Doug McKinnon has sold another of his Cherry Creek gateway corners.
The owner of real estate firm McKinnon & Associates last week sold 55-65 S. Colorado Blvd., two parcels that form the northwest corner of Colorado and Bayaud Avenue, for $3.2 million, according to public records.
The undeveloped site is 0.38 acres, so the deal works out to $191 a square foot.
McKinnon said the local buyer “will be utilizing the G-RO-5 zoning we put in place to develop an office building for his firm’s use on the site.”
The property was purchased by DEG Realestate LLC, an entity formed by Alla Feldman with an office address corresponding to a home within Cherry Creek Country Club. Reached by phone, Feldman declined to comment on the purchase.
No development plans have been submitted to Denver for the site.
The corner lot is one of four on the outskirts of Cherry Creek — all marketed as a redevelopment opportunity — that a McKinnon-led group bought in 2019 for $5.5 million. The other lots were the southwest corner of Colorado and Bayaud and the southwest and northwest corners of Colorado and First Avenue.
McKinnon got the sites rezoned in 2020 after striking an unusually detailed “good neighbor agreement” with surrounding residents. Then, he put “Cherry Creek Gateway” signage up at each of the properties indicating they were for sale.
In 2023, McKinnon sold the southwest corner of Colorado and Bayaud for $1.4 million.
He still owns the corners at Colorado and First. He bought a neighboring parcel there for $1.8 million in 2023, giving him a larger footprint at the intersection.
GREENWOOD VILLAGE — The Massey Ratings require a recalibration.
Utah’s Skyridge entered Friday’s game against Cherry Creek as the No. 20 team in the nation, while the Bruins were ranked No. 93.
But the Bruins made those computerized rankings look buggy. They used a fast start and a furious finish to smoke Skyridge 51-28 at the Stutler Bowl, avenging their lone loss last season in the process.
It was Cherry Creek’s third victory over an out-of-state team in as many weeks, after hanging on to beat Cardinal Mooney (Florida) on the road two weeks ago and dominating Millard North (Nebraska) last week.
The performance against Skyridge suggests that Cherry Creek, owners of five of the last six Class 5A titles, is more than just a juggernaut in a flyover football state. This year’s Bruins — whose highest national ranking entering Friday among the three major services in Massey, MaxPreps and Rivals was No. 58 — have the size, speed and talent to play with just about anyone.
“This was a game for everyone who underestimates Colorado ball,” said Cherry Creek star running back Jayden Fox, who had three TDs and over 200 yards rushing. “They say we’re not a football state, we don’t have good enough athletes — but this game showed this program has those athletes, those star players.”
No, the Bruins aren’t a national heavyweight like Mater Dei, St. John Bosco, Bishop Gorman or Southlake Carroll.
But they possess a blue-chip frontman in defensive lineman Tufanua Ionatana Umu-Cais, a Washington commit who is a Navy All-American. They have one of the most dynamic running backs in Colorado in Fox, a UConn pledge who went scorched earth on Skyridge. And they have a slew of other Division I recruits around those headliners.
No wonder Cherry Creek’s had a tough time finding in-state opponents to fill out its non-conference schedule.
Fox was nearly untackleable in open space on Friday. When he got even the slimmest margin of daylight, he took off. While senior quarterback Brady Vodicka tossed three TDs and sophomore Elijah Cromwell was a complementary ground threat, Fox was the unstoppable star.
The Cherry Creek defense also set the tone early with interceptions by Michigan State commit Braylon Hodge on the game’s opening drive and then a pick-six by fellow senior linebacker Tate Matthews on the Falcons’ second drive. That gave Cherry Creek cushion for when Skyridge’s QB, Division I prospect Kaneal Sweetwyne, caught fire in the third quarter.
“The game started for them a little bit like the game started for us last year in Salt Lake,” Cherry Creek head coach Dave Logan said. “Their quarterback is about as good as we’ve seen in a long time, and so we tried to change up fronts, coverages, disguises. We made some plays early and we needed them, because that’s an excellent team.”
