A rendering of the Cherry Creek West project. (Courtesy East West Partners)
City leaders will weigh in starting next month on a rezoning bid that would allow the redevelopment of the west end of the Cherry Creek Shopping Center, with demolition at the site tentatively scheduled to begin early next year.
Amy Cara, managing partner of Denver-based East West Partners, told BusinessDen that the company’s rezoning bid for a 13-acre site at the southeast corner of 1st Avenue and University Boulevard is set to be considered by Denver’s Planning Board on Aug. 7.
Amy Cara, a managing partner at East West. Photo courtesy of East West.
Assuming the proposal is forwarded by that body and a City Council committee, the full council is expected to vote on the rezoning on Sept. 23, Cara said.
The site is currently zoned to allow the big-box retail buildings that currently occupy it. Most are vacant, although the steakhouse Elway’s is one notable remaining tenant.
East West is proposing to construct seven buildings on site, as it has been for years. Four of the buildings would be residential, with about 825 units between them. The remaining three buildings would have about 600,000 square feet of office space combined.
East West had once planned the opposite: four office buildings and three residential buildings. The company recently released its first new renderings of the project since June 2023.
Cara said East West plans to develop all the buildings itself. The company struck a ground lease deal in 2021 with the Buell Foundation, which owns the land where the mall sits. Buell “wanted a single partner” on the project, Cara said.
Michigan-based Taubman owns the mall.
A rendering of the Cherry Creek West project. (Courtesy East West Partners)
The residential units are all slated to be apartments, Cara said. The company has committed to restricting 12 percent, or approximately 100, of those units to those making up to 60 percent of the area median income.
That would be something new for Cherry Creek, one of the priciest spots in the city for rents and real estate. Cara said there is some income-restricted senior housing in Cherry Creek, but “I’m not aware of any other affordable housing” beyond the units planned in Cherry Creek West and across the street at Clayton Lane, where Matt Joblon’s BMC Investments is planning a partial redevelopment.
East West has also committed to pay twice the typical required “linkage fee” for the project’s non-residential buildings. That money goes into a city fund that is allocated for income-restricted housing projects.
The seven buildings would also include about 100,000 square feet of retail and service space between them. Cara said she’s hopeful that Elway’s, which will be losing its building, will take space in the new project, although nothing has been finalized. Nearby residents have asked about that, she said.
“As neighborhoods change, it’s nice to have a place you’re familiar with,” Cara said.
The entire project would have about 2,000 parking spaces and 4 acres of green space, which East West is calling “the first meaningful open space in Cherry Creek.” The neighborhood is somewhat unique in Denver in that it lacks a sizable public park, although a popular bike path runs along the neighborhood’s namesake creek just south of the site that the company will redevelop.
“Right now, people don’t have a connection to it,” Cara said of the creek.
A rendering of the Cherry Creek West project. (Courtesy East West Partners)
East West is seeking to have the property changed to “Planned Unit Development” zoning, which would be custom-tailored to what the company plans to build.
Three of the buildings East West is proposing would be 160 feet tall, which translates to 13 stories for a residential building and 11 stories for an office building. The other buildings would be eight stories and between 100 and 120 feet tall.
Cara said those opposed to the project tend to be concerned about one thing.
“There is something of a movement afoot … to imply that we’re creating insane amounts of traffic,” she said.
But Developer David Steel of Western Development Group and former Denver City Councilman Wayne New are two of the most vocal critics on the issue, pointing to existing backups at the neighborhood’s busiest intersection and questioning the city’s plan to deal with increased trips to and from the project.
“First and University is backed up, going east to west and north to south. It is bumper to bumper,” Steel told The Denver Gazette. “We weren’t paying attention ten or 15 years ago. Now all of a sudden, holy crap, these guys are doing another seven buildings.”
A rendering of the Cherry Creek West project. (Courtesy East West Partners)
Cara, meanwhile, said her firm commissioned a traffic study that found the project would lead to a 5 percent bump in vehicle trips through the area. She said 1st and University are largely busy because of thru traffic headed downtown or elsewhere in the city.
Density could actually help the issue, according to Cara. She said bus routes along the corridor don’t have the service levels that it once had, and higher density on the route could lead to increased ridership and service.
“When we add that density, that makes things possible,” she said.
East West’s timeline calls for demolition and utility work to begin at the site early next year. Construction on Phase I of the project, which would include three buildings at the east of the site, would start in the first quarter of 2026, with the first building being completed in summer 2029. Phase II, which would include the remaining four buildings, would begin construction around that time and wrap up in 2033 — nearly a full decade from now.
