Broadway Plaza (Denver)

In its earlier days, the land on which the shopping center was built had two incarnations: Beginning in 1922, Merchants Park sports arena, home of the Denver Bears baseball team; and then later Merchants Park Shopping Center, which opened in 1951, with an appearance by Hopalong Cassidy[1] The shopping center had a Walgreen Drugs, Miller's Supermarket, and a Joslin's Department Store, which opened on March 21, 1952. North of Merchants Park was a huge warehouse and retailing operation of Montgomery Ward. The Denver Tramway Company's South Division Car Barn was located at Broadway and Alaska Pl. near the Montgomery Ward's site, and was the scene of some of the violent events of the Denver streetcar strike of 1920.

Broadway Plaza Shopping Center was the idea of Allan S. Reiver, a Denver real estate developer, who had redeveloped a number of historic buildings in downtown Denver. Influenced by the high-flying 1980s, he envisioned Broadway Plaza as a high-end shopping destination, despite it being built in a working class and industrial neighborhood. Reiver's company Realities, Inc. signed a contract to develop Printemps locations around the United States, the first being at Broadway Plaza. Reiver's partner at Broadway Plaza, former Atlantic Richfield Co CEO Robert O. Anderson, played a major part in convincing Printemps to locate in Denver.[2] Land for the giant project was purchased in 1984 with financing from Red Hill Savings, a division of Hill Financial of Red Hill, Pa.

The shopping center was to have three components: Printemps and the International Collection of boutique stores; the Denver Design Center, and an office building renovated from the Montgomery Ward complex. The shopping center opened in late 1986, and by late 1987, numerous smaller stores were closing in the International Collection, despite being offered free rent before the opening of Printemps.

Printemps opened November 6, 1987, and saw much traffic for its beginning months. As business slowed, a double-decker bus was put into operation to shuttle shoppers from downtown. The department store closed in April 1989. Before closing, the owners attempted to sell the Denver franchise itself as well as rights for future stores in the United States. Retailing experts saw the failure of the store as being due to the price point of the merchandise and its location; Cherry Creek Shopping Center, which was being rebuilt at that time, might have been a better location for Printemps; this was a common opinion even before Broadway Plaza was built.

The department store, now Quest Diagnostics

In mid-1988, during the decline of Printemps and high vacancies in the project, Reiver lost control of Broadway Plaza and the Printemps store. Hill Financial forced Reiver to sell his interest in the project to a new partnership, Western Equities, which renamed the project Broadway InterPlaza. The investment at Broadway Plaza was one investment that led to the 1980s S&L failure of Hill Financial.

After the department store closed, the space was used for a short period as an event center, before being occupied by Quest Diagnostics. Part of the International Collection is now used by the culinary arts program of the Art Institute of Colorado. The Montgomery Ward building was torn down on February 14, 1993, and replaced by a development called Broadway Marketplace, a collection of big-box retailers, such as Kmart, Office Max, Sam's Club, and an Albertson's (now Safeway) grocery store. Broadway Marketplace was initially developed by Homart (the real estate development arm of Sears), along with the Denver Urban Renewal Authority (DURA). Kmart closed in March 2017.

In 2009 the Denver City Council approved a General Development Plan for the Denver Design District,[3][4] by which D4 Urban LLC will create a large transit-oriented development in the original Broadway Plaza area and adjacent properties southwest of Broadway and Alameda Ave.[5] The name "Denver Design District" is already in use for the Denver Design Center portion.[6]

A signature sculpture named Articulated Wall by artist Herbert Bayer is located at the complex, bordering highway I-25. The work was dedicated in July 1995, and belongs to the Denver Art Museum.

Articulated Wall sculpture. Denver Design Center is beyond it.

Picture of Merchants Park with Montgomery Wards building beyond it.

39°42′15″N 104°59′20″W