Cherry Creek coach David Logan, congratulates the team after the game against Skyridge at the Stutler Bowl Friday, Sept. 12, 2025, in Greenwood Village, CO. Cherry Creek won 51-28. (Rebecca Slezak/Special to The Denver Post)
With those two interceptions and Fox’s first carry in between leading to a 32-yard score, Cherry Creek went up 14-0 just 65 seconds into the game. The Bruins never looked back, despite Sweetwyne settling into the game and engineering four scoring drives to keep the Falcons from getting boat-raced.
Alijah Landrum-Hamilton’s slick moves on a screen pass led to a 40-yard TD, and Fox added on a 75-yard TD burst as Cherry Creek took a 27-14 lead into half. On the opening drive of the third quarter, the Bruins marched the field, capped by Louisiana Tech pledge Vodicka’s 16-yard TD pass to senior tight end Ty Goettsche (BYU).
After Skyridge made a third-quarter push and cut the score to 34-28, the Bruins used a field goal, a clutch defensive stop, and a 65-yard TD run from Fox to put the game on ice. On an outside zone play, Fox shed several tacklers and outran the Falcons’ secondary to quiet the Skyridge sideline and fan section, which had been energized up to that point.
“We started to feel like we won, but we had to remember, we have to play for 48 minutes,” Fox said. “… We went out in the fourth quarter and did what we did at the beginning of the game.”
By the time another Matthews pick set up Vodicka’s TD pass to senior tight end Anthony Betti, making it a 50-burger with 4:29 left, the game had turned into a homecoming celebration for Cherry Creek.
Can any Colorado team beat the Bruins this year? Odds seem slim.
After a bye, Pine Creek is the Bruins’ final non-conference challenger, a team the Bruins beat 21-14 last year. After that, Cherry Creek’s Centennial League slate should offer a challenge or two, but also more than a few running clocks.
Valor Christian is widely viewed as the one team with the athletes and muscle in the trenches to keep up with Creek, but the Eagles have lost four straight to Logan’s Bruins since 2020.
Judging by Cherry Creek’s first four weeks, Valor or anyone else in Colorado will need to play nearly perfect to beat the Bruins, as Legend almost did in a 13-10 loss in last year’s championship. Cherry Creek’s lost only three in-state games since 2019: the 2023 championship to Columbine, and league games to Grandview in 2022 and Arapahoe in 2021.
“This (4-0) start shows what we can do,” Tate Matthews declared. “All teams should be watching out for us coming up.”
Good luck, Colorado. Skyridge will send you its tattered battle plans during its long trip back to Utah.
The Cherry Creek corner that is home to Italian restaurant Cucina Colore has sold, although the buyer has no immediate plans to redevelop it.
“We’ll probably just land bank it for the time being,” said Kevin Beck.
Beck and his wife, acting as Phenomena LLC, paid $9.85 million on Friday for the northwest corner of Third Avenue and St. Paul Street, according to public records.
The building at 3035-3041 E. Third Ave. is about 7,000 square feet and leased to four tenants. Cucina Colore has operated there since 1994 and has multiple years left on its lease, Beck said. The deal also included the parking lot behind the buildings.
The entire site is 0.43 acre, meaning the deal works out to $525 a square foot based on the land. It’s zoned for up to four stories. For comparison, the same-sized Cherry Creek Dance lot four blocks west sold for $7.8 million in April.
“We just think it’s a good long-term investment,” Beck said. “We think there’s a redevelopment opportunity over time.”
Beck, 54, is an executive with Paradice Investment Management, an investment firm that operates in Cherry Creek in a building he and his wife also own. The couple live nearby. Paradice was not involved in last week’s purchase.
The properties were sold by Beall Group LLC and Green City LLC, which had owned them for decades. Mary Beall signed on behalf of both entities.
Large sites remain in demand in Cherry Creek, where office and apartment projects have continued to break ground despite the rise of remote work and high interest rates and construction costs.
