East Colfax BRT Forces Newer Businesses to Adapt

Construction cones, workers in reflective orange jackets and some local businesses’ entrances being blocked by fences are the current scene on East Colfax Avenue as the city works on building a new public Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) service for the people of Denver. The East Colfax BRT project started last October and took business owners on the busy commercial street by surprise.

“We had no idea it was going to happen,” said Christian Heredia, owner of the family-owned Chivis Tacos, which opened its first location the same month the construction began after being a food truck for twelve years. “You know, it’s obviously slowed everyone down. I think we haven’t reached our full performance of the restaurant in the summer, but you know what? We’re good, luckily; we’re blessed that we have a little bit of parking available.”

The roughly $300 million construction project is funded by both federal and local money and is expected to run through 2027 as the city plans to have the designated bus lane span from Capitol Hill on Colfax to northeast Aurora.

“Work continues on the East Colfax BRT project, aimed at improving reliable, safe, and sustainable transit along the corridor,”  said the Denver Department of Transportation and Infrastructure in its most recent construction update on June 13. “The project includes upgraded stations, enhanced amenities, and better pedestrian and bike connections.”

A busy commercial street like Colfax that hosts dozens of local businesses makes parking on the street difficult under normal circumstances. However, since the construction has regularly blocked off street parking, parking in the area has only gotten more complicated for customers.

R&R Head Lab, a barbershop staffed by formerly incarcerated people that opened 17 months ago, shares a parking lot with a Chinese Medicine store behind them, which is hard to find unless drivers are coming down York Street. Deborah Ramirez is the operations manager at R&R Head Lab—a business currently blocked by fences because of the BRT buildout—and she wishes the construction would be done with more urgency. 

“Keep it moving, you can keep working, working daily, and making sure they’re out there doing it,” Ramirez said. “Because a lot of times I don’t see them, but maybe twice a week. And what are we doing? You’re killing businesses. You’re killing businesses by doing absolutely nothing.”

The City of Denver is currently offering construction stabilization grants to local businesses on Colfax, but the list of eligibility requirements is strict and lengthy.

To apply for grants, local businesses must demonstrate a 20 percent decline in revenue using a 90-day consecutive revenue period as proof, be open to the public for at least six months before submitting a request and the location of the business must be within 350 feet or less of the city-funded construction project. If the business closes permanently before the application review is processed, the business is ineligible to receive the grant. 

While local businesses continue to struggle with lower foot traffic but not enough to be eligible for a grant, the City of Denver is doing its best to be proactive, posting updates on the progress of the construction project and sending local business owners weekly updates by providing city resources for businesses to transfer along to their customers.

Even though some business owners believe the city should do more, many have taken matters into their own hands. Vintage item and vinyl shop Twist & Shout Records offers an interactive map on their website to inform customers on the construction and parking options around the store, in addition to the store’s free parking garage. 

“In terms of communication with customers, we just figure, you know, the project is happening, and us complaining about it isn’t going to do anything,” said Patrick Brown, owner of Twist & Shout. “So we need to utilize those city resources and just be on top of it and upfront with customers about what their options are and what kind of availability there is for resources for them.”

Newer businesses on East Colfax Avenue, like Chivis Tacos and R&R Head Lab, are forced to find ways to continue to stay afloat, rather than just relying on foot traffic from parking lots that fill up fast. For instance, R&R Head Lab relies on word-of-mouth referrals for more clients, giving their customers $10 off a haircut and the person they referred $10 off. Customers can refer as many people as they want. 

Chivis Tacos is focusing on selling authentic Mexican street food “at a fair price” while also cultivating a welcoming environment amongst its core customer base. Heredia catches up with returning customers when they come in to eat, focusing on creating a community hub where everyone knows each other. 

“When they come here, they support their neighbors, their families, my son, my mother, my father, all the employees, their family,” Heredia said. “You know when they come here, you’re not going to a chain restaurant. You’re going to your neighbor’s home. This is family-owned, family operated, you know, so it’s keeping Colorado Colorado.”

Local businesses are also coming together to discuss potential solutions to take during this construction project, including promoting each other’s businesses at one another’s stores. Coupons and advertisements for neighboring businesses can be found at R&R Head Lab’s front desk in their barbershop.

“We all come together and talk about it and see what we can do to support each other,” Ramirez said. “To help the coffee shop next door, we give people little cards and stuff like that. Then we’re going to do a community thing in the back courtyard area in July so we can kind of bring people in that way too.”

The City of Denver hopes that once the East Colfax BRT is completed, people will use public transportation more often. Brown thinks that when the construction project is done, “it will be great for pulling more people in from the outer reaches of the city, out of the metro region.”

As the construction project continues over the next few years, commuters to Colfax can expect disruptions while the city aims to improve public transit in Denver. Once the construction project is completed and put into use, people who use public transit are expected to reach their destinations 15-30 minutes faster than they do now. 

The BRT service will also provide more reliable access to over 250,000 jobs. Until then, local businesses like R&R Head Lab, Chivis Tacos and Twist and Shout are waiting to see the light at the other end of the tunnel while coming together and finding ways to survive.

“Supporting all of the businesses through Colfax is really important, because I think it’s a really unique commercial strip that gives the city a big part of its character; it’s almost all local small businesses,” Brown said. “There’s not a lot of chain restaurants and stores like that up and down Colfax, and those kinds of things are what differentiate a city. It’s not how many big box stores and restaurants they have; it’s how many unique local things that you can’t find anywhere else. And that’s what Colfax is known for.”