An extant asset
Named after the abundance of chokecherries along its banks, Cherry Creek meanders its way through the heart of Denver from the reservoir of the same name toward the northwest and a confluence with the South Platte River in downtown. Also along its banks can be found the city’s oldest modern shopping mall, the Cherry Creek Center.
1- Neiman Marcus and the northeastern portion of the mall exterior. 2- Macy’s store. 3- Restoration Hardware. 4-The Nordstrom edifice located in the former home of Lord & Taylor. 5 & 6- The vey nineties red brick of the northwestern facing exterior.
Located in an urban neighborhood of high-rise residential and office towers, Cherry Creek, much like Lenox Square in Buckhead, is the main retail destination for those living in the central portion of Denver. There are no expansive parking lots or ring roads here, just a collection of exclusive brands for the more well off population residing within its trade area.
Cherry Creek Mallmanac ca. 2000. View the full PDF version here.
My first sight of the shopping complex was toward Macy’s as I walked toward through the South Steele Street entrance. A meager but rather well attended farmers’ market was in full swing in a small surface car park and overall Cherry Creek Center looked decidedly healthy; a status that is unfortunately not shared by many of its peers.
1- One of the north facing mall entrances. 2- The farmer’s market in a parking area just outside of Macy’s. 3- The water feature along the greenway running along Cherry Creek. 4- The distinctive angles of the main Cherry Creek entrance on the south facing the greenway. 5 & 6- The food court located just inside the south facing entrance.
The exterior is nearly camouflaged by the dense urban landscape rising around it, so there were no obvious elements of note from my perspective. But after entering the main mall concourse through what can best be described as a fairly common Macy’s, the interior of the facility really took me aback. All the ways to the nineties.
The southeastern portion of Cherry Creek including the Macy’s mall entrance, the AMC Theaters and the children’s play area.
Inside, Cherry Creek Center looked every bit the part of the decade that gave us The Peach Pit and In Living Color. From the multi-hued frosted skylight panels in a staggered pattern to the stepped ceiling treatments surrounding them, down to the speckled marble earth tone floor tile, Cherry Creek still wears what looks to be a late nineties makeover proudly, and I appreciate that.
Cherry Creek Mallmanac ca. 2019. View the full PDF version here.
But on the exterior, the best was yet to be found. Abutting a greenway on the eponymous tributary was the crimson colored brick, multi cornered, and dark glass adorned southern facing egress. Reminiscent of Lynnhaven Mall’s fantastically dated atrium (R.I.P.) I love these ostentatious architectural elements that are being unceremoniously replaced by the bland and the basic.
Cherry Creek Shopping Center’s very late twentieth century inspired center court including Neiman Marcus’s entrance and a rather popular bear.
Making its premier in 1953, Cherry Creek Center saw its beginnings as an open air plaza comprised of several different buildings. Designed with multiple levels boasting larger retails names such as Woolworth, Walgreens and a Miller’s supermarket, several additional buildings were added during its first decade before expanding into adjacent land in the sixties.
A bird sculpture, the Nordstrom entrance and a fast car located along Cherry Creek’s main concourse.
Cherry Creek stayed true to its open air beginnings until the mid-eighties when Taubman embarked on an expansion and renovation to fully enclose the historic facility. In 1990, the Cherry Creek Center we know today debuted with full line anchors May, Saks Fifth Avenue, Lord & Taylor and Neiman Marcus opening soon after. Not long after, May was rebranded as Houston based Foley’s.
Cherry Creek Mallmanac ca. 2024. View the full PDF version here.
Nordstrom opened its second Denver area location at Cherry Creek Center in 2001 in the former Lord & Taylor building just a few years before Foley’s was changed over to Macy’s. Saks shuttered their location in 2011 which to this day has housed a Restoration Hardware since 2015. The same anchor lineup remains to the present.
More shots of the main concourse with a focus on the elaborate ceiling and skylight elements.
Cherry Creek Center remains one of several shopping malls within the Denver area that shows no signs of slowing down. With all of its five anchor spots still occupied, it is an anomaly amongst its peers and I don’t see that changing any time soon.