“It’s one of the only markets in the country where projects still pencil,” said real estate broker Phil Ruschmeyer of Ruschmeyer Corp., who represented another party that pursued the site
Denver received a concept plan back in 2023 that proposed a four-story office building at the site. Beck wasn’t involved with that proposal.
“I think a lot of people have looked at the site over the years,” Beck said.
This story was originally published by BusinessDen.
According to Denver’s Department of Transportation & Infrastructure, there are six bridges in the city in need of repair or full replacement.
Beneath the new and old Monaco Street Parkway bridges over the Cherry Creek, as the old one is being phased out. July 9, 2025.
Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite
The Monaco Street bridge over Cherry Creek has been cut in half.
One side of the bridge is under heavy construction. Workers in helmets and protective gear walk by, and the sound of welding sneaks in between car horns. The other side is filled with traffic and the occasional pedestrian jumping as a car zooms by the tiny sidewalk.
The $12.7 million replacement project began in October to address steel fatigue, water degradation and overall aging. The Monaco Street bridge was built 60 years ago with steel girders that aren’t so easy to maintain or repair now.
Denver’s new Monaco Street Parkway bridge over the Cherry Creek (left) and the old one that’s on its way out. July 9, 2025.Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite
“ [Steel fatigue] is a small stress that’s repeated over and over and over again can cause cracking. When that crack propagates, it can happen very suddenly,” said Patrick Bergman, senior engineer with DOTI’s bridge group. The issue, he said, is with the “detailing” of the bridge’s steel components — the way they are designed and connected.
“Steel, if it’s not detailed properly or it’s a detail that was popular in the 1960s that has been improved upon since then, is difficult to retrofit. It’s difficult to do anything about it in place,” Bergman said.
Patrick Bergman, senior engineer with Denver’s Department of Transportation and Infrastructure, stands beneath the new Monaco Street Parkway bridge over the Cherry Creek. July 9, 2025.Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite
The project, which also includes an expanded sidewalk, is slated to wrap up next summer.
It’s one of the local Department of Transportation and Infrastructure’s biggest bridge replacement projects, but hardly the last one.
In June, the department released a report that identified six bridges in need of repair or replacement. Three of them — the 6th Avenue and Lincoln Street bridges over Cherry Creek, and the Smith Road bridge over Quebec Street — will require full bridge replacements.
The Quebec Street over Airlawn Road bridge also needs to be removed, and the 6th and 8th avenue viaducts are slated for modifications.
Each one was built over 50 years ago.
The city report found about 14 percent of the city’s vehicular bridges are “structurally deficient,” a rate higher than the national average of 9 percent. Close to 80 of the 642 bridges in the city require some form of modification, monitoring or replacement.
Discoloration on the underside of the Monaco Street Parkway bridge, over the Cherry Creek, is an indication that water has gotten into the structure. July 9, 2025.Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite
Discoloration on the underside of the Monaco Street Parkway bridge, over the Cherry Creek, is an indication that water has gotten into the structure. July 9, 2025.Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite
“Structurally deficient” means that one of the bridge’s main components — deck, superstructure, substructure or culvert — was rated in poor condition. This assessment is performed by city engineers following guidelines set by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the National Bridge Inspection Standards (NBIS).
Bergman clarified that a “structurally deficient” rating does not mean the bridges are about to fall down or are “unsafe to operate.” Rather, it’s a call for closer monitoring and assessment to determine which bridges might need rehabilitation or replacement. Some bridges could even be “load posted,” with the city placing weight limits for vehicles on the structure.
A number of factors can contribute to bridge degradation and poor condition: age of the bridge, exposure to natural elements like flooding and traffic patterns. There are also considerations about when the bridge was built and what materials were used at the time.
“The term ‘structurally deficient’ was defined to encompass more than just the structural condition of a bridge, and so it is possible that you can have a bridge in good condition, but it was designed to an older code,” Bergman said. “So it wasn’t designed for the vehicles that it’s seeing nowadays.”
Identifying these projects is just the first step. Paying for them is a different story.
