Tim Martin was out to lunch in Cherry Creek when he saw a "For Lease" sign. He and his wife Laurie had spent a year running BoxBox, their bento-box salad shop, at 5038 E. Colfax Ave. They closed it in August. Around the same time they started negotiating for the space Martin had spotted. According to the Denver Post's report on the move, the couple signed a 10-year lease in late October for 1,300 square feet at Third Avenue and Milwaukee Street.
BoxBox is slated to open at 3003 E. 3rd Ave. in early 2027, in the storefront where the vegan ice cream shop Sweet Izzy recently closed. It is one of four food businesses headed for the same few blocks on the east side of Cherry Creek North. Together they point to a change in where the district's everyday stops will be. Coffee, bagels, pastry and a quick lunch are moving toward Milwaukee and Detroit Streets.
The question that sent a salad shop east
The Martins told the Post they built a concept that depends on people walking by. "And over the course of our year there, we found ourselves asking 'Where is the foot traffic?'" Tim Martin said. He continued:
"And as we made our plan, the loudest answer in Colorado, probably, and definitely in Denver was: Cherry Creek."
The format shows why passing traffic matters. Customers order at a kiosk and fill a reusable, recyclable bento box with up to four composed salads, including the buffalo chicken salad and coconut sesame noodles from the Colfax menu. Crackers and a tahini brownie bite come with it, for about $15. The couple said the average order on Colfax took 76 seconds to make. A shop that serves people that quickly needs a steady stream of them. The corner of 3rd and Milwaukee is about to get a lot more.
The building that resets the block
Most of the change comes from The Oasis Apartments at 299 Milwaukee St., a mixed-use building that BMC Investments and Rockpoint broke ground on in late 2024. According to ColoradoBiz's September report, the project has about 26,000 square feet of ground-floor retail between Second and Third Avenues, and all of it is leased. Its 177 one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments are scheduled for completion alongside the first retail openings, which are expected in the first quarter of 2027, with more planned through the rest of the year. BMC's project page also lists a 6,000-square-foot neighborhood pocket park as part of the plan.
"The lease-up of the retail space reflects the strong demand to be a part of this submarket," BMC founding partner and CEO Matt Joblon told ColoradoBiz.
That demand matters for the BoxBox corner. The block will add 177 households and a set of businesses that people visit more than once a week. The tenants include a full-service café, a bagel shop and a large furniture showroom.
The new addresses
Here are the planned arrivals on the eastern blocks:
- Butterdrop Bakeshop, 250 Detroit St. Diana Flores, a Honduras native who has lived in Denver for a decade, is opening her first brick-and-mortar shop next to Aviano Coffee, with a target of 2027. "We want to keep tradition and make you feel like you're eating something your mom or grandma made," she told BusinessDen.
- Two Hands, 221 N. Milwaukee St. The Australian café and restaurant is taking 3,400 square feet on The Oasis's ground floor. Plans include a 900-square-foot patio, a courtyard, a fireplace and a coffee window facing the street. It will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner, with brunch as a specialty and a menu much like the original at 3985 Tennyson St. in Berkeley, known for Piri Piri Chicken, a peach scramble and cold-smoked salmon, according to the Denver Post.
- PopUp Bagels, 299 Milwaukee St. The chain known for its "grip, rip and dip" method has customers tear warm bagels into pieces and dip them in spreads, and it bakes throughout the day. The Denver Post reported that this will be one of its first two Colorado shops. The other is in Boulder's Moxy Hotel, which BMC also developed and owns.
- BoxBox, 3003 E. 3rd Ave. Composed salads in bento boxes, with new hot dishes, several gluten-free options and a menu that is about a quarter vegan, slated for early 2027.
This is a breakfast-and-lunch lineup. A bakery, a bagel shop, a café whose specialty is brunch and a counter that turns orders around in about a minute and a quarter are all businesses people stop at on the way somewhere. Two of them sit inside a building where 177 households will soon live upstairs.
A furniture showroom on Milwaukee, a new tenant at the mall
The largest space at The Oasis goes to Arhaus, the home furnishings retailer, which ColoradoBiz reports will anchor the building with about 18,000 square feet.
Across 1st Avenue at Cherry Creek Shopping Center, BusinessDen reported in October that Pottery Barn plans to take the 13,400 square feet Arhaus currently occupies, the space with a facade facing 1st Avenue. Public records show Pottery Barn expects to spend $1.3 million renovating it. Plans include a seasonal section at the entrance and separate areas for office, bedding and bath.
At about 18,000 square feet, the Arhaus space at The Oasis is larger than the 13,400-square-foot mall space Pottery Barn is taking. The eastern blocks are getting a home furnishings anchor of their own.
The changes running the other way
Some tenants are leaving. BusinessDen reported that Cherry Creek Dance will move out of 2625 E. 3rd Ave. at the end of this year and relocate to 720 S. Colorado Blvd. in Glendale.
In the core of the district, the True Food Kitchen location in Cherry Creek is staying open. In October, the chain closed 12 restaurants in other states as part of its bankruptcy, and the Cherry Creek location was not among them.
Between now and the first openings
None of the Milwaukee Street openings is expected before 2027, so the district's holiday season will be centered on Fillmore Street as usual. Cherry Creek North's "A Holiday Less Ordinary" runs through November and December, with more than a million lights across 16 blocks. These are the dates published so far:
- Thursday, Nov. 19. The Million Light Plug-in starts the season, and the Giving Machines are unveiled the same day. The free Cherry Creek Holiday Market also opens Nov. 19 on Fillmore Plaza, between 1st and 2nd Avenues.
- Nov. 19 through Jan. 4, 2027. The Giving Machines operate around the clock at the Holiday Market entrance at 2nd Avenue and Fillmore Street.
- Friday, Nov. 27 through Monday, Nov. 30. Small Business Weekend runs throughout the district.
- Saturday, Dec. 12, 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday Night Lights takes place at Civica Plaza, 250 Fillmore St.
When the lights come down in January, the next things to watch in the district are the first storefronts opening at 299 Milwaukee St. and the build-out of the former Sweet Izzy space at 3rd and Milwaukee.
The Wolfe Bouc Team has watched how new storefronts and new residents change the feel of Cherry Creek's blocks for years. If you'd like to talk about what the changes around Milwaukee Street could mean for a home nearby, we'd welcome the conversation. Request a Private Consultation.
