Northeast Denver Development News

1) 40th Ave. and Central Park Blvd. There’s another step forward in the development plan for the 25-acre Brookfield Properties proposal at 8801 E. 39th Ave. A community information meeting was held in May about the project, which includes a Whole Foods Market and a total of 700 housing units, including townhomes, multi-family units, and affordable housing.

The initial design for the new Central Park shopping area includes nine other retailers and four restaurants. The plan calls for four buildings at the site, with one being Whole Foods, and the others for future stores. The anticipated opening is in 2027. A three-acre public park will be part of the development leading to Sand Creek.

2) JC Penney Northfield. The now closed JC Penney in Northfield will be home to a Lifetime Fitness facility with an expected opening in 2027.

3) Fairfield by Marriott. Work is well underway for the hotel being built next to the Cracker Barrel on E. 40th Ave.

4) Founders Green Townhomes. More townhomes are coming to Central Park. The Founders Green Townhomes will be built in the vacant lot by the fire station at Trenton St. and MLK Jr. Blvd. Fifty-four units are planned for the complex which will be sold at market rate.

5) A Program Focused on Dignity in the Denver County Jail

Some of the clothes donated to the Central Park Goodwill store will now go to individuals in custody at the Denver County Jail on Smith Rd.

“My dad was in this jail when I was a kid,” said Denver Sheriff Elias Diggins, whose department operates the jail. “I can tell you that coming into a stark white room and seeing your parent coming out in an inmate uniform is something that you never get out of your mind. If we want to bring families together, and if we want to reduce the trauma that families have by their incarceration experience —because families are doing time as well—why not change those folks out into regular clothes?”

This idea came from the sheriff after he watched the Netflix film Daughters. In the film, young girls visited with their fathers inside a prison, and the men were dressed in regular clothes during the visits.

The donated clothes and shoes are on racks in a room near the jail’s renovated visiting space. The people in custody will select and change into clothes before seeing their families and will go through body scans after the visits. Diggins hopes the attention given to the visitation and clothing programs in Denver will inspire other facilities to do the same.

Sherri Tomerlin, manager of the Central Park Goodwill store, said the clothing program is meaningful for her and the team at the store and she hopes the donations continue to stock the Goodwill store shelves and help with this new program.

“When you treat people with dignity, you create space and healing and the connection of hope,” Tomerlin said. “The roots start right here in our neighborhood. The donations come from throughout the stores, from neighbors, from friends, from families that directly help people in our whole community.”

The Central Park Goodwill store is in Quebec Square at 7797 E 36th Ave.

OPENINGS

6) Samos Grill: 11601 E. Montview Blvd., Aurora.

7) 19th Hole Clubhouse: 11690 E. Montview Blvd., Aurora.

8) Outdoor Roller Rink: Stanley Marketplace, 2501 Dallas St., Aurora.

9) The Local Drive: Stanley Marketplace, 2501 Dallas St., Aurora.

10) Chipotle: 8968 E. 46th Ave., Denver.

11) CAVA Mediterranean: 8928 E. 46th Ave., Denver.

12) Dutch Brothers Coffee: 8888 E. 46th Pl., Denver.

13) Knotted Root Circular Lounge: 5126 E. Colfax Ave., Denver.

14) Call Your Mother Lil’ Deli: 3165 Central Park Blvd.

15) Denver Residents Listen, Learn, and Question at a Town Hall

At a May town hall meeting on the Mosaic Community Campus, Denver City Councilwoman Shontel Lewis updated District 8 residents about developments, including relocation assistance, the 2026 council budget, the Vibrant Denver GO Bond process, Park Hill Park, the Quebec Corridor Task Force, and All in Mile High.

District 8 is home to 80,000 people in Park Hill, East Colfax, Central Park, Northfield, and part of Montbello.

“One of the things that was glaring is that we were kind of just responding to what was happening in the world, versus being more proactive about what we were hearing in community,” Lewis said. “One of the things that we’re really hoping to be able to do in District 8 is to connect our neighborhoods so that we can figure out where the alignment is [on issues], where we might be able to work on a single initiative, or maybe two initiatives, that span across each neighborhood,” Lewis added.

Initiatives take money, and Lewis reminded the crowd to share input for the city budget process, which needs to be finalized by November 10. She wants people to participate now and let her office know what’s most important.

Lewis is also campaigning for support for the $800 million Vibrant GO Denver Bond, which must be authorized every 4–10 years and used to fund projects such as roads, bridges, parks and other public facilities.

Central Park resident Matt Blackburn questioned the proposed bond, asking why some of the money from a previous bond wasn’t used to improve the intersection of Central Park Blvd. and MLK Jr. Blvd. as it had been slated.

Lewis said it’s incumbent on the council member for the district to track the money and the projects which her office is now doing, she said.

“On the previous bonds, District 8 was robbed, for lack of a better word, to be completely honest with you. There were not even a lot of projects that were within the bond that had investment in the area,” Lewis said.  “The largest investment was a police training facility, and then the second largest investment was a shelter. And then the others were the smaller projects I think fell off the radar because you didn’t have someone who was constently thinking about it.”

The Vibrant Denver GO Bond proposal has a long list of projects attached to it, including a new recreation center and library for the East Colfax neighborhood.  Resident feedback is part of the process, as it is with the Park Hill Park and the future of the Quebec Corridor.