While DOTI currently receives $7 million each year from Capital Improvement Funding for bridge work, city officials say they would need another $22 million per year for bridge work. The city funded the Monaco Street bridge work with the Elevate Denver bond package, which voters approved in 2017.
Denver’s new Monaco Street Parkway bridge over the Cherry Creek (right) and the old one that’s on its way out. July 9, 2025.Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite
Now, the proposed Vibrant Denver bond includes nearly $170 million for four of DOTI’s priority projects — the 6th and 8th avenue viaducts and the Cherry Creek bridges. The Quebec Street bridge was included in an initial project list, but was cut out of the final proposal.
Replacement of the Smith Road bridge over Quebec Street was not included.
Voters will choose whether to approve that money — and hundreds of millions for other projects — in November.
Every year, CherryArts, the organization responsible for putting on the Cherry Creek Arts Festival, announces five recipients for their ‘Emerging Artists Program’
For the last two decades, the program has given new artists ‘a leg up’ in the art festival world, by providing mentorship and a free booth at the Art Festival. But this year, CherryArts is offering recipients direct financial support.
Each finalist will receive a $5,000 grant. The program is highly competitive. This year, the festival’s panel of judges had the challenge of selecting just five artists from a pool of over 240 applicants. Two of those artists are Denver natives.
Emilia Ealom, reflected in the clay-spattered mirror above her potter’s wheel in her ceramics studio. She’s been named an “emerging artist” at the Cherry Creek Arts Festival, set to run July 5-7.Hart Van Denburg/CPR News
Potter Emilia Ealon
Specks of clay dust swirl around Emilia Ealom as she sits in her basement studio. Mugs, bowls and vases of every shape and size are neatly stacked on shelves behind her. For Ealom, a life-long ceramic artist based in Denver, having a studio space in her own home has been a life-long dream. But that dream was put off for decades.
“Life happened,” Ealom said.
For many artists, finding the balance between perfecting their craft and understanding the business element of selling their work is a challenging dance. And Ealom’s work was no exception.
Ealom, who originally “fell in love with the wheel” as a freshman in high school, decided to study ceramics in college. Her love for pottery ended up taking her around the world — from receiving a ceramics apprenticeship in England to living with an indigenous community in Costa Rica where she learned traditional pottery techniques. After graduating, Ealom moved to Argentina to continue her craft.
“Being young and naive, I didn’t understand the business side of art,” said the Denver-based artist. “And so I quickly came to learn that: I love making my art, but selling it is a very different story.”
After feeling the financial strain of being an artist in a foreign country for seven years, Ealom moved back to the U.S. She started a family. She went back to school for a clinical social work degree. She thought she could combine her passion for art and pottery with her new profession.
“I had a hope of doing art therapy because I really love to connect with people,” she said. “I really love to teach. And I was teaching in Argentina and would give lessons and teach in the community arts school.”
Ceramic work by Emilia Ealom, who has been named an “emerging artist” at the Cherry Creek Arts Festival, set to run July 5-7.Hart Van Denburg/CPR News
But after working in the healthcare system for 14 years, Ealom became burnt out.
That’s when she decided to apply for the Cherry Creek Arts Festival emerging artist program.
“I actually applied in a moment of dread,” she said. “I’d been toying with this idea of ‘could I give this a go again, could I do this?’ And so I was just in this moment of existential crisis, and I said, ‘Well, what do I have to lose?’”
“Beyond my wildest dreams, I never thought that I would be accepted, but I’m so grateful that I was,” she said.
Ealom is one of the three Colorado natives selected to be a part of this year’s ‘Emerging Artist Program,’ sponsored by CherryArts. This is the first year where each of the five award winners will receive a $5,000 grant to further support their work.
Ealom says that being selected as one of the recipients for the grant has given her both confidence and some financial backing to become fully devoted to her craft.
“Having art as your career is a profession just as any other profession is,” she said. “But I’m very new at that — the business side of art. I can talk about clay and glaze and throwing on the wheel and all of my thoughts about pottery traditions until I’m blue in the face. But if you ask me about doing an art fair, I don’t know the first thing about that.”
