The Cherry Creek neighborhood is centrally located in both the City and the metropolitan area, three miles southeast of Downtown Denver.The neighborhood extends from 6th Avenue on the north to Cherry Creek on the south and from University Boulevard on the west to Colorado Boulevard on the east. Cherry Creek has relatively strong edges with residential neighborhoods to the north (Congress Park - across 6th Avenue), to the east (Hilltop - across Colorado Boulevard), and south (Belcaro -across Cherry Creek).

The western edge, however, is characterized by an overlap in land uses and character, with commercial uses lining both sides of University Boulevard from the north side of 1st Avenue to the north side of 3rd Avenue.West of the University Boulevard / Gaylord Street alley between 1st and 3rd Avenues and west of University north of 3rd Avenue the Country Club neighborhood is residential and is protected by restrictive R-O zoning and by designation as a Denver Landmark District. Because of interrelationships between the traffic, land uses, and improvements associated with Cherry Creek South Drive and those in the Cherry Creek neighborhood, the study area for this Plan extends south of the boundaries of the neighborhood to include that street

Cherry Creek is a mixed-use neighborhood with a large, regional shopping district in its southwest quadrant. A much smaller concentration of commercial uses also extends east of the shopping district along 1st Avenue and retail uses line the south side of 6th Avenue from University Boulevard east to Saint Paul Street. An office / hotel district occupies the southeast sector of the neighborhood and retail uses line the west side of Colorado south of Alameda.To the north and east of the shopping district, what historically was essentially a single-family residential neighborhood is being redeveloped with new single-family and multiple-family residences, primarily townhomes.Single-family residential neighborhoods surround Cherry Creek, with notable exceptions just south of the neighborhood along Cherry Creek South Drive and Alameda where there are several high-rise residential structures and a residential duplex condominium complex (Polo Club North).

Cherry Creek meets the Denver Regional Council of Governments’(DRCOG’s) definition of a REGIONAL CENTER, as defined in DRCOG’s Metro Vision 2020 plan. Metro Vision 2020 envisions that regional centers “create the concentration, density and origin/destination sites required for expanded transportation services such as light rail transit, bicycle and pedestrian paths and enhanced bus service.”

Cherry Creek is serviced by four major traffic arteries making it an easily accessible neighborhood. First, Speer Boulevard from Downtown Denver (LoDo) becomes East First Avenue in Cherry Creek. Running along the eastern and western boundaries of the neighborhood are University Boulevard and Colorado Boulevard which allow connections from Interstate 25. Lastly, the East Seventh Avenue Parkway skirts the north side of the neighborhood allowing crosstown traffic to get to Cherry Creek. Cherry Creek is also serviced by the Regional Transportation District (RTD) public bus system. It has five main routes that service various parts of the neighborhood. These routes are the #83L, #1, #2, #3, and the B-LINE

Two major commercial centers exist in Cherry Creek along the major traffic route of East First Avenue. First is an upscale, enclosed shopping mall, the Cherry Creek Shopping Center, which anchors the neighborhood. Second, the main shopping district of Cherry Creek North is also located along East First, Second, and Third Avenues from University Boulevard to Steele Street with much of the remaining areas of the Cherry Creek neighborhood remaining residential.

The Cherry Creek North shopping and dining district is a 16 city-block area with more than 320 upscale galleries, boutiques, restaurants and salons/spas and the pedestrian plaza Fillmore Plaza. Fillmore Plaza is home to numerous community events including Films on Fillmore (Summer), the Cherry Creek North Ice Rink (Winter) and the Cherry Creek Arts Festival. Cherry Creek North was also home to the original Tattered Cover Bookstore. The area is served by the Cherry Creek News, a community paper.

The Cherry Creek neighborhood is home to the Ross-Cherry Creek local branch of the Denver Public Library. The neighborhood is also home to Manley and Pulaski Parks, the Cherry Creek bike path, and the East Seventh Avenue Parkway, all part of the parks & recreation network of the City of Denver. Additionally, each spring a 5k foot race is held on the streets of Cherry Creek and the nearby parks and bike trails called the Cherry Creek Sneak

History

The form and character of the Cherry Creek neighborhood have been established through a long and interesting history. Rather than charting totally new territory, recent development activity is in many cases an intensification and expansion of the historic activities and patterns, and many of the issues that were critical in the late 1800’s and the early 1900’s are similar to those that the neighborhood faces at the beginning of the twenty-first century.

