Park Hill, Capitol Hill, Congress Park, Central Park and College View, according to information updated April 14 on .

Respondents ranked parks and playgrounds as the highest-importance priority among things the bond could improve. The next-highest was a category for street, bike and pedestrian safety.

Ideas submitted ranged from a new library along East Colfax Avenue to more pickleball courts in north Denver to a downtown extension of the protected bike lane on Broadway.

The city is specifically looking for concepts and projects that it could complete in the next six years.

Now that the public input portion of the process is over, will review and evaluate the ideas in coming weeks. There will be five subcommittees on connectivity, arts and cultural venues, facilities, safe and healthy neighborhoods, and parks and climate. Each will include council members, subject-matter experts and residents.

The subcommittees will then rank the project ideas and refer them to an executive committee, which will create the final package proposal. The executive committee members haven’t been chosen yet but the roster will consist of some subcommittee members, council President Amanda Sandoval and the city’s chief financial officer, Nicole Doheny.

The mayor’s office will choose the members of the subcommittees and the executive committee, Swartz said.

City leaders said that when they choose the projects, the committees will consider equity and which communities historically have missed out on investments.

During the final community conversation session about the bond at Hamilton Middle School on Wednesday, attendees broke into topic-specific groups. City staffers helped facilitate the conversations, reminding residents what types of projects are possible and breaking up the occasional argument or digression.

The ideas vary from standalone suggestions to coordinated community proposals, Johnston said in an interview.

“What I love is it����ap a beautiful picture of democracy in action,” he said. “There are small, everyday things people really care about, and there are big dreams they care about. You see them come together on both.”

Several people who spent their evening in the middle school spoke highly of the process.

“I feel like they listen and get things done,” said Prodan, who pushed for the street safety improvements in southeast Denver.

Denver’s reliance on bonds

General obligation bonds are a common tool for cities to build infrastructure. to approve new bonds every four to 10 years.

In 2021, during the pandemic, voters approved , a 5-year, $260 million program. In 2017, — a 10-year, $937 million package — passed. Both still have projects in the works.

Bonds have built or contributed to dozens of projects in the city, including the 16th Street Mall improvements, the Carla Madison Recreation Center on Colfax and the animal hospital at the Denver Zoo.

For this round, Johnston isn’t the only one who has been at every public input meeting. Jason Bailey, who runs the group has also attended each one to disperse flyers opposing the initiative.

On the handout, Bailey argues that bonds aren’t a good financial choice for the city because the long-term cost for a project paid for using debt is higher than it would be if it were paid out of pocket. The trade-offs are similar to purchasing a new car with a financing plan versus cash.

“Mayor Johnston and City Council are wasting precious time and millions of dollars all in order to get the city further into debt,” he wrote.

Swartz, with the city’s , says it����ap true that the debt approach costs the city more for a single project. The main benefit of bonds, however, is getting multiple projects off the ground at the same time, saving the city money by averting inflation in the future.

“We see construction costs increase more every year than the interest cost on the bonds,” Swartz said.

But for voters concerned for Denver’s budget, the city’s website identifies another possible drawback to issuing bonds: “If voters choose not to approve new bonds, existing taxes could go toward paying down current bonds faster.”

The subcommittees and executive committee are expected to finalize the final package this summer.

The new bond package — of an undetermined amount, though past city bond issues have been in the hundreds of millions of dollars — would contribute to a fund for general city projects. Residents’ input in coming months will help shape the list of projects the bonds would benefit.

“This is an incredible moment where the people of Denver get to decide their own destiny,” Johnston said during an announcement event at the Carla Madison Recreation Center, a project that past bonds partially funded. “We are going to focus on really shovel-ready projects that can be transformational and catalytic for neighborhoods all across Denver.”

, which are repaid through property taxes, can be used for any new or existing public capital improvement projects, including roads, bridges, bikeways and government buildings. The city says the bonds won’t result in an increase in property taxes because they’ll replace earlier debt as it’s paid off.

Denver won’t announce the full amount of the bond package until the City Council finalizes a list of projects in late summer.

Johnston already has a name for it — , borrowing a term he’s used often, going back to his campaign for mayor in 2023. He said the initiative “allows us to come together to decide our priorities for our neighborhoods, our families and ourselves.”