Painter Andrew Anglin in his studio. He’s been named an “emerging artist” at the Cherry Creek Arts Festival, set to run July 5-7.Hart Van Denburg/CPR News
Painter Adam Anglin
Like Ealom, Adam Anglin, another one of this year’s emerging artists finalists, is not new to the art world.
Anglin, a Denver-based painter and former graphic designer, says he wanted to be involved in the art world at a young age. But, like Ealom and so many, he struggled to figure out “how to make it work.”
For the last few years, Anglin has worked as a worship leader and music director for his local church. But he says he felt something was still missing. So he decided to start painting again.
“Being an artist has just always been a part of what I’ve done,” Anglin said. “But I think figuring out what medium has really just sort of been a continual pursuit.”
And Anglin’s nine by nine foot basement studio is a representation of that pursuit. The tiny room is stacked with audio recording equipment, paints, easels and a giant desktop computer.
“Me pursuing painting is not really like, ‘Hey, I need this to survive,’” Anglin said. “It’s really more of just, I need this to be a whole person. I need this to just be a healthy person that’s engaging with who I am at my core.”
Work by painter Andrew Anglin, ready to ship, in his studio. He’s been named an “emerging artist” at the Cherry Creek Arts Festival, set to run July 5-7.Hart Van Denburg/CPR News
Anglin says that receiving the grant gave him the confidence to continue to pursue his craft.
“Because they had this program and because I knew the reputation of the festival, I thought, it feels slim I would get into this, but if I did, it felt like a big catalyzer for me to push what I’m doing into a new phase and to try to take more risk with my work.”
Anglin says his paintings are inspired by both his love for western landscapes as well as his graphic designer past.
In addition to supplying the selected artists with funding, the emerging artist program also connects the finalists with mentors in the art world, professional development workshops and a booth at Cherry Creek Arts Festival.
You can view or purchase Anglin or Ealom’s artwork at the Cherry Creek Arts Festival this weekend: from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m on Saturday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m on Sunday.
Bottles of paint in Andrew Anglin in his studio. He’s been named an “emerging artist” at the Cherry Creek Arts Festival, set to run July 5-7.Hart Van Denburg/CPR News
The streets of Cherry Creek North are about to be filled with award-winning art, live music, and food vendors. And while the festival is not new to Denver — this is the festival’s 33rd year — this year organizers are expecting even bigger crowds.
The festival runs from Friday, July 5 – Sunday, July 7. The festivities start at 10 a.m. every day, with an accessibility hour starting at 9a.m. on Friday for Denverites with mobility concerns or who are daunted by large crowds.
This year, 250 artists representing 13 different mediums will have booths lining Second Avenue, in what organizers call one of the largest and most competitive art shows in the nation. Out of those artists, 35 are from Colorado.
Tara Brickell, Executive Director and CEO of CherryArts — the organization that puts on the festival every year, said that one of the main purposes of the festival is to help the artists who attend raise revenue.
Last year, the festival raised $4.2 million from the exhibiting artists in art sales alone.
A child sits while a volunteer paints their face at the ‘Creation Station’ during the Cherry Creek Arts Festival last year.Dan Igoe
“We believe in supporting artists and arts education,” Brickell said. “So the Cherry Creek Arts Festival is one of the ways that we can do that for artists.”
In addition to being an opportunity for artists to display and sell their artwork, the festival will feature live music all weekend on Fillmore Street — featuring musicians of a variety of genres, everything from Jazz to Country.