While many of the vestiges of Cherry Creek’s past have been lost, others remain, although few people may be aware of their history and the richness, continuity, and perspective that that history can provide.

The first significant impact of European settlers was felt with the establishment in 1858 of the Cherokee/Smoky Hill Trail, a pioneer route that extended from the Missouri River to Denver. The trail extended on high ground along the north side of Cherry Creek through an area naturally landscaped with chokecherry bushes, wildflowers, and buffalo grass. The trail crossed what is now Alameda at its intersection with Colorado, passed through the intersection of 1st Avenue and Steele, across what would become Bromwell’s school grounds, and continued west to its termination at the corner of what is now Broadway and Colfax. A point at the southwest corner of the intersection of Alameda and Colorado, occupied by a Conoco station at the time this plan was written, became known as Point Loma (Spanish for “low hill”) and was the site of a blacksmith shop, a trailside convenience. Other, and perhaps more interesting, uses such as roadhouses and gypsy camps also established themselves along this section of the trail.As late as the 1930’s, traces of the trail were still visible in the neighborhood, as were the gypsy camp and several of the roadhouses.

The earliest houses in the area, some of which are still standing,were erected between what is now Race and Madison Streets and 1st and 4th Avenues.A diagonal road ran through the community, with other intersecting roads and footpaths. In his efforts to attract settlers to the 320 acres that he had purchased in 1871 just north of Cherry Creek and east of what is now University Boulevard, Edwin P. Harman platted Harman’s Subdivision of Arapahoe County in 1882. Interest in the area was strong, and by 1885, approximately 140 persons owned land in Harman’s Subdivision. On November 17, 1886, with the goal of providing the growing community with public facilities such as finished and graded streets, street lamps, irrigation pipes, ditches, and canals, the property owners voted to incorporate the area between 1st and 6th, from University to Colorado, as the Town of Harman.Harman, like the rest of Colorado,was affected by the region’s boom and bust cycles.

In one week in February, 1892, for example, more than 4,000 building lots and homesites in Harman were sold to individuals. But, following the Silver Crash in 1893, the town did not see the building boom that those lots sales might have portended.As the demands for public services grew but the population growth failed to keep pace with expectations, the tax burden became higher than that in Denver, and in September 1894 the citizens of Harman voted for annexation to the City of Denver.

In 1867, just nine years after the founding of Denver in 1858, and nineteen years before the establishment of the Town of Harman,Arapahoe County, Harman School District Four built its first school on the present site of Bromwell Elementary. The school served an area between Gilpin and Dexter,Alameda to 9th. Because it was the first public structure in the area, the school also acted as the focal point of the community, and was used as the first Harman Town Hall and for the first church services.The first building burned in 1883 and was replaced by a new building in 1885.When Denver became both a City and a County in 1901, seven years after Harman was annexed to Denver, Harman School was transferred from Arapahoe County into District One, Denver Public Schools. In 1906, the Denver School Board changed the name of the school to honor Judge Henry P. H. Bromwell, a framer of the State’s Constitution and an early advocate of women’s rights, including suffrage. Despite another major fire in 1911, Bromwell remained in the same building until 1976, when the current school building was dedicated and the old building was demolished.

The first Protestant church services in the community were held in 1887 at the Harman School, from which the church, the Congregational Union Church of Harman,moved to Boot Hall, the second floor of the Boot Grocery Store at 4th and Clayton. In 1891, after the Boot Grocery Store was destroyed by fire, the church built its first structure at 4th and Cook and took the name Harman Congregational Church. In 1921, the church, named the 4th Avenue Congregational Church since 1913, was forced to move to accommodate an expanded congregation and major street work on 4th Avenue. In 1925, a new church was dedicated at 6th and Adams, again with a new name, the 6th Avenue Community Church.