Denver’s previous bond programs include , a 10-year, $937 million general obligation bond package approved in 2017 and , a 5-year, $260 million program approved in 2021 — both of which still have projects underway or in the queue.

Voters have been asked to approve general obligation bonds every four to 10 years. Johnston said the city was pursuing a new bond program so soon after the one approved in 2021 because that one was a COVID-era stimulus investment.

“We want to ensure our neighborhoods flourish — not just for today but for future generations,” council President Amanda Sandoval said during the event.

She said the gathering of neighborhood input will include “a lens of equity throughout this whole entire process.” City leaders will look at which communities benefitted from the last bond package and also consider underrepresented areas when evaluating project ideas, she said.

While the Elevate Denver and RISE Denver project lists haven’t been completed yet, Johnston said he didn’t want to wait too long to think ahead. The new bond program is likely to be “in line with previous bond sizes,” Johnston said.

“We think this is the right time to start looking at the next set of investments,” he said.

Denver has completed nearly 400 projects using bonds, according to the news release. Recent bond-funded endeavors — sometimes supplemented with other funding sources — include a new wing of the Denver Art Museum, an animal hospital at the Denver Zoo, a new stage roof for Red Rocks, an indoor pool and play area at Green Valley Ranch recreation center, and updated equipment at police and fire stations.

The new bond programs would “deliver investments” within six years, according to the release.

The city will post surveys at recreation centers and libraries for resident feedback, and “community-led subcommittees” will review the input before referring it to the council. The new program website, at , includes .

That process is similar to past bond initiatives, which have generally seen success winning voters’ support in part because the packages included projects spread across the city. A notable exception was in 2021, when voters approved four bond ballot measures but rejected a fifth that would have used $190 million for a new arena and building renovation at the National Western Center.

Construction crews already finished upgrades to program space, bathrooms, the children’s library, meeting rooms, elevators and Schelessman Hall.

Ongoing projects include finishing deferred maintenance and relocating some library services, according to library officials.

Upgrades at the Central Library and 10 other branches are funded by the 2017 Elevate Denver bond, when voters approved nearly $1 billion for roads, parks, city buildings and health and cultural facilities. Denver libraries received $69.3 million from the measure.

The nearby Blair-Caldwell African American Research Library and Ross-Broadway Branch Library are still open, and the central branch will hold a grand reopening Nov. 3.

“It’s already half an hour long,” the museum’s director said of his Wednesday, Oct. 13, address, which was written to herald $175 million in upgrades and additions at the institution. “It really is a complete overhaul and redefinition of the museum, so it’s hard to fit in all the details.”

As Heinrich, 61, stood in the lobby, employees hurried by toting ladders and tools and buckets of paint, a reminder that there was still work to be done. But it was merely detail work: The ambitious project — which added both the Sie Welcome Center and 35,000 square feet to the museum’s iconic, 50-year-old North Building — has finally been realized.

Now called the Lanny and Sharon Martin Building, the gray-tiled tower was designed by Italian architect Gio Ponti and . It was due for a major overhaul and preservation, Heinrich said, having last been updated 25 years ago. Denver’s voter-approved bond issue in 2017 covered $35.5 million in infrastructure upgrades, and jumpstarted fundraising for the larger project.

“We kept nothing from the old building layout,” Heinrich said. “Not even a display case. Everything is new, but it’s in the spirit on Ponti.”

The public will be able to explore the renovated Martin Building, along with the 50,000-square-foot Sie Welcome Center, during Denver Art Museum’s free reopening festivities on Oct. 24. Comprehensive, bilingual signage is intended to make Spanish speakers feel more comfortable at the museum, Heinrich said.

The reopening will reintroduce visitors to its famed, redesigned North American Indigenous, Asian-Pacific, Western Art and Latin American collections while highlighting textiles, contemporary design, photography and more. It also adds cozy outdoor areas and a sunken plaza that features a modest “performance arena” to host music and dance.

The Sie, in particular, invites reassessment. It shifts the visual balance of the complex from two main buildings to its own, spaceship-like façade of floor-to-ceiling, fluted windows, which were custom-made in China. The airy, three-story public space features classrooms and play areas for the tens of thousands of students who visit each year; a restaurant helmed by James Beard Award-winner Jennifer Jasinski; a café; a state-of-the-art conservation lab; archival storage; and a ballroom-for-rent (the Sturm Grand Pavilion).

