Golden City Council has voted to treat the blocks north of Clear Creek as part of downtown. The new North Clear Creek Parking District covers public parking between Ford Street and Washington Avenue, and from Eighth Street to the creek. The council approved it unanimously this fall, after about a year in the works. City Council began reviewing it in June. The new Clayworks District is the reason these blocks are being treated as downtown, but most of it isn't open yet. The Clayworks cafe is listed as "opening soon," the new plaza and streets have no announced public opening, and the first building's dining spaces have no named tenants. If you walk to the Golden Mill, tube from Parfet Park, or cut down Water Street, the first change you'll notice this fall is the parking signs.
The rules came first
The Golden Transcript reported what the district documents lay out:
- City permit or paid parking along 10th Street, to match the rest of that street
- Two-hour or permit parking along Ninth, Jackson and Water streets
- 30-minute loading zones in front of the Golden Mill's Water Street entrance and the 615 Water St. apartment building
- A dedicated spot at Parfet Park for city vehicles
The numbers explain why the city acted. At the council's Sept. 22 meeting, Golden principal planner Matt Wempe said parking use in these blocks runs above 75% of supply at any time of day and often peaks at 90 to 100%. The Transcript quoted his reasoning to the council: "this area north of Clear Creek is starting to be viewed as part of the downtown Golden environment."
The loading zones target a specific problem. Wempe said both the Golden Mill and 615 Water St. have unmet short-term parking needs: customers dropping off family, residents unloading groceries, and people waiting for rideshares.
Approval didn't mean the rules took effect right away. Wempe told the Transcript on Oct. 1 that staff still had to work out the details. That includes changing the signs and amending the city's contract with its parking vendor, Interstate Parking Company of Colorado. Officials planned to meet the following week to start planning the rollout. The city's posted signs on 10th, Ninth, Jackson and Water are what show when the new rules have taken effect.
What's actually open at 800 Ford Street
So far, the one thing open at Clayworks is the office headquarters. The Denver Business Journal reported on Oct. 2 that CoorsTek has moved its global headquarters to Clayworks. CoorsTek's own site now lists the headquarters at 800 Ford Street, Suite 100.
The building is The Pottery, the first piece of AC Development's six-block Clayworks District on the old Coors ceramics site between Clear Creek and CO-58. It dates to Coors' original ceramics operation in the 1880s. The four-story redesign keeps the historic brick facade and the "Coors U.S.A. Chemical & Scientific Porcelain" sign. Some of the original walls and windows have been reused inside the offices. CoorsTek takes 80,000 square feet. In June, about 65,000 square feet of office space was still available for lease.
For neighbors, the more interesting address is next door in Suite 102. Sweet Bloom Coffee Roasters signed the first retail lease, a 2,367-square-foot cafe that, as of June, was planned to open this October. As of Oct. 11, Sweet Bloom's locations page still lists Golden as "OPENING SOON!" at 800 Ford Street, Suite 102, with no opening day.
Darden Coors, CEO of AC Development, told the Denver Gazette she counted six coffee shops downtown. She also explained the bet on this location: "The town itself is the amenity."
Finished, but not yet open to the public
The rest of the first phase is built but has no confirmed public opening. In a July update, the Clayworks project page said the new 8th Street and the 9th Street extension were complete, and the plaza was too. All three were set to open to the public "later this summer." Summer has ended, and no city or developer notice has confirmed an opening. The early-October GoldenToday event roundups don't list anything at the plaza either.
| Piece of Clayworks | Status as of Oct. 11, 2026 |
|---|---|
| CoorsTek headquarters, Suite 100 | Moved in, per DBJ on Oct. 2 |
| Sweet Bloom cafe, Suite 102 | "Opening soon," no date posted |
| Other dining spaces | Leasing underway, no tenants named |
| New 8th Street and 9th Street extension | Built; public opening not confirmed |
| Plaza | Built; public opening not confirmed |
| Second historic building, "The Factory" | Work beginning as of July, no schedule |
The sources don't agree on how many dining spaces there are. The Gazette described three dining-oriented spaces on The Pottery's main floor. The developer's own page says four food-and-beverage spaces, with leasing efforts underway. Either way, other than Sweet Bloom, no one has publicly named who's coming.
Meanwhile, downtown's dining map is changing on its own
This matters because downtown's established restaurants are changing too. Westword reported on Oct. 10 that Abejas, at 807 13th St., has closed permanently after more than 11 years. It first closed temporarily for what its owner called extended building-related issues. A few days later, the restaurant said the closure was permanent. Westword quoted the restaurant's statement: "The restaurant industry has changed considerably over the past few years, and the decision to close has not come easily." The same owner's Golden restaurant Nosu Ramen also closed for good the week before.
There was a downtown opening on the same day the Abejas news ran. Stay Golden Mercantile held its grand opening on Oct. 10 at 1106 Washington Ave., Suite 102. So the four Clayworks food spaces are opening into a downtown that is already losing and adding businesses. Whoever signs those leases will be one of the bigger additions to Golden's dining scene in a while.
The Golden Mill side of the calendar
Until Clayworks' public spaces open, the Golden Mill is still where people gather north of the creek. Two events there on Visit Golden's calendar fall right when the parking rollout is being planned:
- Howl-o-ween, Sunday, Oct. 18, from noon to 3 p.m.
- Golden Mill Halloween Bash, Friday, Oct. 30, from 5 to 8 p.m.
Both happen in the blocks with that 90 to 100% peak parking use, and the Golden Mill is one of the two places where Wempe pointed to unmet short-term parking needs. Further out, the Olde Golden Candlelight Walk is on Dec. 4.
The longer timeline, on paper
All of this is the first phase of a much longer project. The developer's broader Clayworks plan calls for more than 500 apartments, a 160-room boutique hotel, more retail and offices, and promenades and plazas meant for live music, art and events. Clayworks says all of its planned residential units will be for-rent apartments, and the first residential phase doesn't have a construction schedule yet. The plan allows up to 60,000 square feet of retail, most of it food and beverage. Later phases have no specific schedule and would be built as the market allows, over at least eight to 10 years.
That means the parking district may be the most lasting change north of the creek for a while. It's approved, it covers a defined set of blocks, and new signs on 10th, Ninth, Jackson and Water are the next step.
I like watching old industrial buildings like The Pottery get new uses. A lot of planning goes into keeping a 140-year-old brick wall standing while the inside becomes something new, and the same questions come up when a Golden house near the creek needs work. If you're thinking about what the changes north of Clear Creek mean for a home you own or are considering, Braden Wahr is glad to talk it through. Let's Connect.
