Cherry Creek On Top

One of the most important — if not the most important — factors of realty is location, location, location.

Of course, this makes sense. Why move to an area that you utterly despise, or that you feel unsafe in? You wouldn’t. You stake your ground in the area that makes the most sense for you.

It should be no surprise that cities are placed for this same exact reason. Way back when settlers invaded what is now Colorado, the best places to set up towns were around water, naturally.

Enter the Cherry Creek Reservoir, a natural prairie environment with an 880-acre reservoir in the center. Back in 1886, Cherry Creek belonged to a town by the name of Harmon, which was named after a confederate officer Edwin Preston Harmon who owned the 320 acres that stretch between University Avenue and Colorado Boulevard, and First Avenue and Sixth Avenue.

In 1894, after most of Harmon’s citizens went bankrupt, the city was annexed into Denver. Today, Cherry Creek can be summed up in most people’s minds with one word: money.

Home to one of the best shopping malls in Denver, more than 320 galleries, boutiques, spas, and restaurants, a library, a bike path, two parks, and the original Tattered Cover bookstore, Cherry Creek is a metropolis for those able and willing to dish out some major cash.

For more than 60 years, the elite neighborhood has housed some of Denver’s most affluent families and individuals thanks to Temple Buell. Buell bought huge chunks of land in late 1920s and sat them for more than two decades before starting construction on a high-end shopping center, which converted to the Cherry Creek Mall in 1990.

It is worth noting, however, that when the town of Harmon was founded in 1886 was originally annexed to keep ‘undesirables’ out of the neighborhood, and designed to give protections against ‘tramps, bums, bummers, and the liquor traffic.’

Over the past three years Cherry Creek has seen one of its biggest construction booms in decades, with 2015 alone bringing in approximately 125,000 square feet of new retail, 250,000 square feet of office space, and 800 new residential units.

Although Cherry Creek has already undergone major changes, it doesn’t mean that the prestigious neighborhood is going to stop anytime soon.

One of the largest additions coming to the neighborhood is the Civica Cherry Creek. The seven-story office building will include 100,500 square feet of office space, 11,500 square feet of retail, and a four-story parking garage.

Seattle-based developer Schnitzer West, along with joint venture partner J.P. Morgan Asset Management, have broken ground at 250 Fillmore St., a strip previously home to the Wizard’s Chest and a number of small retailers.

Tenant amenities include a rooftop terrace with outdoor meeting space, private upscale library, concierge service, a street-level outdoor lounge, and locker rooms. A “great room” on the first floor will offer flexible, communal work space for individuals, one-on-one meetings, and small groups.

There is no doubting that Cherry Creek is prime location, but with the average home priced at nearly three quarters of a million dollars you better be making them tips, girl