The Latest on the Stanley Marketplace
Curious about what’s happening with the Stanley Marketplace? I had a chance to hear co-developer Mark Shaker speak at a community meeting the other night and I was able to shoot a video of the property today. So here’s the scoop and don’t forget to check out the video tour at the bottom!
I think most people in the area have heard about the project but if you haven’t here is the very quick version of what’s happening. The Stanley Aviation building, which originally housed a company that invented the ejection seat for airplanes, is going through an adaptive reuse project where it will become a huge community oriented marketplace. It’s around 120,000 + sf of building that sits on about 22 acres so the project is huge! Although it’s 100% unique, it draws inspiration from Chelsea Market in New York, Melrose Market in Seattle, Ferry Building Marketplace in San Francisco and even the Source in Denver’s RINO district. (Check out their websites & you’ll get excited about Stanley’s potential!)
Stanley has been making progress even though at the beginning of any construction project most of the work is behind the scenes. They’ve gotten through their zoning change and they are just starting the physical demolition work. Because this physical work is starting I wanted to take a few minutes to shoot a “before” video of the project. Because the end product is going to be so different I wanted to document how it stands today before work is started. (See video at the end of this post)
In terms of the tenant mix, things are getting really exciting! Stanley has over 100 businesses that have expressed interest and they are currently working their way through the applicants to put together a one of a kind community.
They are striving to have a building that is activated for 18 hours of the day. That allows them to build a vibrant, active community space rather than an area that only gets used for a small portion of the day. To accomplish this they want to have different areas of focus throughout the day.
They now have 7 restaurants that will be incorporated into the project! Other than the Kevin Taylor restaurant/beer garden I can’t release any names yet but they will have an ice cream shop, coffee shop, 2 breakfast options and several dinner and lunch options!
They also have other focus areas such as health, where they will have a dentist, nail salon, barber shop, wax, etc. A fitness focus where they’ll have tenants such as Kindness Yoga, Endorphin, etc as well as a smoothie bar! A kid focus where they have a Montessori school coming in and a kid’s educational play area that you can use with your kids or that you can use to entertain your kids while you enjoy the other amenities. In addition to the various areas of focus there will be a large central marketplace. In this space they’ll have a myriad of smaller local vendors who want to have a presence and offer their goods but don’t want the large overhead cost that comes with a bigger space.
All of the businesses are Colorado owned local businesses, there are no “chains” going in. This to me is one of the big differentiators that sets this project apart. I talk to so many people in Stapleton who are very eager for “mom and pop” type stores and restaurants that they just don’t get in Stapleton. Nothing against the Chipotle and Starbucks of the world, I love them both and go too often, but we want some more unique options. Places we can go for a night out and places we are proud to show our friends and family who visit because of their uniqueness and innovation.
Where did this huge “destination” project come from? It takes massive vision and as co-developer Mark Shaker explained it came out of the developers desire to have more mom and pop amenities in the area. The vision started much smaller, as they originally only sought out to open a beer garden with their partner Kevin Taylor. That has evolved into something so much bigger and I think Stapleton and N Aurora are going to be glad it did. Like most great projects, this one was born because of a need in the marketplace that wasn’t being met. Luckily for us the developers were willing to “scratch their own itch” and take on this huge undertaking.
The stated goal is to have the project open at the end of 2015. I think it’s aggressive but they are a very determined and focused group.
Ok now put on your vision goggles to check out the “before” video tour of the building below. When Stanley Marketplace opens we’ll do another video tour and compare the two!
I’ll keep you posted as the project progresses!
4 Responses
I sure do miss working there, was a very sad day when we all received the news we had to close the facility, sure is nice to know the building is going to be used and still enjoyed by the community.
Hopefully the project will be a rebirth of the building and the N Aurora area!
PLEASE PLEASE add Omniform Martial Arts Academy to your list of tenants!!
Omniform (currently located in Park Hill on 23rd and Kearney) is an amazing studio founded by Dr. Frank Elliott that is now primarily run by two of his three amazing, intelligent and super inspiring daughters. It is a family-owned and run business that has transformed the mind and body of all the people that are lucky enough to become students at this studio. If you have any questions, please email me at bernardaimee@hotmail.com – a 42 year-old student of Omniform Martial Arts Academy along with my 10 year-old twins. We love it!!
Thanks for the input. I’ll add them to our local businesses directory (under “Local Resources” on the main menu) this evening. Your passion for the Academy says a lot! – Joe