"This area north of Clear Creek is starting to be viewed as part of the downtown Golden environment." Golden principal planner Matt Wempe said that to City Council on September 22. That night the council voted unanimously to create the North Clear Creek Parking District, which puts new parking rules on the blocks around the Golden Mill, Parfet Park and the new Clayworks district.
His sentence explains most of what is happening downtown this fall. The city is bringing its parking rules north of the creek because the area already works like downtown. Twelve blocks south, the Golden Downtown Development Authority is about to test the opposite move and give one of the old core's parking lots back to people for a day. Parking is the tool in both places.
A factory site becomes a headquarters
The pressure north of the creek has a source, and it has an address: 600 Ninth St. Clayworks is a Coors family project developed through AC Development on land the family has owned since 1884. Ceramics production there began in 1910 as Herold China & Pottery. Over time it became Coors Porcelain, then Coors Ceramics, then CoorsTek.
Now CoorsTek is back on the site as an office tenant. The Denver Business Journal reported on October 2 that the company has moved its global headquarters into the first Clayworks building. That building is 182,000 square feet and anchors a 14-acre redevelopment with a hotel and apartments planned. The same report says the office portion of the plan has been scaled back.
The street grid has changed along with the building. Clayworks' July update says construction is finished on a new 8th Street running from Washington Avenue to Ford Street and a new block of 9th Street from Jackson Street to Ford. A public plaza at the center of the campus is also complete. At that point the developer expected the streets and the plaza to open to the public "later this summer." We couldn't find a later announcement confirming that they opened or naming a ribbon-cutting date. If you're walking over, look for signs at the site before you plan around the plaza.
The food side is still filling in. The first building has room for four food and beverage tenants, and leasing is underway. The only one named so far is Sweet Bloom Coffee Roasters. Its locations page lists the Golden café at 800 Ford Street, Suite 102 as "opening soon." In June, the Denver Gazette reported that the café planned to open this October. Over the long run, the developer plans as much as 60,000 square feet of retail, mostly food and beverage. That space will be built in phases as demand allows over at least the next eight to 10 years.
What the new district changes, block by block
All of that sits next to blocks that were already crowded. In Wempe's numbers, parking use in the new district runs above 75% of supply at any hour on any day and often reaches 90 to 100%. Those blocks already hold the Golden Mill, the 57-unit apartment building at 615 Water St., office space, and Parfet Park and Clear Creek, both of which draw heavy crowds in warm months. CoorsTek's global headquarters now adds a large employer on top of that.
The district runs from Ford Street to Washington Avenue and from Eighth Street north to Clear Creek. According to the Golden Transcript's report, the approved plan does the following:
| Location | Planned change |
|---|---|
| 10th Street | City permit or paid parking, matching other stretches of 10th |
| Ninth, Jackson and Water streets | Two-hour or permit parking |
| Golden Mill, Water Street entrance | 30-minute loading zone |
| 615 Water St. | 30-minute loading zone |
| Parfet Park | One space reserved for city vehicles |
The loading zones address the kind of trip that has had nowhere to stop. Wempe pointed to people dropping off family members at the Mill, residents unloading groceries, and riders waiting for rideshares as unmet short-term needs.
The rules aren't in force yet. As of October 1, city staff were still updating signage and amending the contract with Interstate Parking Company of Colorado, the vendor behind parkgoldenco.com. A rollout planning meeting was set for this week. The adopted resolution allows two free hours followed by hourly paid parking in designated areas, but it doesn't set a dollar rate. A daily cap of up to $10 came up in a September advisory board recommendation. That was a suggestion, and the city hasn't posted a final rate. Mayor Laura Weinberg told the council she was "interested to see how this rolls out" and hoped it wouldn't be too confusing. Staff plan to watch the results and adjust if the changes don't work as intended.