Just south of the new and renovated spaces at 1400 W. 14th Parkway sits the other half of the art museum complex: architect Daniel Libeskind’s sharp, silvery Hamilton building, which was completed in 2006 and reopened for several months last year.

Now, after three years of work and 2020’s pandemic delays — a phased opening was supposed to start more than a year ago — the museum’s pieces are united. The reopening is a milestone for Denver’s art scene, but it’s not the only one this year. Major anniversaries for the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver (at 25 years) and the Clyfford Still Museum (10 years) join the reopening of Denver’s Kirkland Museum after extensive water damage in February (officials saved the majority of works).

“What’s exciting about the reopening is that it shows how this city has invested in art as an economic driver, and as something that knits our communities together,” said Joyce Tsai, director of the Clyfford Still Museum, Denver Art Museum’s next-door neighbor in the Golden Triangle Creative District. “In the face of the pandemic, the cultural sector has become more focused on sharing successes than competing.”

That’s significant, as a full-strength Denver Art Museum has the potential to goose the Golden Triangle’s slow foot traffic. Over the past 18 months, the upscale, high rise-heavy area has been besieged by the same protests, homeless camps and vandalism that have largely hollowed out central downtown’s corridors.

“I am excited about the reopening,” wrote Jennifer Larsen, a Golden Triangle resident and assistant at its Creative District, via email. “Our museums and galleries bring people into the neighborhood (who) often stay for a meal or a drink, or to explore other offerings.”

Denver Art Museum, one of the metro area’s top cultural attractions, has averaged about 800,000 visitors annually in recent years, according to a museum report. When Heinrich started his current job in 2010 (he was a curator there two years before that), that was closer to 400,000 annual attendees. The growth is good but it presents problems, Heinrich said, especially strained capacity.

“The city is changing and becoming more dense and gentrified,” he said as he looked down on a shuttered Civic Center park from the roof of the Martin Building. “But more people can mean more support for the arts, and more of a community around them.”

That was borne out in the museum’s capital campaign, with the Martins’ donation (a capital contribution of $25 million) and an anonymous $25 million donation for an endowment joining matched-dollars that brought the total to $175 million. It funded an energy-efficient makeover, which found workers stripping materials down to the Martin Building’s original walls, following designs by Denver’s Fentress Architects and Boston’s Machado Silvetti. They filled in lofted spaces with wooden floors, and added newly built rooms on the roof of the seven-story structure.

The retooling also is a restoration of some of Ponti’s original design elements, with motifs that bow or conform to his cut-out, geometric silhouettes, and terrazzo touches that pay home to the old North Building. Conceptual lighting schemes — first envisioned more than 50 years ago, and now possible with LED technology — were restored. Stately but approachable gallery design has lowered some objects to within touching distance in the eclectic galleries, their walls splashed with vibrant reds and cool greens.

“If I had known ten years ago that this was going to cost $175 million, I wouldn’t have tackled it,” Heinrich said with a laugh while standing next to a 22-foot-tall Haida totem pole, dated to 1870. “It’s good that we didn’t know that back then.”

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter, In The Know, to get entertainment news sent straight to your inbox.

Ahead of this week’s deadline, the Clerk and Recorder’s Office approved six citizen-led measures while the City Council approved two more measures proposed by city officials and another five from Mayor Michael Hancock that make up a $450 million bond proposal.

Alton Dillard, spokesman for the Clerk and Recorder’s Office, said this year’s ballot has more citizen-initiated ordinances than any other he could find going back to 2001 and likely further. Typically an election will have between one and three, he said.

The clerk’s office will mail out ballots Oct. 8 and the city’s 24-hour ballot drop boxes will open for returns the same day, he said. The city’s blue book, explaining each measure, will be mailed out to voters even before then.

While the ballot is packed, Dillard said voters are in a good position to take their time since they’ll have weeks to scrutinize each proposal before casting their votes.

“Denver voters need to be happy that they have a model geared toward making it easy for people to vote,” Dillard said.