The first Catholic church service in the community was held in 1889. By 1892, the congregation had built a frame church on the south side of 3rd Avenue west of Fillmore. In 1903, the church moved to a new structure on the northeast corner of 5th and Josephine and was known as the Church of Saint John the Evangelist. The church opened St. John’s school in 1925 on the north side of 6th Avenue at Elizabeth and in 1951 the church moved to a new building north of the school, at 7th Avenue Parkway at Elizabeth,where it later was merged with Saint Philomena’s parish and was renamed Good Shepherd Catholic Church.

A business district began to develop early in the community’s history around 3rd and Detroit. Later, other businesses would locate along the western sections of both 2nd and 3rd Avenues and on the south side of 6th Avenue east of University to St. Paul Street. Like most small towns that developed before the predominance of the automobile, despite some concentration of retail activity, commercial and public uses were dispersed throughout the community. The Town Hall was constructed at 4th and St. Paul in 1891; greenhouses and associated flower shops were located throughout the area; and small “corner” grocery stores and, later, gasoline filling stations located throughout the neighborhood.

More concentrated commercial uses that appear on a 1938 neighborhood map include Gunther & Sons Tannery, 256 Cook; Bitler Riding Academy, 143 Steele;Vest Garage and Auto Sales (that was initially a
blacksmith shop), 3rd and Fillmore; Stobbe Dry Goods Company on the southeast corner of 3rd and Detroit; the “Big House” tavern/restaurant on the northeast corner of 3rd and Detroit;“Doc” Hoffman’s Drug Store on the northwest corner of 3rd and Detroit; the Old Pioneer Tavern on the southwest corner of 2nd and Clayton; and Zimmies tavern, roadhouse, bootlegging headquarters during Prohibition and, initially, the only tavern between Kansas and Denver, on the southeast corner of 2nd and Clayton.Vacant lots at the southwest corner of 3rd and Clayton, the northwest corner of 3rd and Milwaukee, and the northwest corner of 3rd and St.Paul were used for summertime medicine shows. After Harman’s annexation to Denver, the Town Hall was used as a police and fire substation and then was sold by the City to the Masonic Lodge in 1934. Transportation improvements were one of the primary motivations for both incorporation and annexation. In 1886, the issues that led to incorporation included the grading and finishing of streets and the installation of street lights, and in 1889, the installation of crosswalks was an issue.

On January 1, 1892, almost three years prior to annexation, the Rocky Mountain News reported that a committee had solicited funds “to subsidize a rapid transit connection with Denver”. Harman was continually becoming more closely linked with Denver, and in 1893, a year prior to annexation in 1894, the Town Board voted to change the names of the streets in Harman to match those in the Denver. Thus, Carson Street became 6th Avenue; Beckworth, 5th;Vasquez, 4th; Bridger, 3rd; and Sumner, 2nd. Similar name changes were made to the north-south streets. As it developed, the community was connected to the rest of Denver by two streetcar lines, the Number 6, that ran along 6th Avenue, and the Number 4, that entered Cherry Creek from the west at 3rd and University and ran east along 3rd to Detroit, where it turned south to 2nd, then continued east to Colorado Boulevard.Asphalt paving of streets began in 1936.

During the early part of the community’s history, the area between Cherry Creek and 2nd Avenue was
impacted by its proximity to the Creek. Development was concentrated north of 2nd Avenue and no sanitary sewers were constructed south of 2nd Avenue until the 1920’s.As late as the early 1930’s, because of its proximity to the Creek and its low elevation, 1st Avenue was not a major street; 2nd and 3rd were better improved and more heavily used. 1st Avenue split into two unimproved roads east of University, with the wider road heading to the south, in-line with the section of 1st Avenue that lies east of Steele Street.A narrower road ran along 1st Avenue’s current alignment west of Steele Street, creating short blocks between 1st and 2nd Avenues. The area south of 1st Avenue remained undeveloped, and was best known as the site of “the grove”, an area of large cottonwoods between University and Fillmore.“The grove”was popular as a shady site for picnics, camping, prayer meetings, and gypsy bands. People were also known to live in shacks and tents both at “the grove” and along this section of Creek bank. Sandpits, including a clear pool just north of the Creek at Clayton, were used for swimming and ice skating. Harman had a popular and competitive baseball team that played at the ballfield west of Steele between Ellsworth and Bayaud.

