By Thomas Spahr
Stanley Marketplace
2501 Dallas St
Opening Summer 2016
It seems like there is a new article posted about Stanley every week, so there isn’t a lot more we can add to the excitement. The former airplane ejector seat factory is currently being refurbished into a massive retail and events destination. Think of it as a mall, but way, way cooler. The project team at Stanley has the retail space 100% leased with notable Denver area eateries including Rosenberg’s Bagels & Delicatessen, Logan House Coffee Company, Happy 
Bakeshop, Sazza Pizza & Salads, Comida, Sweet Cow Ice Cream, Denver Biscuit Company, and Stanley Beer Hall. In addition, the Stanley will host periodic events including the Sweet William Market and the very popular weekend craft fair, the Big Wonderful. Located in a forgotten section of Aurora, just south of the Stapleton border, Stanley will be serviced by bike trails along Westerly Creek, the Greenway Park, and the soon-to-be-built 25 acre Aurora park. While the marketplace will be walkable and bikeable from a good portion of south Stapleton, it will also have a very large parking lot for visitor convenience. The City of Aurora views this as a centerpiece and catalyst for the redevelopment of Westerly Creek Village, which we’ll cover later.
Eastbridge Town Center
MLK Blvd @ Geneva Ct
Opening Fall 2016
Anchored by a massive and somewhat controversial 56K square foot King Soopers, the Eastbridge Town Center will also feature a small set of shops and restaurants being built by Evergreen Development. The town center portion of the development features some power players in the Denver restaurant scene, Troy Guard (Los Chingones) and Lon Symensma of ChoLon Bistro. Additional outposts of the Kitchen Next Door and Little Man Ice Cream will join the project, along with a small group of boutique retailers. The plaza will feature a fire pit on the west side and the new Los Chingones restaurant will have a roof top balcony that will take advantage of the neighborhood’s sweeping views of the Front Range.
Punch Bowl Social
MLK Blvd @ Uinta St
Opening late 2016
Vacant since the airport moved to DIA, the Stapleton control tower is both iconic and eyesore. Fortunately, the team at Punch Bowl Social are preparing to put some shine on this old architectural gem. The renovated control tower will become the new headquarters for Punch Bowl, which has expanded to Portland, Austin, Detroit and Cleveland in recent years. It will also feature many of the same entertainment elements that has made it a popular Denver destination, including a bowling alley, arcade, bar, and diner. The team will also add an outdoor patio on the east side of the building that will celebrate the existing architecture. At this time, it is still unknown whether they will make use of the actual tower room, which is only about 500-600 square feet and can only be accessed by stairs.
The Mint
East 29th Ave @ Roslyn St
Opening late 2017
The Mint is the final piece of the East 29th Avenue Town Center. Located directly north of the Founder’s Green, the Mint will be a 4-5 story, mixed used development with 399 luxury apartments and 8,000 square feet of retail with some patio space. There still isn’t any word on the tenants for the retail portion, but we suspect a mix similar to the existing town center, possibly a couple of restaurants and a coffee shop.
Stapleton TOD District
Central Park Station
Beyond 2018
With the University of Colorado A Line commuter rail opening on April 22, 2016, many possibilities await the transit-oriented development zone sitting at Stapleton’s Central Park Station. The project is merely at the concept stage, but Forest City envisions 1-2 million square feet of office space, 1,000 units of multi-family housing, and a 150-200 room hotel—all organized around “a placemaking” element.
Westerly Creek Village
NW Aurora
Beyond 2018
With final street connection being made at Dayton St, the redevelopment of Stanley Aviation, and the construction of 322 new homes at Stapleton’s southern border in Aurora, the City of Aurora envisions this quiet section of light industrial buildings and dilapidated retail space transformed into a hip, walkable mixed-use district and extension of the Aurora Cultural Arts District. While a quick look around may invoke skepticism among even the most optimistic, there is definitely serious activity taking place. In addition to the work ongoing at Stanley Marketplace, speculators are buying up land for future development. The Montview Plaza at Montview Blvd and Clinton St is rumored to be under contract with a national retail developer and landowners along Dayton St are working with the city on plans for mixed-use projects adding higher end housing with first floor retail. More details on these developments will become available later this year.
The MLK Extension to Peoria
MLK Blvd @ Peoria St
2018 and beyond
The last bit of Stapleton to be finished south of I-70 will be the MLK Extension to Peoria, which will open up future opportunities for retail development on the far east boundary of the neighborhood. Forest City is currently marketing the parcel on the SW corner of MLK & Peoria to national grocers. Perhaps Stapleton will finally get a natural grocery store (or maybe a third King Soopers). Across the street, the Fitzsimons Golf Course will eventually be replaced by a mix of uses as the Fitzsimons Life Sciences District gets built out. There are currently plans for office and neighborhood retail on the SE corner of Peoria and Fitzsimons Pkwy, including space for a 40,000 square foot grocer.
In addition, the Peoria Crossing Station provides the City of Aurora the opportunity to rethink the space immediately south of the station. The area now hosts a number of industrial uses, but the connection to 2 rail lines makes the location ideal for high density, mixed use redevelopment, especially housing. The city has laid out some general plans for the area, though it could take many years for the concept to come to fruition. The current plan do include a bike pedestrian bridge over Sand Creek, connecting the Bluff Lake area of Stapleton to Peoria Crossing Station in Aurora.
Peoria Station Land Use Map