March 25, 2011: Cherry Creek North: Fillmore Plaza Project
Fillmore Plaza Project
Published: Denver Business Journal
March 25-31, 2011: VOL. 62, NO. 44
Fillmore Plaza project Denver-based developers Western Development and Realty Management Group hope the ongoing upgrade of Fillmore Plaza, on Fillmore Street between 1st and 2nd avenues, will spark a general recovery for the shopping district. Construction continues apace as developers aim to get the project ready by the July Fourth weekend, in time for the Cherry Creek Arts Festival.
The plaza upgrade, which was finally settled late last year after months of public debate, is the final step in an $18.5 million, bond-funded renovation of Cherry Creek North, which has included new landscaping, new lighting and upgraded infrastructure.
Part of it is the North Creek residential development, which rises up immediately on the west side of the plaza, to Detroit Street, and between 1st and 2nd avenues.
There will be increased retail space on the block, which is currently occupied by such stores as Loro Piana, Hermes, BCBGMaxAzria and restaurant Pasta, Pasta, Pasta.
The plaza project is designed to enhance pedestrian, event and retail activity on the block. Some oppose it because it will add a road, and therefore strip the district of its only pedestrian-only area.
Julie Bender, president and CEO of the Cherry Creek North Business Improvement District (BID), hopes the newly developed plaza will spur improved vacancy rates across the neighborhood, adding there already are some early signs of such improvement. The BID, whose board of directors appointed by Denver’s mayor, welcomed 35 new businesses into the district in 2010, losing a similar number.
But a balanced market is progress compared with ever-increasing vacancy rates.
“For the first time in its history, Fillmore Plaza is designed for multiple purposes,” Bender said. “We see this as a positive change and a gain, not a loss. Change can be difficult but, certainly, a lot of work has gone into the new design of Fillmore Plaza district.”
North Creek has 50 units, including 29 “Tower Residences,” which range in size from 1,337 to 2,957 square feet; 18 have been purchased.
The remaining units are nine brownstones (the largest is 3,400 square feet), eight courtyard flats (up to 6,200 square feet) and four townhomes.
Developers also hope the plaza redevelopment will serve as a bridge between the district and the Cherry Creek Shopping Center, across 1st Avenue. Bender said she sees the plaza as an ideal way to open up the entry from 1st Avenue into Cherry Creek North on the eastern side of the district just as Clayton Lane, which contains the JW Marriott hotel and retail stores, has done on the western side.
There’s early discussion — but nothing firm yet —about connecting the new plaza with a new entrance to the Cherry Creek mall where the main entrance to Saks sits now, which is aligned with Fillmore Plaza.
The plaza redevelopment should be a boon for all of Cherry Creek, including the mall, said Nick LeMasters, general manager of the mall.
“Any time you introduce a quality mixeduse project, it is a very positive step forward,” he said, adding there had been some “challenging times” with the residential project. “There are already some wonderful retail brands like North Face, Hermes and Loro Piana there, to name a few, and I think the project serves both Cherry Creek North and the mall.”
Saks closed March 19 and LeMasters said it will remain vacant for several months as the mall considers replacement options. A single retailer, or several stores, could move into the 90,000-squarefoot site.
“The far more important thing is to do it right and not just do it fast,” LeMasters said. “We are beingvery methodical about the approach we take.”