Modern Cherry Creek had its birth in 1925, when Temple Buell, Denver architect and developer, purchased the property between Cherry Creek and 1st Avenue west of Steele, and first proposed developing it. Development plans were delayed when, on August 3, 1933, Castlewood Canyon Dam broke, flooding the area as far north as 1st Avenue at Clayton.To prevent a recurrence, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) built dikes along the banks of Cherry Creek, creating low, poorly drained land between the dikes and 1st Avenue. The WPA also tore down the cottonwoods that created
“the grove” and further denuded the area. To eliminate the resulting low land, the City started using this site as a public dump, a practice and stigma for the area that continued until the 1940’s. The threat of major flooding also prompted the construction of Sullivan Dam and its later replacement by the Cherry Creek Dam.

Temple Buell announced his intention to develop the Coloden Moor shopping center in 1946, leading to a two year zoning battle that focused on the potential impacts on traffic volumes and the health of Downtown, and that, in 1947, resulted in the Denver Zoning Board approving a rezoning of the parcel to allow the construction of the shopping center. Construction was delayed again, however, in 1948 when the Colorado Department of Highways included the site in a study of alternative routes for what would become the Valley Highway. Discussion of a “Mountain Freeway” and “Cherry Creek Parkway” began with this study; both of these proposals were later determined to be undesirable. In 1950, following the selection of the Valley Highway (Interstate 25) route, construction began on the renamed Cherry Creek Shopping Center. Nine acres of the 56 acre site were initially developed for shops, including The Denver Dry Goods Company, a satellite of Baur’s Downtown restaurants, and 16 additional shops. Land to the east of Clayton was slated for 750 residential units. The Denver Dry opened in 1953, with the remainder of the shopping center being completed in 1955.

At the same time the shopping center was being developed on the south side of 1st Avenue, the northeast corner of 1st and Josephine was being considered as a site for Calvary Temple, that owned the land. Sears Roebuck and Company purchased the site from Calvary Temple and helped them acquire their current site on the northeast corner of Alameda and University.The shopping center and Sears cooperated on the construction of a pedestrian tunnel that connected the two sites and protected
pedestrians from the traffic on 1st Avenue. The tunnel was used until the 1970’s, when it was closed because of maintenance and safety problems.

In 1957, and again in the early 1960’s, Buell announced plans to double the size of the shopping center. New additions to the center generally consisted of free standing buildings, and included among other uses a Safeway, a Skaggs Drug Store,movie theaters, and a Wyatt’s Cafeteria. Plans for residential units were dropped as the shopping center expanded toward Steele Street. In the early 1960’s, Cherry Creek North began marketing itself as an area of specialty shops, an indication that retail uses had changed from the historic neighborhood-serving stores to more destination uses. Commercial rezonings, renovations, and new construction moved farther east along 2nd and 3rd Avenues and started filling-in along the north-south streets
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In 1968,Temple Buell announced plans for a 54-story office building on a site in the middle of the shopping center.The proposal engendered discussion of appropriate height and traffic volumes and resulted in the passage of the Cranmer Park Mountain View Preservation Ordinance, that limited the height of buildings in the Cherry Creek neighborhood. In the mid-1970’s Temple Buell again announced plans for a major expansion of the shopping center. Various plans were discussed and several developers showed initial interest until the Taubman Company entered the negotiations in 1984. In February 1984, the Denver Planning Office established the Cherry Creek Steering Committee, which was comprised of representatives of the residential and commercial interests in Cherry Creek, to advise and assist in the formulation of a neighborhood plan for Cherry Creek.Taubman worked with the City and the Cherry Creek Steering Committee on the development of a new neighborhood plan that focused on plans for redeveloping the shopping center and mechanisms for assuring that the redevelopment would benefit the Cherry Creek North retail district and the surrounding neighborhoods.
The Cherry Creek Neighborhood Plan was adopted by Denver City Council in 1986 and an agreement outlining the parameters and responsibilities regarding the development of the shopping center and associated off-site improvements was signed by the City and Taubman in December of 1986. Work on the shopping center began in 1987 and was completed for an August 1990 opening.

