Business owners in Commerce City are hoping a renovation project will help draw more customers into a once-flourishing area.
Construction work is slated to wrap up by the end of October in the Derby Business District near East 72nd Avenue and Monaco Street. It marks the first major effort to revitalize the area, which features about 60 commercial properties, since the City Council adopted a master plan for redevelopment in 2007.
“It’s fantastic to be involved with,” said Charlene Meeker, a member of the Derby Review Board. “To see actual dirt moving and new pieces going into place here, it’s very exciting.”
The work includes a $1 million, city-funded street project at East 72nd Place and Monaco Street and an effort to spruce up the district that’s being funded with $156,000 in community-development block grants.
Those grant dollars are helping to pay for everything from new signs and lighting to landscaping, at no additional cost to business owners in the area, Meeker said.
The small commercial center served as the core of Derby through the ’50s and early ’60s before Commerce City finally annexed the small area. Over the years, however, Derby gradually began to lose its luster and tenants began to pull out, including a bicycle shop and bowling alley.
“We’re hoping to bring it back around to that point again,” Meeker said.
So far the effort appears to be paying off. Two longtime businesses recently opted to relocate in the area, including an insurance company and a salon called La Princesa, according to officials.
Though business owners in Derby had to endure several months of construction that limited access in the area, many are relieved to see the project drawing to a close. Among them is Iris Scadden, who recently opened a small coffee shop called Mugsy’s at 7250 Monaco St.
The rehabilitation project will add a small patio area near her shop where customers can lounge outside and and sip their drinks.
“We’re getting pretty excited,” Scadden said. “It’s starting to take shape and it really looks a lot better around here.”
Mark Alber, president of the Derby Business Association, said the district has been redesigned to include a more pedestrian-friendly feel aimed at getting customers to stay a little longer and browse shops and storefronts.
“The overall look will help stimulate interest, and I think it’s going to create more of an atmosphere,” Alber said.
“It’s a major boost to the morale of the people in the community. I think it’s going to be a positive thing for many years to come,” he said.
A ribbon-cutting to celebrate the redevelopment is scheduled for Oct. 28.
