Downtown Golden Is Crossing Clear Creek: What's Changing Around the Golden Mill This Fall

"This area north of Clear Creek is starting to be viewed as part of the downtown Golden environment." Matt Wempe, Golden's principal planner, said that to City Council at its September 22 meeting, as the Golden Transcript reported. That same night, the council voted unanimously to give those blocks the parking rules that already govern downtown.

If you get lunch at the Golden Mill, drop kids at Parfet Park, or circle 10th Street looking for a spot, the edge of downtown is about to move, and most of the new storefronts behind that change aren't open yet.

The rulebook arrives before the storefronts

The new North Clear Creek Parking District covers the public spaces between Ford Street and Washington Avenue, from 8th Street north to Clear Creek. It took about a year to get here. The city's Mobility & Transportation Advisory Board recommended it in April, and council began reviewing it in June.

The city's case rests on one number. Wempe told council that parking use in these blocks runs above 75% of supply at any time of day and often peaks at 90 to 100%. At 75%, finding a spot already takes some circling. At 100%, it's a gamble. All of that demand lands on a small area: the Golden Mill, the 57-unit apartment building at 615 Water St., the Golden Office, Parfet Park and the creek frontage, which the Transcript notes "see immense visitation in the warmer months."

Resolution 3323 splits the district into two zones. Here is how each one treats each kind of car:

Every zone keeps two free hours. On 9th, Water and the east side of Jackson, paying won't extend your stay past two hours. A long lunch at the Mill followed by an afternoon at the creek will need to start on 10th Street, where you can keep paying by the hour.

The resolution also extends the Downtown Resident Permit to people who live inside the new district. Those permit holders can also park in the two downtown garages on Jackson Street. Permits come in annual or semi-annual terms and use the same proof-of-residency rules as Golden's other neighborhood permit systems. For residents of 615 Water St., that's a real change. They now get the same parking access downtown residents already have.

The 30-minute curb at the Golden Mill

The smallest change may be the one Golden Mill regulars notice first. The district adds a 30-minute loading zone at the Mill's Water Street entrance and another in front of 615 Water St. Wempe told council that both buildings have short-term needs the current curb doesn't meet: customers dropping off family members, residents unloading groceries, and people waiting for rideshares.

The Golden Mill at 1012 Ford St. is open daily from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. It has five food concepts: Republik of Chiken, Sushi Sora, Rolling Smoke BBQ, Tacos Al Chile and Happy Cones. A food hall with five counters and a long evening window brings in exactly the kind of quick trips a loading zone is built for, like grabbing takeout or picking up a teenager at 9 p.m.

The district also sets aside one space by Parfet Park for city vehicles. Wempe told the Golden Transcript that police, parks staff and others "are always looking for (parking) spaces in this area."

Why the city drew the line now: Clayworks

The district's northern edge runs along Clayworks, the redevelopment of the old Coors ceramics plant. That project is the main reason these blocks are being counted as downtown.

According to the Denver Business Journal, CoorsTek has moved its global headquarters into the project's first building. It's a 182,000-square-foot anchor for a 14-acre redevelopment that will also include a hotel and multifamily housing. Office space has been scaled back. That building, The Pottery, dates to Coors' original ceramics operations in the 1880s. As the Denver Gazette reported in June, it keeps its historic brick façade and the familiar "Coors U.S.A. Chemical & Scientific Porcelain" sign, with offices upstairs and restaurant and retail space on the ground floor.

For a neighbor, the ground floor is what matters. Sweet Bloom Coffee Roasters signed the first retail lease. The Gazette reported it was planning to open this October in a 2,367-square-foot store, one of three dining-oriented spaces on the main floor. The space comes with a 550-square-foot patio. We could not confirm that it had opened as of mid-October. Clayworks says the first phase has four food-and-beverage spaces in total and that leasing is underway. No other tenants have been named publicly.

The new public spaces are in the same position. In its July update, Clayworks said the new 8th Street and the extension of 9th Street were finished and would open to the public "later this summer." It said the same about the plaza at the center of the campus. We found no later announcement confirming that either one opened. Work has also started on the second remaining historic factory building.

The housing and hotel are further out. The Gazette reported plans for more than 500 multifamily units and a 160-room boutique hotel. Clayworks has committed 10% of the housing to workforce units. The residential units are planned as rentals only, and the first housing phase has no schedule yet.

So the parking district is planning ahead. The blocks are already at 75 to 100% use with The Pottery's ground floor still mostly unleased, no hotel and no apartments. Councilor Sandra Knecht said she appreciated the effort to keep the rules logical and flexible, "especially given the ongoing development in the area," according to the Golden Transcript.

South of the creek, the opposite experiment

While the north side picks up parking rules, the old downtown core is asking whether one of its lots should stop being a lot.

The 35-space lot between the Miners Alley Performing Arts Center, the Foothills Art Center's Astor House campus and the 1100 block of Miners Alley could one day become a public plaza for events, artist showcases and holiday markets. Golden's Downtown Development Authority tried out the idea at an October 10 block party in the lot, with artists from both arts centers and food from local restaurants.

Nothing has been approved. DDA members Jeff Merenkov and Brad Miller told the Golden Transcript that nothing is set in stone and that the board wanted to "take the temperature" on whether people support a plaza at all, or in that spot. Miller called the site "tailor-made for a plaza." The city's online survey was set to stay open through at least October 15. The DDA meets the third Monday of each month at City Hall, and its meetings are open to the public.

Put the two together. The core may give up 35 spaces for gathering space, while the blocks across the creek are being organized to take on more traffic.

What hasn't been decided

Several details are still open, and each one affects how this fall plays out:

1. Start date. Council approved the district on September 22, but staff are still changing signage and amending the city's contract with Interstate Parking Company of Colorado. On October 1, Wempe said officials would meet the following week to start planning the rollout.
2. Hourly rate. The advisory board's recommendation in the council packet proposed capping paid parking at $10 a day after the first two free hours. Resolution 3323 calls for hourly payment but doesn't set a dollar amount.
3. Adjustments. Wempe said staff will watch whether the changes work and make more changes if they don't. Mayor Laura Weinberg told the Golden Transcript she was "interested to see how this rolls out" and hoped it wouldn't be too confusing.
4. Getting there without a car. Golden and Colorado School of Mines are drafting a four-year extension of the free Ore Cart shuttle that would run through mid-2031. It isn't approved yet, and the city planner expects to bring it to council in the spring, according to the Golden Transcript.

The new signs on 9th and 10th Streets will be the clearest sign the district is being enforced. Until then, the city has not published a launch date.

Changes like a new permit zone, a loading curb outside your building or a coffee shop opening down the block can affect how buyers see a home near Ford and Water Streets. If you own in or near the North Clear Creek district and want to know how this fall's changes show up in your home's value, The Mock Group can walk you through it. Request a Home Valuation and we'll start with your block.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.