Concurrent with the construction of the shopping center, Cherry Creek North established a Business Improvement District (B.I.D.), a property tax district that funds joint planning, construction, maintenance, and marketing activities. The B.I.D. completed a major streetscaping project, including a
pedestrian mall in the 100 block of Fillmore. Cherry Creek North also tailored a unique zoning district for its needs, developed a set of design guidelines for new development, and established a design advisory board to review the consistency of new development with the adopted guidelines. After an initial adjustment period preceding and immediately following the opening of the shopping center, retail activity in Cherry Creek North experienced a significant increase. By 1996, retail activity in Cherry Creek, including the shopping center and Cherry Creek North,was generating 25% of Denver’s total retail sales tax.

The increase in density and cost of housing in Cherry Creek paralleled the surge in retail activity and the development of a desirable Cherry Creek image. In 1975, a survey of Cherry Creek housing indicated that there were 2,050 total housing units. Of those, 39 were built before 1900, 643 from 1900
to 1939, 321 between 1940 and 1949, 260 between 1950 and 1959, 19 from 1960 to 1969, and 60 between 1970 and 1975.The totals for the forty years before 1939 and the thirty five years after 1940 were 643 and 660, respectively. Most of the houses built before 1970 were smaller, less expensive single family homes. Following 1970, however, single family homes and older multi-family homes were replaced by higher priced duplexes and townhomes. While Cherry Creek was still primarily a neighborhood of smaller and more affordable single family homes when the 1986 plan was developed, redevelopment activity in the Cherry Creek North residential area, that was zoned R-2, quickly created
a shift to a neighborhood of higher priced duplexes, townhomes, and fewer single family homes.

Cherry Creek East lagged behind Cherry Creek North in redevelopment activity until 1993, when redevelopment activity gained momentum. In the next five years, Cherry Creek East saw the development of more than 300 townhouses and other multiple family dwellings. As conditions changed following the opening of the shopping center in in 1990, Taubman, the Cherry Creek Steering Committee, and the City negotiated several amendments to the 1986 Development Agreement.

A 1994 amendment agreed to by Taubman and individuals from the Steering Committee allowed the temporary reuse and renovation of the three vacant buildings on the West End of the site, the building that had comprised the original shopping center. This amendment also extended the term of the Development Agreement from 2006 to 2016 and limited the uses that could locate on the West End. A 1995 amendment negotiated by these same parties expanded the list of restricted uses and added signage criteria for the West End.

As of the writing of this update of the neighborhood plan, Cherry Creek is again anticipating significant changes, as major redevelopments are proposed, housing densities intensify, and traffic volumes increase.The predominance of Cherry Creek as the premier retail area in the region is being challenged by the 1996 opening of a new suburban shopping center, Park Meadows, and announced plans for new shopping centers in the northern and western suburbs. In response to those challenges, in 1996 the Taubman Company undertook a $70 million, 156,000 square foot, expansion of the shopping center that provides a new, expanded, Lord & Taylor store and space for an additional 30 specialty shops. That expansion, which was consistent with the terms of the 1986 Development Agreement and its amendments,was substantially completed by the end of 1998. Subsequent to the initiation of the 1996-1998 expansion,Taubman, the Cherry Creek Steering Committee, and the City negotiated an amendment to the 1986 Development Agreement that transfers 300,000 square feet in development rights from commercial uses on the West End of the site to allow for the further expansion of the shopping center, including a fifth retail anchor. The amendment also places the entire site between Steele Street and University under design guidelines, with review by the City and participation by the neighborhoods. The Amendment was signed on December 22, 1997.

By the time the second expansion is completed, the shopping center will grow from just under 1 million square feet to almost 1.5 million square feet. Similar discussions are proceeding for the possible redevelopment of the 408,000 square foot Sears site. The smaller, adjacent site of the former Denver Catholic Archdiocese building at 2nd and Josephine is now under active redevelopment.

The adjacent residential neighborhoods continue to face the challenge of preserving their desirable qualities as Denver grows and changes around them. And Bromwell School, the oldest and most constant institution in Cherry Creek, returns to its status as a neighborhood school after 25 years of cross-town busing comes to an end. Analysis of each of these issues and trends benefits from the perspective provided by the history of Cherry Creek.

Taken from DenverGov.org