DENVER -- Booked hotel rooms downtown mean loft owners could make the equivalent of six mortgage payments by renting their place during the Democratic National Convention.

DNC could mean Downtown's Not Closed, but it will cost you plenty to find a place within walking distance of the Pepsi Center.

Maybe even $3,000 per night.

"I've never seen anything like this before," said Mark Beyerle, broker/owner of Denver Realty Services.

He has fewer than 30 units available now for the hot summer nights that will make up the Democratic National Convention: Aug. 25- Aug. 28.

Beyerle thinks those units alone are worth $258,000 for the week.

"A lot of the owners are going to take off for that week and have a nice vacation. And in that case, we're going to manage the tenant during their stay," Beyerle said.

And why not? Even with management costs, owners can still expect to keep 70 percent of their rental fees.

"It's still ridiculous. It's just price gouging. That's all it is -- greed," said John Levonyak, an Arvada resident.

It may be greed but the demand hasn't slowed down yet.

"This is taking a lot of our time right now, which is great. We're excited about it. And it's a fun project to be involved with. And it seems like every day someone else is calling. 'Oh, my buddy wants to also book his place for the DNC.' So there's a real chain-reaction going on out there," Beyerle said.

The Denver Metro Convention and Visitors Bureau said the calls keep coming, so people who want to stay in downtown Denver may end up on the outskirts of town.

"Our downtown probably sells out one third of the year with business. So, finding a room downtown is definitely going to be almost next to impossible. But I get calls daily," said Richard Scharf, president and CEO of the DMCVB.

Scharf said there are 42,000 total hotel rooms in the greater Denver area, more than Boston had for the 2004 DNC.

So far, the 17,000 rooms downtown appear to be spoken for.

The Bureau keeps a list of available places in outlying areas like Westminster, Highlands Ranch, and Louisville.

A clerk at the Howard Johnson's in Wheat Ridge at 12100 W. 44th Ave. said their rooms during DNC week are going for $195 a night instead of the typical $65 to $70 nightly rate.

LoDo lofts are more expensive but much closer. A two bedroom, two bathroom on the second floor of the Waterside Lofts at 1401 Wewatta St. could fetch $9,100 for five nights.

"Yeah, we tell them just park your car and have a nice week because you're not going to need it," Beyerle said.

And the demand is not coming from locals.

"You know, actually, I haven't booked a single party from Colorado yet. Everything's from out of state," Beyerle said.