"Golden is crazy busy on weekends," Darden Coors, CEO of AC Development, told The Denver Gazette in June. Her company is the Coors family firm turning the old ceramics plant at the north end of downtown into the Clayworks District.
Four months later, that weekend crowd has more places to go than it did in summer, and a couple fewer. Over the first two weeks of October, two longtime restaurants on 12th and 13th Streets closed for good. CoorsTek's global headquarters moved into a restored 1880s factory building on Ford Street. The Downtown Development Authority also asked residents whether a 35-space parking lot beside Miners Alley should become a public plaza. Downtown's familiar core is losing some regulars, and the new energy is gathering at the edges.
Two Closures, One Owner, Eleven Years
Abejas opened at 807 13th St. in 2015, and Westword named it one of the best new restaurants in Denver that year. In early October it closed "temporarily" for what owner Brandon Bortles called "extended building-related issues," Westword reported. A few days later the closure became permanent.
The restaurant's statement, shared on Instagram and quoted by Westword, read:
"After more than 11 years in Golden, we have made the difficult decision to close Abejas Bistro. The restaurant industry has changed considerably over the past few years, and the decision to close has not come easily."
Bortles also owned Nosu Ramen at 700 12th St., which closed the same week after six years. He told Westword that opening in February 2020 meant an uphill start. He also said rising operating costs and changing economic conditions made a lease extension unsustainable.
As of October 12, nobody has publicly said what will go into either space. Both addresses sit on the old downtown grid, a block or two off Washington Avenue. Losing both in one week leaves two dark storefronts on corners that had been lunch and dinner stops for years.
The North End Gets a Front Door
A few blocks north, the opposite is happening. Clayworks covers six city blocks of downtown's northeast corner, on the old Coors ceramics site between Clear Creek and the CO-58 freeway. The Gazette described that stretch as having been "downtown's least charming site."
The first building is The Pottery. It keeps its historic brick facade and the familiar "Coors U.S.A. Chemical & Scientific Porcelain" sign. On October 2, the Denver Business Journal reported that CoorsTek had moved its global headquarters into the 182,000-square-foot building. The DBJ also noted that office space in the overall plan has been scaled back. According to the Gazette, CoorsTek's own space is about 80,000 square feet of that total.
The first retail tenant matters most for residents. Sweet Bloom Coffee Roasters, a Lakewood-founded roaster with cafés in Westminster and Arvada, lists its Golden location at 800 Ford St., Suite 102, as "opening soon." Its posted hours there are Monday through Saturday, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Gazette reported in June that the café planned an October opening in a 2,367-square-foot space. Earlier coverage mentioned an outdoor patio and a design inspired by the grinding media left behind by decades of ceramics work on the site. As of today the company has not posted a firm opening day.
Here is where each part of the district stands:
- Done: The Pottery's core and shell are complete, according to the developer's updates page. The developer also lists the new 8th Street, the 9th Street extension and a Clayworks plaza as complete, with public openings planned for late summer. That page does not confirm whether those openings have happened.
- Leasing: The main floor holds several food-and-beverage spaces. The developer counts four, and the Gazette's June report counted three. Sweet Bloom is the only named tenant so far.
- Starting: Work is beginning on the second historic factory building, which is being prepared for adaptive reuse.
- Planned, no dates: The long-range plan includes a 160-room hotel, about 500 apartments with 10% set aside as workforce housing, and up to 60,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, most of it food and beverage. The developer expects to build in phases over at least eight to ten years.
The streets around it are being rethought too. The City of Golden's North Ford Street update, dated October 2, lays out a corridor design. It adds wider sidewalks and calmer traffic, connects Ford Street to the Cressman Gulch and Tucker Gulch trails, and adds a four-way stop at Ford and Iowa. The plan keeps parking on one side of uphill Ford Street from about 5th Street to Goldco Circle. The city says construction depends on securing funding. The segment from 7th to 10th Street is excluded, except for a possible shared-use path coordinated with Clayworks.
A Second Plaza Idea, This One Public
Clayworks is not the only plaza in the conversation. The lot in front of the Miners Alley Performing Arts Center now holds 35 public parking spaces. It sits between MAPAC, the Foothills Art Center's Astor House campus and the 1100 block of Miners Alley. On October 10 the Downtown Development Authority held a block party there with MAPAC and Foothills artists, food from local restaurants and a stilt-walker roping guests into the fun, the Golden Transcript reported.
The idea is a public plaza for events, artist showcases and holiday markets, something local officials have discussed for a long time. "We feel like this spot is tailor-made for a plaza," DDA member Brad Miller told the Transcript. He pointed to its location between two major arts centers and near historic sites like Miners Alley and the former City Hall site.
Miller and DDA Chair Jeff Merenkov said nothing is set in stone. The board wants to gauge whether the public supports a plaza at all, and whether it supports one at this spot. The DDA and city staff are running an online survey through at least October 15, reachable at rb.gy/ijtbci. The DDA meets the third Monday of each month at City Hall, and those meetings are open to the public and streamed on the city website.
The trade-off is plain. Thirty-five parking spaces close to the arts district would become gathering space, in the same year a private plaza is being finished a few blocks north.
Washington Avenue Is Still Adding Doors
Several businesses have opened in and around the main strip this year:
- Stay Golden Mercantile is a locally owned gift and home goods shop focused on Colorado and Golden. It held its grand opening on October 10 at 1106 Washington Ave., Suite 102, and is open daily from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
- Bivy Beer Bar at 600 12th St., Suite 160, celebrated its grand opening in February.
- The Down Low, a bar and billiards lounge at 1224 Washington Ave., Suite 135B, opened January 16.
The Valdez family's restaurant group remains a downtown anchor. In an August profile, Westword described chef John Wilson leading four of its Golden restaurants: Old Capitol Grill & Smokehouse, Miners Saloon, Alchemy and Bella Colibri. The Brick Room is the group's fifth. The restaurants share equipment, staff and kitchen space, and Old Capitol Grill serves as the commissary kitchen.
That kind of shared kitchen spreads costs across several dining rooms. Independent single-location spots like the two that just closed carry all of those costs alone.
The Rest of October, Mapped
The month's remaining events cover the same ground, from Parfet Park to north Ford Street. The listings below come from local event calendars and are worth rechecking before you head out:
- October 17, 1 to 4 p.m.: Knock Your Boots Off Golden Beverage Tasting & Chili Cook-Off at Parfet Park.
- October 18, noon to 3 p.m.: Howl-o-Ween at the Golden Mill.
- October 29, 7 p.m.: Murder, Mayhem and Madness Tour, starting at the Golden Welcome Center at 10th Street and Washington Avenue.
- October 30, 3 to 4:30 p.m.: Golden Trick or Treat Street in Historic Downtown Golden.
- October 30, 5 to 8 p.m.: Halloween Bash at the Golden Mill, 1012 Ford St.
The Golden Mill sits at 1012 Ford St., on the same street where Sweet Bloom's website lists its Golden café as "opening soon."
Questions about what Clayworks, the Ford Street corridor plan or a possible Miners Alley plaza could mean for your block? Brad and Shanna at Next Chapter Partners Team follow downtown Golden's changes closely and are glad to talk them through, with no pressure. Start Your Next Chapter.
