Two live-work-play hubs in DTC are giving new meaning to the moniker, drawing diners to and from both sides of I-25
By Mark Samuelson
It’s no surprise that the Denver Tech Center, with its access to the freeway and Light Rail, has long since morphed from just an office park into what developers like to call a “transit-oriented development” or “live-work-play” hub.
DTC is now an archetype for that scene—miles from Denver’s urban core, but where people choose to hang their hats 9-to-5 as well as after hours. Two focal points showcase that trend—one east of the freeway, one west.
Belleview Promenade, with Ocean Prime and eight other culinary outlets, lies a half mile from Landmark, where Jing, Hapa Sushi and other venues are headliners. The freeway draws a wall between the two, and neither is walkable to Light Rail stations that opened in 2006. But that isn’t keeping them both from doing well—very well indeed.
“I can’t believe people want me to open a store in Cherry Creek,” says Sara Ernst, who wouldn’t think of such after witnessing the popularity of her Original Pancake House on Belleview in Promenade, with plenty of parking.
In 1953, Ernst’s great aunt Erma Hueneke opened a pancake parlor in Portland, Oregon, in a store beneath a flat where she lived. “She figured that if they could turn $50 a day, they would make it,” Ernst recalls. “The second day, she made one hundred and fifty dollars.”
Now, Original Pancake House has 150 locations, including two that Ernst started here—first in Cherry Hills. When that one saw business growing 25 percent a year, broker David Fried showed her a second site four miles east in DTC.
“David, it’s too close,” Ernst told him then. Freid prevailed, and at the Tech Center, where in 2000, Original Pancake House became an original anchor of Belleview Promenade, Ernst quickly matched her other sales.
“It blew my socks off,” she recalls now. She adds that the DTC store does 40 percent more business on weekdays than the other location. “It’s just gravy—whipped cream on the waffle,” she quips.
Waffles are a long way from the seafood, steak and cocktails that are other staples around Belleview Promenade’s dining scene—not just Ocean Prime, but Eddie V’s and Shanahan’s within a block.
Restaurant operators and their brokers now say both centers were initially envisioned for shopping, but the business of pleasing palates has exceeded all imagining. Broker Jon Weisiger with CBRE says the effect has been redoubled now by changes in consumer behavior.
“We see suburban markets now in a way we didn’t see ten years ago,” Weisiger adds. “Retail is one of the best-kept secrets.” Metro-wide retail vacancies are just 4.75 percent, based on CBRE’s newly released third-quarter report.
While at Trammel Crow Company, Weisiger was involved in some of Starbucks’ earliest leases here, and their Promenade store is a popular anchor. Recent Starbucks expansions, he says, usually go where a drive-thru window is possible. But drive-up is nowhere to be seen in a coffee house across the freeway in Landmark—packed with neighbors and businesspeople.
Lindsay Keiffer and her husband were sipping coffees in San Antonio when they imagined opening a shop here. They studied up on coffee, then opened their first Monk & Mongoose in Lone Tree. It was already a success when they heard about a location opening in Landmark and signed a lease.
“It’s never-ending groupings there from open to close,” says Corey McCartney with East West Urban Management, managers of Landmark’s retail. It’s a sister company to developer East West Partners, which, a dozen years ago, finished Landmark’s two condo towers and its complement of commercial after its original developer failed during the Great Recession.
Drivers headed down the freeway see Landmark’s Monk & Mongoose sign as they pass, and McCartney marvels at how popular the brand has become. “It doesn’t scream coffee, but it’s so unique people remember it,” he says.
Keiffer says monkeys and mongooses are known for craving coffee beans. She adds that her company’s small size offers a culture that nurtures its employees, which then passes on to customers, who notice a vibe distinctly warmer than the big beaneries can deliver.
Landmark’s eateries, including Slattery’s, Pizza Republica and Bad Daddy’s Burger Bar, profit from their walkability to Landmark’s luxurious condos. But McCartney says most customers arrive from elsewhere, drawn to a place where it’s easy to park before catching a movie or a Comedy Works act.
“The towers are a great base, but the bulk of customers come from outside,” he says, noting they come from as far south as Pueblo, from where one couple regularly drives 100 miles for dinner at Yanni’s Greek, followed by a movie.
Meanwhile, the dining synergy—a different place for every night of the week—draws specialty vendors to spaces that were once hard to lease, with many concepts centered on healthy lifestyles.
That’s also true at Promenade, where a few doors from Ocean Prime, you can find MyFitFoodsjammed with shoppers ordering take-home meals heavy on protein and veggies, skirting the glutens that are problems for some eaters now.
“It’s high protein and a good amount of carbs to keep you fueled for workouts,” says Arut Pogosjan, a professional fighter who has a championship bout in Las Vegas next month. “I’m 36 years old, but joining this has transformed my diet, where I’m cutting weight like I did when I was 26.” A cashier nearby notes that bulk orders often exceed $1,000.
Healthy fare is the polar opposite of the cookies and cakes a few doors east at Bird Bakery or in a dozen places at either venue where alcohol is the draw. Landmark has Scissors & Scotch, a barbershop with a full bar.
Even breakfast competitors like Snooze (north of Promenade) and Urban Egg (west across I-25in Belleview Station) serve drinks now, but Original Pancake House won’t be offering booze, ever. “The franchise doesn’t allow liquor,” Ernst says. After a few mimosas, she adds, people tend to sit.
Whether you choose east or west of I-25—or both!—for your shopping and dining excursions, you’ll find top-notch choices from morning until the wee hours to satisfy every craving.