Here’s the music lineup for the weekend
Friday, July 5
10:45 a.m. Kaitlyn Williams, Alt Pop
12:45 p.m. Dotsero, Jazz
2:45 p.m. Ghost Tapes, Modern Soul
4:45 p.m. Selasee and the FaFa Family, World Music
6:45 p.m. Soul School, Funk
Saturday, July 6
10:45 a.m. Manycolors, Country
12:45 p.m. Guerrilla Fanfare, Jazz / funk
2:45 p.m. Quemando Salsa, Salsa
4:45 p.m. The Radio, Rock / Pop / Funk / Soul / R&B
6:45 p.m. DJ Fa’Dorah, Soul / Funk / Disco
Sunday, July 7
10:45 a.m. Iron Prophecy, Reggae
12:45 p.m. Mary Louise Lee Band, R&B / Contemporary Jazz
2:45 p.m. Mojomama, Funky Blues Rock
4:45 p.m. Groove ‘N Motion, Jazz / Horns
A performer dances in front of a crowd at Cherry Creek Arts Festival in 2023. Liz Levy
If jamming out to live music isn’t your thing, you could grab a bite to eat from one of the 30 food vendors lining Fillmore Street — all of which are local Colorado restaurants and food trucks.
The festival will also feature a number of activities and events for families and students — including a Creation Station on the corner of St. Paul and 2nd Avenue. The interactive station is a chance for children and families to create their own artwork. Visitors are encouraged to contribute to a mural and learn about art from around the world.
But for Brickell, who is a mother of two, her favorite part of the festival are the student art buying presentations. The CherryArts Student Art Buying Program gives Colorado students the opportunity to purchase original artwork from the festival. Students from 24 schools around the state are given a budget of $500 to purchase artwork for permanent installation in their schools.
“The art buying experience is really empowering for my students,” said Angela Alexander, an art teacher at Heatherwood Elementary School in Gunbarrel. “When students are surrounded by so many amazing pieces of art, it forces them to use critical thinking skills to answer the question, ‘what does make a good piece of art? What make art valuable?’ They then have amazing connections when we get back into the classroom in the fall.”
An artist displays their artwork at their booth.Gigi Youngblood
Alexander, who has been involved in the art buying program for the last decade, chooses three rising 5th graders each year to be art-buying ambassadors of the elementary school.
“We refer to them as art-repreneurs,” she said of her students.
She says that the art buying program allows her students to learn and practice important conversation and negotiation skills, public speaking, and they get the opportunity to use some of their art vocabulary.
This particular program, as well as many of the other initiatives like CherryArt’s emerging artist grant program, is funded through the festival itself.
“When people come to the festival and they’re buying things like beverages or merchandise, or they’re shopping on our online art auction, they’re directly supporting things like outreach to emerging artists or our programs that go into schools,” Brickell said.
Festival-goers are also encouraged to attend the Art Auction Gallery that features donated work from 90 festival artists, with proceeds benefiting arts education in Colorado.
A visitor chats with an artist at Cherry Creek Arts Festival last year. Liz Levy
It’s rare for a career as long as Marc Johnson’s to be so perfectly summed up in a matter of moments, but if the look on his face after the Class 5A state championship game on Saturday afternoon doesn’t do it justice, then the preceding 24-or-so hours is Johnson’s baseball microcosm.
Cherry Creek claimed their 9th state crown by beating Regis Jesuit 5-2, knocking off the Rangers in back-to-back games to claim the title. Add in their defeat of Grandview on Friday and that makes one magical day to end a 52-year career.
“It’s really not about me, in my whole 52-year career I never got on the field to play ever,” said Johnson, affectionately known as “Jay Bird.”
“I was the jockey that rode the horse, slapped them on the butt and said play as hard as you can. For whatever reason it worked out for me.”
Johnson’s coaching style is direct, demanding, yet light and loving. He understood the impact he had on the lives of every kid who stepped onto the diamond at Cherry Creek.
“It’s been an awesome run,” said Coach Johnson. “I’ve loved every second, every day that I’ve coached, every kid that I’ve coached, it’s out of this world. It’s a story, I could write a book based on this final season. It’s unbelievable.”
The novel based on this past season, let alone the final days, would almost certainly be a best seller. Johnson’s connection with his teams – all 52 of them – creates relationships worth reading about.
