City Street getting incentives to bring beer garden to Arvada

City Street Investors is raising a glass in Arvada.

The Denver-based company that develops, owns and invests in retail and restaurant properties is building another beer garden project — similar to existing ones in Edgewater, Lowry and Green Valley Ranch — at 9248 W. 58th Place.

Co-founder Joe Vostrejs said the Arvada Urban Renewal Authority (AURA) asked City Street Investors to develop the 1-acre site.

“They have an area that’s not producing any sales tax, not producing any jobs, maybe not paying property taxes, so they facilitate the development so that jobs get created and economic activity is generated,” Vostrejs said.

AURA will sell the property to City Street once permits are approved and construction starts. As of now, Vostrejs said the firm expects that to happen this summer, and to open the beer garden in spring 2025.

City Street’s plans call for a 5,000-square-foot building that the beer garden will use and another 2,000-square-foot building that the firm will lease out to a retail or restaurant user.

Between the two buildings will be 14,300 square feet of open space, something Vostrejs said its other beer gardens don’t have. He’s hoping that it will be used for events, games or to hold art installations.

“We’re really looking forward to making the most of this opportunity and we’re assuming it’s going to be successful and that maybe this is something we’ll want to try to incorporate in future projects,” he said.

The beer garden is part of a larger redevelopment of the 14-acre site, which will include a 185-unit multifamily project and 70 townhomes. Maureen Phair, executive director of AURA, said the property was formerly a 1960s shopping center and gas station. The property was flagged to be redeveloped by the renewal authority because of environmental contamination.

“It was the place to be 50 years ago,” Phair said. “But time was not kind to the shopping center. It became an eyesore, and really no longer met the community’s needs. It was block after block of tattered parking lots with many empty and abandoned buildings.”

AURA, whose goal is to remove blight and redevelop areas that are traditionally unattractive to investors, purchased the site in 2016. It’s under contract to sell the portion that City Street will redevelop to the firm for $230,000.

Most renewal authorities offer incentives to bring developers to undesirable sites. For City Street, Phair said AURA is investing $1.6 million that will go toward necessary infrastructure, such as sidewalks and utility upgrades, and they are selling the property at a discounted rate.

“We also felt it was important to partner with a local business here, rather than bring in a national chain or fast-casual restaurant,” Phair said. “When you walk into the garden it will feel like something born and raised in Arvada. It won’t feel like a generic restaurant.”

Vostrejs said City Street is investing $4 million in the project. The Denver Urban Renewal Authority, which opened in 2012, supported City Street’s first beer garden in Lowry.

“This is continuing in that vein,” he said. “Not only have these proven to be economically successful, but we’re really proud of the way they make the communities they are in better.”

Following Lowry, City Street went on to open sibling concepts in Edgewater and Green Valley Ranch. Like its other locations, Vostrejs said the Arvada Beer Garden will sell Colorado craft beer and food such as salads and sandwiches. About 20% percent of the menu will be unique to the location, something City Street does at all of its beer gardens.