February 2016 — Retail Properties Quarterly —
Page 11
wasn’t a prime location for anything.
Now apartments surround it.”
A big base for the marketplace is
Cherry Creek, the southeast suburbs
and northwest suburbs, Zeppelin said.
“The demographics are kind of inter-
esting,” he said. “It is a lot of people
who want to come to the core of the
city. It’s got the urban grit to it, but also
it’s friendly and inviting.”
The Central Market is located in
another beautiful, old building, the HH
Tammen Building at 26th and Larimer
streets.The landmark building in the
Ballpark District has a colorful past,
beginning as a manufacturing ware-
house of Rocky Mountain souvenirs in
1928.The neighborhood area is gaining
popularity at a rapid pace.
“I’ve owned this space for a while
and I just thought with how this area
is developing that it would be great to
have a gourmet market to service the
neighborhood,” saidWolf. He contacted
several small gourmet markets, both
locally and regionally, but couldn’t get
any to commit. So he decided to do it
himself, he said.
Stanley Marketplace in Aurora is
housed in another historic landmark,
an old aviation building where the
ejection seat was invented, said Shaker.
The location, which aims to act as a
bridge between Stapleton and Aurora,
is the biggest gamble of the three.
“Stanley is in a tough, tough spot,”
said Imbergamo. “It’s not hard to get
there, but there are barriers to get
there.There is an argument to be made
that if you create enough critical mass
– andThe Source is the proof of this –
that people will seek it out if it’s unique
and interesting and has the buzz. So
they’re doing a good job and got some
quality tenants.”
The need was a local need, said
Shaker. “People out in East Denver and
Aurora spend their time driving to the
Highlands orWash Park or RiNo for
different activities,” he said. “I think
there’s a real opportunity to bring
something interesting, a foundation of
culture and independent businesses
under one roof. It was an opportunity
for this kind of concept in a place that
doesn’t have anything similar.”
Also, Stanley Marketplace is 1.2 miles
away from a medical campus that sees
30,000 daily workers from theVA hos-
pital, Children’s Hospital, the University
of Colorado hospital and a biotech
center, Shaker said. Aurora has 345,000
people and Stapleton is growing to
30,000, he said.
“Stapleton is perfect in so many ways
and beautiful, but it’s like a damn food
desert,” said Farrell. “People pay good
money for these beautiful houses; we
want them to be able to get great food.”
What’s Next?
The idea of a market as a gathering
spot for the exchange of goods and
to congregate has been around for
centuries. “I see it as something that
will continue to grow and expand as
we move away from the big-box store
into supporting local initiatives,” said
Shaker.
Zeppelin agrees. If a developer can
do more in one space and has a proj-
ect to support it, it will do better than
a single-purpose strip mall experi-
ence, he said. Creating an experiential
environment with a curated mix of
businesses that successfully encour-
ages a positive flow of people has
driven The Source’s success, boasting
retail sales of $1,000-plus per sf, he
said.
“These aren’t original ideas, but
by the time you combine them with
the unique concept of Denver, the
neighborhood that they’re in and the
unique mix that the project attracts,
you’re ending up with something
that’s original; but it’s really drawing
on some kind of traditional proven
models,” he said.
“I think that the success of these
food markets is probably going to
be related to the economy to some
extent,” said Imbergamo.When
money gets tights, people tend to pay
more attention to the price of nones-
sentials, he said.
And while urban food markets may
be meeting the retail needs of a more
culinary-educated consumer, some
wonder how many could be too many.
“I hope that these things calm
down,” said Farrell. “We should keep
good quality, but we don’t need mass-
es. Frankly, I think it’ll be less cool
and the originality will be deluded the
more there are.”
“I think anybody in any business
will tell you that one food hall is great,
two food halls is eh, and then you get
to 10 and, at some point, they’re going
to be eating each other’s lunch,” said
Imbergamo.
s
Urban markets try to create
unique experiences that are
popular to locals and tourists.
Here are several other examples
mentioned in the interviews
with Denver’s developers.
San Francisco:
The Market and
Ferry Building Marketplace
Napa, California:
Oxbow Public
Market
New York City:
Chelsea Market
and Gansevoort Market
Washington, D.C.:
Union Market
DC
Seattle:
Pike Place Market and
Melrose Market
Milwaukee, Wisconsin:
Milwau-
kee Public Market
Other Urban Market Halls
Courtesy From the Hip Photography
The urban food markets are located in repurposed, historic warehouses. Stanley
Marketplace is in an old aviation building, which is said to be where the ejection
seat was invented.
Retail Trends
