First block on 16th Street Mall opens, inspiring hope for foot traffic among Denver business owners

The city of Denver opened the doors to the first completed block on the newly reconstructed 16th Street Mall on Wednesday.

The completion of Block Two, between Lawrence and Larimer Streets, marks a significant milestone for the city. Many businesses in the area have complained about the impact of the work.

While some owners expressed hopefulness, others said it was ridiculous how much damage they've endured in the past few years due to construction limiting foot traffic. 

This includes a 50% drop in sales for some who now hope the newly renovated block will bring people back.

As city leaders celebrated the completion and opening of a small portion of the 16th Street Mall, the owner of the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory on Writer's Square and Denver Pavilions was working hard to keep her shop open.

"Both my husband and I run the shops on a daily basis," said Marissa Williams.

She said the construction has threatened their businesses and livelihoods in the past few years, including their employees.

"We went from 20 employees down to six," said Williams.

Right next to their shop is another struggling business, The Colorado Artisan Center. It also faced significant financial losses, which include cutting back on employees and affecting their personal lives. 

Braxton Blakeman runs the shop on Writer's Square and said he had to quit his job to help his mom, Gabi Salazar, who is the owner.

"The city hasn't done much of anything to help us out. We have really been taking loss after loss and fighting tooth and nail to try to push sales and keep our business afloat," said Blakeman.

Adeeb Khan, executive director for Denver Economic Development & Opportunity, said during the construction that the city helped 114 businesses with $1.28 million in grants in and around 16th Street. 

Some grant recipients said the assistance barely helped, while others called it their saving grace.

"Since construction started, we have not lost a local business on 16th Street," added Khan.

However, some dispute this claim.

"It felt like a little bit of a slap in the face to say that there were no business closures during this project, because unfortunately that is untrue," said Williams.

National brands like T.J. Maxx and Hard Rock Cafe have closed, citing lack of foot traffic as a factor. For businesses like Blue Agave Grill, recovery is happening slowly but surely.

"I think the vision that the architects had for this came to fruition and I think it is going to get better and better as the block opens up," said Brenda Lucio, owner of Blue Agave Grill. "Even though we were down 50% in sales, we can see this plan would work once it was completed."

It's something business owners like Williams are hoping for.

"I am just trying to stay positive in getting people back to 16th Street to appreciate what hopefully this project will give us in the time frame that it took," said Williams.

Several small businesses that were part of Denver's pop-up program that was created in 2021 to activate vacant storefronts post-pandemic and during construction, did close. This includes Ana's Norwegian Bakeri and Tea with Tae Cafe.