Once a rough industrial area dominated by warehouses, foundries and factories, Denver’s River North Art District has rapidly evolved over the years.
The area has attracted new investments and transformed into a bustling cultural hotspot, with vibrant murals, entertainment and a variety of bars and restaurants, making it a go-to destination.
In 2004, area leaders and the City of Denver drafted the River North Plan to revitalize the area, and then the following year, artists created RiNo Art District, a nonprofit organization, with the desire to foster a creative community that would connect artists working and living in the area.
As development began to reshape the area, art galleries emerged on Walnut Street and Larimer Street, while popular spots like Zeppelin Station and The Source, known for their food halls, along with entertainment venue Mission Ballroom, helped establish RiNo as a budding neighborhood.
Additionally, the 20-month renovation of Brighton Boulevard, completed in June 2018, added 2.6 miles of sidewalks and separated cycle track, along with two new traffic signals, new pedestrian crossings, signage and safety improvements.
However, like many commercial districts across the city, the pandemic slowed growth and foot traffic, causing many businesses to struggle with recovery.
Several businesses such as Great Divide Brewery, Infinite Monkey Theorem, Deep Roots Winery, Molson Coors’ Blue Moon brewpub, Sushi-Rama, Osaka Ramen and Choozle have recently moved away because of rising costs and the difficult economic landscape.
Zeppelin Station, 3501 Wazee St., has also run into difficulties. Last year a Denver District Court judge appointed a receiver for the four-story office building in a dispute over the servicing of a $32 million loan. Zeppelin Development has disputed the decision.
RULE Gallery, a longtime presence in RiNo’s art scene since the early 2010s, also relocated for a period of time to the Art District on Santa Fe but has since returned.
The turnover in the neighborhood has sparked concerns about affordability and what lies ahead for the community’s longtime artists and residents.
“It’s important to keep that vibrancy in the district,” said RiNo’s programs manager Kiah Butcher.
“We can’t necessarily change how fast RiNo is growing, but we can certainly help and monitor how some of that money is spent and how artists and different historic community members are honored throughout that process and change.”
Butcher, a Denver native and artist herself, spent her first few weeks on the job walking the neighborhood, getting to know residents and businesses.
She quickly discovered that what businesses, specifically artists, wanted most was a place to showcase their work, where they could gain visibility, connect with the community and continue developing their craft.
Above all, they were looking for spaces that were both accessible and affordable.
River North’s total office vacancy rate stands at 46.7%, which remains higher than downtown Denver’s rate of 35.3%, according to a first-quarter CBRE report.
However, the area has seen some improvement since the same quarter last year, when the vacancy rate was 48.7%.
The challenges posed by vacant warehouses and rising rents led to initiatives like the nonprofit’s “No Vacancy” artist residency program, aimed at filling underutilized spaces throughout the neighborhood.
Butcher said the district is building on the concept with a new pilot initiative, The RiNo Made Pop-Up Program.
The effort aims to fill temporarily vacant commercial and retail spaces by offering short-term occupancy to local artists and creatives for temporary exhibitions, interactive installations and the on-site creation of new works.
“As many of us know, it’s really hard to be an artist.” Butcher said.
The program involves working with property owners, developers, the RiNo Business Improvement District and General Improvement District to find spaces and arrange short-term agreements lasting one to two months, which can be extended.
Partnering with the district on the new program are EDENS, a national retail real estate owner, operator and developer with a portfolio of over 100 properties, and Minneapolis-based construction firm Mortenson, which recently completed a four-story, 65,000-square-foot office building at 3083 Walnut St. late last year.
“Our mantra for every project we do is that we’re benefiting not only the physical building we’re doing, but everything around it,” said Brian Fitzpatrick, vice president and general manager of Mortenson’s Denver office.
Giving tenants security
Conscience Bay Company, a Boulder-based real estate investment and development firm, acquired Fabrica RiNo last year.
Formerly known as Industry Denver, the 160,000-square-foot property at 3001 Brighton Blvd. has attracted more than 27,000 square feet of leasing activity as a result of CBC’s rebranding efforts.
“I think the branding also helped give a sense of security for tenants. Going through COVID and into receivership, there was a lot of uncertainty around the future of the Industry building,” said Ben Woolf, director of commercial investments at CBC.
“Knowing that our business plan was to use the existing infrastructure — not demo the building — I think that helped tenants to just know that, ‘OK, we’ve got a stable landlord, and we have a view for what the next, you know, five years in this building will be.’”
The two-floor space included improvements such as upgraded common areas, signage, new soft seating and the addition of about 300 indoor plants.
“There’s a lot of people who’ve been there a long time, and they don’t want to have to leave to try to find the next RiNo, you know, they want to be in the RiNo that they helped build,” Woolf said.
Longtime tenants Snooze, Delta-V Capital, Diablo Media and CBS Corp Business Solutions have all expanded their footprints, while Fabrica’s onsite bar and pub Will Call and Golub and Co. have renewed their leases.
Fabrica has about 8,000 square feet of new leases from tenants such as Comploy HR, Confluence, Noor Consulting and Therapy, Ranger and the return of RULE Gallery.
“Back then, (RiNo) was pretty small. It was just kind of getting its grounding, but it felt right. It felt like it had the right amount of creative grit alongside a lot of artists and warehouse spaces,” said RULE Gallery co-owner and director Valerie Santerli.
“I think there was just always in the back of my mind that we wanted to come back. We wanted to return, and so I just gave it a little bit of time.”