Measures on Denver’s November ballot will begin with Hancock’s five bond proposals, each of which must be approved by voters before the city can borrow the money, and lead into the initiated ordinances:

Referred Question 2A (Denver Facilities System Bonds): $104 million for Denver facilities projects like repairs and improvements at the Denver Botanic Gardens, Denver Museum of Nature and Science, Bonfils Theater Complex and the Denver Zoo; two new libraries; renovation of a city-owned youth empowerment center; and accessibility upgrades for city buildings.

Referred Question 2B (Denver Housing and Sheltering System Bonds): $38.6 million for housing and shelter projects like building or renovating shelters for the homeless. City officials could also use the money to buy buildings or convert structures into shelters.

Referred Question 2C (Denver Transportation and Mobility System Bonds): $63.3 million for transportation projects like expanding Denver’s sidewalks; renovating existing bike lanes and adding new ones; rebuilding stretches of the Morrison Road corridor to add a cultural and arts district; and building an urban trail downtown.

Referred Question 2D (Denver Parks and Recreation System Bonds): $54 million for parks projects in northeast and south Denver; restoring athletic courts and fields; replacing playground and recreation equipment; and rebuilding the Mestizo-Curtis Park pool.

Referred Question 2E (National Western Campus Facilities System Bonds): $190 million to build a new arena at the National Western Center campus and to renovate the existing 1909 Building.

Referred Question 2F (): When the Denver City Council approved new group-living rules for the city in February allowing up to five unrelated people to live in a single home, Safe and Sound Denver opposed the move. Now, the group is asking voters to repeal the council’s decision. Voting to repeal the group living change would also overturn the council’s decision to expand the number of available plots in the city for halfway homes, which previously were only allowed in industrial areas.

Referred Question 2G (Fill Future Vacancies for Independent Monitor): The Office of the Independent Monitor is responsible for overseeing all disciplinary investigations into Denver’s police and sheriff’s departments, for recommending policy changes and investigating other incidents like how police handled the George Floyd protests in 2020. The position is currently appointed by the mayor, but this measure would instead put that appointment in the hands of the volunteer Citizen Oversight Board.

Referred Question 2H (Election Day Change): Proposed by Denver Clerk and Recorder Paul Lopez, the measure would move up the city’s general election from the first Tuesday of May in odd-numbered years to the first Tuesday in April. The move would give the clerk’s office more time to send mail ballots to people traveling or living abroad in case of a June runoff election.

Initiated Ordinance 300 (): This measure would increase Denver’s local marijuana sales tax from 10.3% to 11.8% in an effort to for the University of Colorado Denver CityCenter, the university’s partnership with the city and local businesses. The money would be used to research technology that could be used to keep people safe during a pandemic and other preparedness and recovery methods. Three-quarters of the money would be spent researching personal protective equipment, disinfection and sterilization technology, and design features of physical spaces. The remaining quarter would be earmarked for researching public policy and planning. No more than 8% of the money raised by the tax increase could be spent on administrative expenses.

Initiated Ordinance 301 (): This would require voter approval before any commercial or housing construction could begin on any parks or city-owned land covered by a conservation easement. This would include the 155-acre Park Hill Golf Course property, where the developers and property owners at Westside Investment Partners want to build.

Initiated Ordinance 302 (): A countermeasure to the Parks and Open Space measure. This measure was proposed by Westside Investment Partners and would amend the definition of “conservation easement” to apply only to those reviewed and approved by the state Division of Conservation. This would effectively allow development on the Park Hill Golf Course property, currently covered by an easement.

Initiated Ordinance 303 (): This measure, proposed by Garrett Flicker, chair of the Denver Republican Party, would ban anyone from camping on private property without written permission from owners. It would also allow sanctioned camping sites in up to four places on public property, requiring amenities like running water, restrooms and lighting. The measure would require city officials to enforce the camping ban within three days of receiving a complaint and allows people to sue the city if it fails to clear up the camp.

Initiated Ordinance 304 (): Also proposed by Flicker, this measure would cap Denver’s aggregate sales and use tax rate at 4.5%, down from its current 4.81%. It would also require the city to reduce any other new sales and use taxes if voters approve new ones above that 4.5% cap.

Updated 8:50 a.m. Sept. 4, 2021 Due to a reporter’s error, this story incorrectly indicated how citizen-led measures are approved for the city’s ballot. The Clerk and Recorder’s Office places them on the ballot.