On Saturday, the 12th Street lot gets the day off
On the south side of the creek, the DDA is testing the reverse idea. Its Block Party runs Saturday, October 10, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., according to the City of Golden calendar. For the day, the parking lot between the Astor House and Miners Alley becomes a public plaza. GoldenToday reported that the board wants to use the day to test whether the change should become permanent.
Foothills Art Center, which runs the Astor House campus, and Miners Alley Performing Arts Center are partners on the event. The DDA plans "balloon trees" so people can picture shade trees on what is now asphalt. It also wants to hear what amenities people would want in a future plaza. The DDA will also present its own work, including downtown trees, the Santa display and holiday lights. Its August project list shows how much is moving at once. Along with the 12th Street Plaza study, it includes Prospector Alley improvements, Miners Alley lights, design work on the creek corridor, wayfinding, electrical upgrades at Parfet Park, a downtown trash and recycling pilot, and legacy shade trees.
The idea has history. The DDA's July priorities memo traces the cultural plaza back to discussions about relocating Miners Alley Playhouse. The same memo calls Saturday a pop-up engagement step and says plainly that the plaza is not an official City project. Earlier minutes describe it as converting all or part of the public lot north of 12th Street at Miners Alley. The July tracker lists $15,000 for continuing work on a cultural plaza concept. That money is for concept work, and no construction budget or schedule exists. In September the DDA even left the location open, discussing 12th Street "or elsewhere." That makes the feedback collected on Saturday the main input so far.
So both projects turn on the same question of how much downtown curb and pavement goes to parked cars. North of the creek the city is rationing spaces because demand is so high. On 12th Street the DDA is asking whether one lot would serve the core better without any cars on it.
One Saturday that crosses both sides
October 10 is the easiest day this season to see both halves in a single walk.
- 10 a.m. The city lists Coffee with Councilors: Exploring the Golden Cemetery from 10 to 11 a.m. It's an informal hour with council members if the parking district or the plaza is on your mind.
- 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Head to the Block Party in the lot between the Astor House and Miners Alley. The balloon trees mark where shade could go, and the DDA is collecting ideas.
- Lunch north of the creek. The Golden Mill currently lists five food concepts: Republik of Chiken, Sushi Sora, Rolling Smoke BBQ, Tacos Al Chile and Happy Cones. A Colorado Parent feature in September also described live music, trivia and dog-friendly events there.
- Afterward. Walk a block or two to Clayworks at Ninth and Ford to see the new streets and the CoorsTek building. Check whether Sweet Bloom's Ford Street café has opened.
The free Ore Cart shuttle links the two sides without a car. Golden and Colorado School of Mines are drafting an agreement to keep it running through at least mid-2031, though City Council still has to approve it. In Golden Transcript photos, a Gold Route sign stands at the corner of Miners Alley and 11th Street, a short walk from the Block Party.
Decisions still open into winter
Several of these changes are scheduled, and others are still only proposals:
- North Clear Creek Parking District. Approved September 22. The start date, signage and hourly rate are still to come.
- Clayworks food tenants. Sweet Bloom is listed as "opening soon," and the three other food and beverage spaces in the first building are still being leased.
- 12th Street plaza. This is a DDA concept with $15,000 listed for concept work, no construction budget or schedule, and an unconfirmed site. Saturday is its first public test.
- North Ford Complete Street. This is the city's design for sidewalks, traffic calming, parking changes and trail links to Cressman Gulch and Tucker Gulch between SH 93 and 10th Street. The October 1 open house drew 118 residents, and the follow-up survey is open through October 16. Construction depends on funding.
- Ore Cart. The extension through mid-2031 is waiting on a City Council vote.
The North Ford survey closes on October 16, nine days from today. Of everything on this list, it's the one where residents can still weigh in before a design is set.
Downtown streets, parking and new anchors like Clayworks shape what a home near Washington Avenue feels like to live in, and what it's worth. If you live near the creek and want to talk through what these changes could mean for your property, John Chrisbens is glad to have that conversation. Let's Connect.
