Tech firm’s ‘second headquarters’ in Denver dwindling to nearly nothing

A tech firm that planned to install a “second headquarters” in Denver is cutting its local office footprint by 95% and hasn’t been given any hiring-related state tax incentives it could have earned.

In 2019, Checkr signed an 11-year lease for 92,000 square feet at 1621 18th St. near Union Station. That spring, the state said the company was eligible for up to $27.9 million in tax incentives, and a news conference at the Capitol touted the expected economic boon.

But Checkr never built out three of its four floors at the 18th Street Atrium, as visitors to the building can clearly see.

And permit filings submitted to Denver this month show that Checkr is now building out a 5,400-square-foot office at 1125 17th St., closer to the middle of downtown.

Checkr spokesman David Patterson told BusinessDen in October that the company planned to move to a new Denver office in 2025, without disclosing specifics. The company did address the reason for the downsizing in subsequent requests for comment.

The state hoped Checkr would create nearly 1,500 local jobs. The more jobs created, the more money Checkr would get.

But six years later, the company hasn’t received a dime.

“To date the company has not earned any tax credit certificates, so the incentive has not had an actual fiscal cost to the state,” spokeswoman Alissa Johnson of the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade told BusinessDen in an email Friday.

On its LinkedIn profile, Checkr says it requires employees to come into the office two to three days per week. The business was founded in San Francisco in 2014 and raised nearly $500 million between 2019 and 2021, according to SEC filings.

Checkr’s planned move will leave the 18th Street Atrium building totally empty. The only other tenant, the Minnesota-based real estate firm Mortenson, moved to RiNo at the start of this year.

The building is owned by Stoltz Real Estate Partners, based near Philadelphia. The firm did not respond to requests for comment. Stoltz also owns Pepsi’s manufacturing facility in RiNo, which the beverage giant plans to vacate.

— Matt Geiger, BusinessDen