Optiv Security has moved its headquarters from downtown Denver to Leawood, Kansas, ending its occupancy of the two floors it still controlled at 1144 15th St. The cybersecurity company’s departure returns 39,415 square feet to the downtown leasing market, with the space listed for sublease through May 31, 2031, The Denver Post reported.
Optiv had been a prominent tenant at the 40-story tower since 2018. It previously reduced its presence by subleasing one of its three floors to PNC Bank in 2021; floors 29 and 30 are now the remaining space being vacated, according to BusinessDen.
Kansas becomes the company’s official base
Optiv’s official headquarters is now at 5100 W. 115th Place in Leawood, where it occupies a three-story standalone building. The Kansas City Business Journal reported that nearly 200 employees are already working there and that the company plans to expand the local workforce. Optiv has about 2,800 employees worldwide, according to the publication.
The Denver office is closed, but the company says Colorado remains an important market. Optiv told The Denver Post that a couple hundred Colorado-based employees will continue working remotely. That leaves the company with a workforce presence in the state, but no longer a Denver headquarters or physical office identified in the company’s statement.
A large space returns as downtown works through excess supply
Optiv’s move comes as downtown Denver continues to carry a high office vacancy rate. Vacancy reached 38.2% at the end of 2025, compared with 27.2% in late 2022, while suburban vacancy was 28.3%, according to The Colorado Sun.
Conditions improved only modestly in the second quarter of 2026: downtown vacancy was 38.6%, a 20-basis-point improvement from the prior quarter. The Denver Gazette reported that the central business district’s vacancy rate was 44%, while LoDo was at 19.5%; the downtown market also recorded 66,000 square feet of positive net absorption. Citywide, Denver posted 365,748 square feet of positive office absorption in the quarter, according to the Gazette and Avison Young.
Those figures point to a market that is leasing some space while still carrying substantial availability. Avison Young reported 4.4 million square feet of sublease availability during the second quarter, with about 2.0 million square feet of leasing activity. Whether that improvement can absorb the two floors Optiv has placed on the market remains unknown.
The city has studied alternatives, but no conversion is established
Denver has considered how unused offices might serve other purposes. The city’s 2023 Housing Stability Action Plan said proposed budget funding would support a study of whether downtown office space could be converted to residential uses, according to the Denver Department of Housing Stability. The plan does not identify 1144 15th St. as a conversion project, so Optiv’s former floors should be treated as available office space unless a separate redevelopment proposal emerges.
The pressure is also visible in city finances. Denver’s proposed 2027 budget cited falling commercial office valuations as one factor affecting projected property-tax revenue, alongside changes in assessment rates and slower residential growth, the city budget document says.
Optiv’s exit therefore has two distinct consequences: the company’s headquarters and planned growth are now centered in suburban Kansas, while Denver retains a remote employee base but must find a new tenant for nearly 40,000 square feet in a market that is showing isolated signs of recovery without having resolved its broader vacancy problem.
