While many neighborhoods struggle to make their live-job promises a reality, along with the high employment rates needed to make the projects successful, the 16-block Cherry Creek North Business Improvement District has gotten its way. With 10 large-scale infill projects completed or in the works since 2020, and five more currently under review, the mixed-use, pedestrian-focused neighborhood adjacent to downtown Denver is one of the busiest markets in the country.
About 300,000 square feet of office space and hundreds of residential units have recently been added to the already dense neighborhood, and Cherry Creek North consistently maintains some of the lowest office and retail vacancy rates in the region, says Nick LeMasters, president and CEO of the Cherry Creek North Business Improvement District (BID), the arena for the entity’s developers.
PCL is building the eight-story 201 Fillmore building in Cherry Creek North. Designed by Goettsch Partners, the Class A office building features first-floor retail and an outdoor rooftop patio.
Image courtesy of Goettsch Partners
“It’s the consummate mixed-use environment,” he says. “And this may be one of the few places in America where you can still finance, lease and open an office building at a time when no one is building offices. That in itself is as extraordinary as it gets.”
Established in 1989, the Cherry Creek North Business Improvement District was the first BID formed in Colorado. It was created to help guide the long-term success and vitality of the Cherry Creek North neighborhood, and was structured as a public organization funded primarily by privately owned commercial property taxpayers. Its boundaries encompass a 16-block area that stretches from 1st Avenue to 3rd Avenue and from University Boulevard to Steele Street, approximately three miles from downtown Denver.
The Beck Group and Shears Adkins Rockmore are building apartments at 299 Milwaukee.
Photo courtesy of Shears Atkins Rockmore
Flight to Quality
“What it comes down to is a flight to quality,” says LeMasters. “The types of tenants coming to the district represent a wide range of verticals,” from oil and gas to wealth management and finance. “We also see more and more family office operations making Cherry Creek their home. And to top it all off, this fantastic collection of local businesses is layered.”
The BID partnered with the city and neighbors in 2012 to develop the Cherry Creek Area Plan, which informs development, transit and future rezoning in the Cherry Creek area. The plan also helps ensure that building design standards are met and that the pedestrian realm is at the forefront of every project.
Cherry Creek North was the first priority pedestrian zone in Denver, and walkability is a key element of any new construction, LeMasters notes.
The Beck Group is the designer and builder of the 250 Clayton St. office tower project. Class A.
Image courtesy of the Beck group
Collaborative Effort
The district’s zoning code changed in 2014 to allow for higher density and encourage redevelopment of older buildings, many of which lacked sidewalk-level storefronts due to old zoning provisions. The higher height and density near 1st Avenue tapers off next to the 3rd Avenue neighborhood. “It was this collaboration that made the area code so enjoyable for everyone,” explains LeMasters.
“What’s great about the BID is that it’s a self-contained mini entity in Cherry Creek that only has the interests of businesses and landowners at heart,” says Matt Joblon, CEO of BMC Investments.
“This may be one of the few places in America where you can still get an office building financed and leased and open at a time when no one is building offices.”
—Nick LeMasters, President and CEO, Cherry Creek North Business Improvement District
The BID is empowered to make decisions in the best interest of stakeholders, with neighborhood safety and cleanliness as its top priority, Joblon adds. “You can’t sell anything if you don’t feel safe. The BID does an amazing job of ensuring that urban landscapes are done right… they cover all the best practices,” he says.
The district’s design advisory board, one of only a few in Denver, meets monthly to review every project that goes online. “From the front doors and signage of a building to brand new construction,” says LeMasters, this board of volunteer architects and developers reviews every project. “His colleagues and competitors make the presentations… There is a lot of collegiality and their comments are respected,” he adds.
BID staff also partners with the city to ensure that Cherry Creek North construction projects are managed safely and efficiently and are executed in a way that minimizes impacts to surrounding businesses. However, this is not an easy task with the number of cranes and construction vehicles that have set up in the neighborhood.
The largest project, BMC’s $500 million Cherry Lane development, will completely reimagine the neighborhood’s west end when it opens for business in 2028.
Tryba Architects designed the three buildings that will occupy the 9-acre site. The project features 379 market-rate apartments and 59,063 square feet of office space, as well as 132,665 square feet of high-end ground floor, second floor mezzanine and rooftop retail and restaurant space.
The 9-acre Cherry Lane development will provide new mixed-use connectivity to the Cherry Creek North neighborhood.
Rendering courtesy of Tryba Architects
PCL Construction began extensive demolition of the old buildings in December 2024 and is currently running the structure through the existing garages to build on top of them to create a nine-story residential building with retail below. General Superintendent Jeff Luedecker says 37 retailers will go into the three structures, which will include walkable roads between the buildings to access storefronts and also feature an outdoor bar.
Construction is taking place next to one of the nation’s busiest Whole Foods, he adds, and PCL is keeping the grocer’s existing parking lot active even though much of the ongoing work is hidden inside the garage, “bringing a whole new level of complexity.”
“We have a great relationship with the IDB and spend a lot of time coordinating with them,” adds Luedecker.
PCL is also building a project at 201 Fillmore. Designed by Goettsch Partners, the eight-story, 140,000-square-foot Class A office building features first-floor retail and a rooftop patio. Down the street, the Beck Group is the designer of the second phase of the $200 million Clayton Street redevelopment, an eight-story, 175,000-square-foot Class A office building with 10,000 square feet of ground-floor retail.
An outdoor pedestrian shopping lane contributes to the walkability of the area, a key element of any construction in the district.
Rendering courtesy of Tryba Architects
Minimizing disruption
With so much construction activity in a relatively small footprint, the BID works to minimize disruption by managing traffic flow. LeMasters says noise, trucks and reduced street parking are issues, and the BID helps mitigate some of them by directing customers to available garages.
He says they also have an obligation to create “the best public space for pedestrians that we can,” and devote a lot of time and effort to public safety and keeping the neighborhood clean.
These efforts are paying off. Two large residential projects are currently rising from the ground. Hyder Construction broke ground last November on the Shears Adkins Rockmore-designed Waldorf Astoria condominiums, and 70 percent of those residences have already been sold. Shears Adkins Rockmore also designed Oasis Apartments, which will bring more than 400 luxury units to the neighborhood. Built by the Beck Group, the eight-story mixed-use project was completed in March.
“Having permanent resident ownership of over hundreds of rental apartments is exciting,” says LeMasters, who adds that condo development in Colorado has been negligible for years, making this type of project unique to the state.
“The Palm Beach area of Florida and the Century City neighborhood outside of LA are the only two other markets that do well,” LeMasters continues. “There are companies paying attention to Denver.”