52 years summed up in 24 hours: Cherry Creek lifts Marc Johnson to epic exit
“Ever since I came into Creek freshman year he’s always been there for me,” said Ryan Falke, a junior pitcher who tossed every pitch of the championship game. “Everyone says he’s the GOAT, and he truly is the GOAT. 52 years is hard to do and he’s done it really good, I’m glad we could give him another state title.”
“I don’t think I’d be the same without [Coach Johnson] in my life,” said senior outfielder Eddie Esquivel. “Every player here could say the same thing.”
What’s next for Coach Jay Bird? Only time will tell. For now, however, he rides off into the sunset as a kind conqueror – and the greatest baseball coach in the history of Colorado.
The Follow Up
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Too few parking spaces, lengthy queues for open spots, cramped designs that can’t handle crowds — Denver-area drivers brace themselves for headaches when they try to navigate the most stress-inducing parking lots in the city and beyond.
The Denver Post went searching for the worst parking lots in metro Denver, with help from more than 100 people who weighed in with their opinions in an informal survey on social media platforms X and Facebook. Within Denver’s city limits, older central neighborhoods like Capitol Hill — where space is at a premium — host parking lots that received an onslaught of criticism.
But that doesn’t mean suburban communities are immune to precarious parking set-ups.
Poor parking lot experiences can affect drivers’ loyalty to a business, one expert says. Consumers are constantly forming judgments about brands, so “parking is one of the critical elements for brands to get right,” said Brent Coker, a marketing lecturer at the University of Melbourne.
“Everything that happens to a consumer informs their attitude, which defines their future behavior,” including purchase decisions made minutes later, the Australian said. “If the carpark sucks, then yeah — that’s gonna give someone a negative attitude.”
Here are the parking lots that stand out the most in Denver:
1. Trader Joe’s urban locations
Grocery store chain Trader Joe’s has two Denver locations in older neighborhoods, with small lots that challenge drivers in Capitol Hill on Logan Street and in Hale on Colorado Boulevard.
“It’s no secret that Trader Joe’s parking lots are a nightmare,” said customer Rob Toftness, 42. “You add in their tight quarters with drivers’ inability to behave like adults, and you have a difficult recipe.”
On a rainy Monday afternoon, shoppers weren’t deterred from completing their errands at the Capitol Hill store. They stepped in front of cars waiting for openings in the lot. Drivers tried to squeeze into narrow spots, parking haphazardly before darting into the store themselves.
Four cars were queued in the left lane on Logan Street, turn signals blinking as they waited to enter.
However, for cyclists and pedestrians, the store is a breeze to navigate. Toftness, a Five Points resident, opts to ride his bike along the 7th Avenue bikeway, then locks it at the bike rack while he shops.
In an episode of the company’s podcast, Inside Trader Joe’s, co-host Matt Sloan said, “We don’t open stores with the world’s most ridiculous parking lot on purpose.” The size of a Trader Joe’s lot is based on the store’s square footage, with the chain’s locations often smaller than the average grocery store, especially when they’re squeezed into older neighborhoods.
“Stores of a more recent vintage — more recently open stores — have larger parking lots when we can get them,” Sloan added.
Trader Joe’s spokesperson Nakia Rohde declined to respond further.
A shopper exits a King Soopers grocery store on Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024, in Capitol Hill in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
2. King Soopers in Capitol Hill
The King Soopers grocery store on East Ninth Avenue leaves local customers lamenting the amount of time it can take to secure a parking spot in the main lot.
Those who choose to park in the overflow lot are also inconvenienced, as the anti-theft wheel locks on shopping carts engage at the edges of the main lot, forcing patrons to carry their groceries across a busy street. Nine cars idled in the parking lot on a Monday afternoon, as drivers tried to park or back out of spots.
Kara King, 33, said she’s never secured a parking spot on her first go-round.
“You constantly have to circle the lot, waiting for one to open up,” the Speer neighborhood resident said. “Otherwise, your option is to park on the street and haul your groceries to your car.”
King Soopers spokesperson Jessica Trowbridge didn’t respond to requests for comment.
3. Whole Foods Market in Cherry Creek
At the Whole Foods Market on East First Avenue in Cherry Creek, customers’ criticisms are largely directed at its lot design.
