The wrecking ball has officially arrived at Cherry Creek. East West Partners this week kicked off demolition on the west end of the Cherry Creek Shopping Center, tearing into two of the three buildings that line the 13-acre site at First Avenue and University Boulevard. The work makes way for Cherry Creek West, the long-planned mixed-use neighborhood set to replace the former big-box retail strip. A smaller former Bed Bath & Beyond building closest to University Boulevard will stick around a bit longer, serving as a construction office while crews continue demolition and site prep through the spring and summer.
At a Tuesday ceremony marking the start of work, East West managing partner Amy Cara told the crowd she “couldn’t be more excited,” according to BusinessDen. The outlet reports that crews have started dismantling structures that once housed Elway’s, The Container Store, Macy’s Furniture Gallery and Boulder Running Co., and that demolition across the west side of the property is expected to wrap by the end of the summer.
What the plan includes
Mortenson | Saunders, the joint-venture team hired to lead construction, describes Cherry Creek West as a 13-acre conversion of surface parking into a walkable, mixed-use neighborhood at First Avenue and University Boulevard. Colorado Politics reports the approved plan calls for seven new buildings, four residential and three office, with structures rising up to 13 stories and roughly 600,000 square feet of office space plus about 100,000 square feet of retail. Parking for the entire development is slated to be underground across the site.
Phase 1 and timeline
Phase 1 is planned for the east side of the property and will bring two residential buildings and one office building, totaling about 400 apartments, 200,000 square feet of office space and 50,000 square feet of retail, according to the Cherry Creek Alliance development report. Openings will be staggered into 2029. Across both phases, developers expect roughly 840 residential units overall, and East West has said demolition on the current structures should be finished by the end of the summer, per BusinessDen.
Who’s building and the community tradeoffs
East West is developing Cherry Creek West in partnership with Ascentris, and Mortenson | Saunders was later named construction managers in a joint announcement from the firms. As part of the deal with the city, Colorado Politics notes that the developer agreed to reserve roughly 12 percent of units for households earning up to 60 percent of area median income. Neighborhood groups have raised concerns about traffic and density, while city officials and the development team say those issues will be managed through phased construction and traffic-demand management strategies…