Since its establishment in 1991 by Robin Rule, the gallery has been an important destination for contemporary art in Colorado, exhibiting internationally recognized names adjacent to many of Colorado’s pre-eminent artists.
RULE first opened in RiNo in May 2011 at 3340 Walnut St., but left and went on hiatus in February 2013 after founder Robin Rule was diagnosed with cancer.
In June 2014, RULE Gallery re-opened at 3254 Walnut St., and then after two years, RULE moved to Denver’s Art District on Santa Fe. Now the gallery has made its way back to RiNo, taking space at Fabrica.
“I think (affordability) is probably something that we had experienced when RiNo was a brand new art district. They grew exponentially at a time of great change in the Denver community,” Santerli said.
The importance of local businesses
Although RiNo is experiencing growth with projects like the Denargo Market development, a 310-unit apartment complex on Blake Street and Hurley Place, a mixed-use project along the South Platte River, there are still areas within the district that would benefit from further investment and attention, Woolf said.
“I would like to see more of the food and beverage and kind of entertainment uses that are in that Larimer-Walnut zone move over into the Brighton zone,” said Woolf, who hears from his tenants that there are limited daytime lunch options in the area.
“I think housing is probably the biggest need that I consistently hear,” Fitzpatrick added.
“There’s a lot of housing product that has been put on the market there, but it’s not all super accessible from a price standpoint.”
Morgan English, founder and executive director of MAE’S, said she feels fortunate to live above her studio near the South Platte River.
“The only way that I was really able to move into this space was because it is affordable housing,” English said.
The average rent for all bedrooms in all property types in Denver is $2,205, while the average rent for all bedrooms in apartments and condos is $1,841, according to an early July Zillow analysis of the Colorado rental market.
MAE’S celebrated its grand opening in September last year. The space functions as both an art gallery and a law firm, committed to uplifting Black and POC artists in Colorado and providing legal resources.
English said the district has been supportive in bringing in new, independent artists and, much like Santerli, hopes to continue seeing RiNo support its community.
Jordan Slemmer, founder and director of Rainy Days Gallery, which recently opened on Walnut Street, also emphasized the importance of creating spaces that are accessible and affordable for emerging artists and the community.
Having gone to art school, Slemmer said there was a bitter taste about trying to get artwork in a gallery around Denver, as taking up wall space could cost you $100 or more, which is a price most art students and emerging artists couldn’t afford.
“I think it’s extremely important for Denver that we focus on local artists, and if we don’t focus on local artists at our roots, they’re going to get pushed out.”
Slemmer said he hopes the district continues to provide resources and education to business owners, creatives and entrepreneurs, including how to get fire department approval for occupancy limits, how to obtain tax licenses and what mistakes to avoid that could cost owners significant money. He also said there is a need for affordable signs and murals.
“I got a quote for a sign, which I have to get approved by the city, and the quotes have ranged from $3,000 to $20,000, and I can’t afford a $20,000 sign.”
Another 10 years of a special district
RiNo is a nonprofit and registered neighborhood organization, officially recognized as a state-certified creative district.
It is backed by its arts educational nonprofit Keep RiNo Wild, the RiNo Business Improvement District and the RiNo General Improvement District, focusing on promoting arts and culture, supporting local businesses and enhancing public realm improvements as the area grows.
Commercial properties within the BID boundary pay a slightly higher property tax that generates the funding stream for the BID.
The BID then uses the property taxes to fund services like marketing, infrastructure, programs and other forms of support for local businesses and creatives.
The RiNo GID helps fund and implement public infrastructure improvements, as well as pay for maintenance, according to the district’s website. It was also established primarily to fund enhancements to Brighton Boulevard as well as its long-term maintenance.
Voters approved the two special districts in 2015, and in May of this year the Denver City Council unanimously voted to renew the RiNo BID for another 10-year term.
However, not everyone supported the renewal of the BID. Tai Beldock, who refers to herself as one of the “founding mothers” of the RiNo BID for her efforts in rallying neighbors to establish the district a decade ago, believed its mission had been fulfilled.
As a business owner in the area, Beldock started a petition to dissolve the BID last year, arguing that it was no longer needed and expressed concerns over RiNo’s handling of the BID’s finances, involving sanitation services, payroll and administrative costs and the Larimer Street closure.
“Things really weren’t making sense to me,” Beldock said.
With the renewal underway, Beldock addressed the city council: “I’m going to support this, but I will be back here reporting to you on whether or not the needs of the community are being met.”
The district is also actively searching for an executive director, according to a job posting for the position. Two interim executive directors are in place to support continuity during the transition.
“We’re incredibly proud to have earned unanimous approval from City Council for the BID renewal,” said Adam Larkey in an email statement to The Post. Larkey is serving as interim co-executive director of the RiNo Art District alongside Gerald Horner.
“As part of that process, we directed an extensive public engagement effort, reaching thousands of stakeholders through mail, email, social media, surveys, interviews, focus groups, and public meetings. Based on what we heard, as a BID Board, we committed to making several key adjustments to how we operated with the goal of increasing a sense of transparency with our community.”
Larkey, who was previously the RiNo BID Board Chair, is overseeing BID/GID operations and initiatives, while Horner is managing RiNo’s programming, including events, artist engagement, member support and district marketing.
Moving forward, Larkey said the BID will operate under a grantor/grantee model with RiNo Art District, meaning the BID will fund specific creative and community-facing programs through formal grant agreements, while maintaining separate leadership and oversight.
“As we evolve, our challenge (and our opportunity) is to listen closely to our community and strike the right balance when it comes to those investments,” Larkey said.
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