“Whole Foods in Cherry Creek is awful,” said customer Krista Chism, 48. “All the spaces are designed for compact cars.”
She called the lanes “too narrow,” which heightens the risk of hitting another vehicle parked behind her car while reversing. When she visits, “I seriously weigh the cost of paying to park against the possible cost of someone hitting my car,” the Park Hill resident said.
The Whole Foods media team didn’t respond to a request for comment.
4. Denver Botanic Gardens
Visiting the Denver Botanic Gardens often comes with parking difficulties on busy weekends, despite a dedicated parking garage. The gardens are most heavily trafficked by guests during events, including Blossoms of Light, Glow at the Gardens, the Spring Plant Sale and the Summer Concert Series, said Erin Bird, associate director of communications. Popular times for visitors also include warm, sunny weekends and Scientific and Cultural Facilities District free days.
Bird said representatives understood visitors’ parking frustrations and urged guests to take extra time to secure parking in either the garage or the surrounding neighborhood.
“The Gardens’ multi-level parking structure was designed to maximize the limited space we have due to our location that borders city parks in an established residential neighborhood,” she said. “Timed entry has eased some of the parking strain.”
Denver’s flagship REI store on the South Platte River, pictured on Sept. 11, 2012, has a front surface lot (shown), an underground garage and auxiliary lots. (Photo by John Leyba/The Denver Post)
5. REI Co-op’s flagship store
The REI Co-Op Denver flagship store on Platte Street near downtown is the source of consistent parking gripes, including tight spaces, incidents of bike theft and the price to pay to park for lengthy shopping trips (after a 90-minute grace period).
Patrons say the outdoor co-op attracts the most crowds during the weekend, but that doesn’t mean its ground-level parking areas don’t fill up at times during the week, too. On a recent Wednesday evening, the metered street parking was also mostly occupied as a few customers dashed across the busy street to the former Denver Tramway Powerhouse building that now houses the retail chain.
The REI store earns 4.5 out of 5 stars on Google reviews, but at least 20 one-star reviews mention parking troubles. The designs of one surface parking lot and the underground garage are noted as cramped. One reviewer wrote: “The store itself really is great. But PLEASE fix the parking.”
The REI media team didn’t respond to a request for comment.
What about the suburbs?
Outside of Denver, plenty of parking lots throughout the metro area give shoppers and visitors grief, too. Here are some notable ones:
Costco: The warehouse club chain’s locations in Lone Tree, on Park Meadows Center Drive, and in Arvada, on Wadsworth Boulevard, draw particular complaints about parking lots that rattle the nerves. Costco stores face guff elsewhere, too: On Reddit, a thread asking the question “What’s your Costco’s parking lot situation?” has garnered hundreds of responses. Objections include waiting for spots during busy shopping hours and aggression in parking lots, such as honking, cursing and even car accidents. The Costco media team didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Construction workers pour concrete in the upper parking lot at Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre on Feb. 6, 2024, in Morrison. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post)
Red Rocks Amphitheatre: The Denver-owned venue is considered the pride and joy of the local music scene — but its parking, not so much. After a packed concert, drivers can look forward to sitting in their vehicles for long periods as they inch toward the venue’s exits. And they can’t turn to public transportation either — although that could change if a proposal for public shuttles to and from a nearby light rail stop in Golden gains traction.
This year’s Red Rocks season kicked off in April, but the venue used the offseason to pave some lots, increase roadside parking, and install new sidewalks and lighting to the south lots, Denver Arts & Venues spokesperson Brian Kitts said. The city also plans to add bathroom facilities and some covered spaces for patrons.
“Being in a city park, especially one with property in National Historic Landmark status, means that what Red Rocks can do with parking is fairly limited,” Kitts said. “New lots, new entrances and new roads through the foothills aren’t feasible, so visitors will continue to rely on the patience and kindness of fellow concert goers for ingress and egress.”
Is there a bad parking lot we missed? Tell us about it!