A rendering of the Cherry Creek West project. (Courtesy East West Partners)
City leaders will weigh in starting next month on a rezoning bid that would allow the redevelopment of the west end of the Cherry Creek Shopping Center, with demolition at the site tentatively scheduled to begin early next year.
Amy Cara, managing partner of Denver-based East West Partners, told BusinessDen that the company’s rezoning bid for a 13-acre site at the southeast corner of 1st Avenue and University Boulevard is set to be considered by Denver’s Planning Board on Aug. 7.
Amy Cara, a managing partner at East West. Photo courtesy of East West.
Assuming the proposal is forwarded by that body and a City Council committee, the full council is expected to vote on the rezoning on Sept. 23, Cara said.
The site is currently zoned to allow the big-box retail buildings that currently occupy it. Most are vacant, although the steakhouse Elway’s is one notable remaining tenant.
East West is proposing to construct seven buildings on site, as it has been for years. Four of the buildings would be residential, with about 825 units between them. The remaining three buildings would have about 600,000 square feet of office space combined.
East West had once planned the opposite: four office buildings and three residential buildings. The company recently released its first new renderings of the project since June 2023.
Cara said East West plans to develop all the buildings itself. The company struck a ground lease deal in 2021 with the Buell Foundation, which owns the land where the mall sits. Buell “wanted a single partner” on the project, Cara said.
Michigan-based Taubman owns the mall.
A rendering of the Cherry Creek West project. (Courtesy East West Partners)
The residential units are all slated to be apartments, Cara said. The company has committed to restricting 12 percent, or approximately 100, of those units to those making up to 60 percent of the area median income.
That would be something new for Cherry Creek, one of the priciest spots in the city for rents and real estate. Cara said there is some income-restricted senior housing in Cherry Creek, but “I’m not aware of any other affordable housing” beyond the units planned in Cherry Creek West and across the street at Clayton Lane, where Matt Joblon’s BMC Investments is planning a partial redevelopment.
East West has also committed to pay twice the typical required “linkage fee” for the project’s non-residential buildings. That money goes into a city fund that is allocated for income-restricted housing projects.
The seven buildings would also include about 100,000 square feet of retail and service space between them. Cara said she’s hopeful that Elway’s, which will be losing its building, will take space in the new project, although nothing has been finalized. Nearby residents have asked about that, she said.
“As neighborhoods change, it’s nice to have a place you’re familiar with,” Cara said.
The entire project would have about 2,000 parking spaces and 4 acres of green space, which East West is calling “the first meaningful open space in Cherry Creek.” The neighborhood is somewhat unique in Denver in that it lacks a sizable public park, although a popular bike path runs along the neighborhood’s namesake creek just south of the site that the company will redevelop.
“Right now, people don’t have a connection to it,” Cara said of the creek.
A rendering of the Cherry Creek West project. (Courtesy East West Partners)
East West is seeking to have the property changed to “Planned Unit Development” zoning, which would be custom-tailored to what the company plans to build.
Three of the buildings East West is proposing would be 160 feet tall, which translates to 13 stories for a residential building and 11 stories for an office building. The other buildings would be eight stories and between 100 and 120 feet tall.
Cara said those opposed to the project tend to be concerned about one thing.
“There is something of a movement afoot … to imply that we’re creating insane amounts of traffic,” she said.
But Developer David Steel of Western Development Group and former Denver City Councilman Wayne New are two of the most vocal critics on the issue, pointing to existing backups at the neighborhood’s busiest intersection and questioning the city’s plan to deal with increased trips to and from the project.
“First and University is backed up, going east to west and north to south. It is bumper to bumper,” Steel told The Denver Gazette. “We weren’t paying attention ten or 15 years ago. Now all of a sudden, holy crap, these guys are doing another seven buildings.”
A rendering of the Cherry Creek West project. (Courtesy East West Partners)
Cara, meanwhile, said her firm commissioned a traffic study that found the project would lead to a 5 percent bump in vehicle trips through the area. She said 1st and University are largely busy because of thru traffic headed downtown or elsewhere in the city.
Density could actually help the issue, according to Cara. She said bus routes along the corridor don’t have the service levels that it once had, and higher density on the route could lead to increased ridership and service.
“When we add that density, that makes things possible,” she said.
East West’s timeline calls for demolition and utility work to begin at the site early next year. Construction on Phase I of the project, which would include three buildings at the east of the site, would start in the first quarter of 2026, with the first building being completed in summer 2029. Phase II, which would include the remaining four buildings, would begin construction around that time and wrap up in 2033 — nearly a full decade from now.
