Sakura Square needs money to preserve cultural hub

On the corner of 19th and Lawrence in downtown Denver, Jolie Noguchi, co-owner of Pacific Mercantile Company, greets regulars with a warm smile and, if they’re lucky, a hug. Inside the store, they find unique Japanese food and beverages that are hard to find elsewhere in the city.

Pacific Mercantile Company is the only business to have kept its location in Sakura Square during the Skyline Renewal Project, approved in 1967. Denver voters hoped to preserve the area’s culture, but instead, the project wiped out one of the last remaining Japantowns and decentralized the businesses that survived across the nation.

“We’ve been in the same area for 82 years,” Noguchi said. “It means everything to us.”

Noguchi and her brothers are the third generation to own and operate the family business. She plans to pass the torch to her daughter, Alyssa Noguchi, but an uncertain future lies ahead as Sakura Square’s buildings continue to deteriorate.

“The building’s aging. All the scaffolding around — it’s an eyesore,” Noguchi said. 

The Sakura Foundation requested a $30 million loan from the Denver Downtown Development Authority (DDDA) in October 2025, citing the area’s cultural significance as one of the final four remaining Japantowns in the country. That significance is rooted in a history that stretches back to World War II.

“At the outbreak of World War II, the federal government incarcerated Japanese Americans from the West Coast. They forcibly moved them into camps,” said Charles Ozaki, who serves on the board of the Sakura Foundation. 

Two of these camps were in Heart Mountain, Wyoming and Amache, Colorado. 

When the federal government ordered the incarceration of Japanese Americans, Gov. Ralph Carr spoke out, declaring Colorado a safe haven for them. 

“The reputation of Colorado and the governor was out there, so when the war ended, a lot of them chose to come to Denver,” Ozaki said. 

Decades later, Sakura Square remains a reminder of the community that grew from that migration. But preserving that history has come with challenges.

“We have not been able to reserve funds to continually renew the properties, especially the Tamai Tower,” said Ozaki. 

The Tamai Tower is a 20-story apartment building that historically served as subsidized housing until 2014.

“My great-grandmother lived in Tamai Tower, next door, until she was in her late 90s,” said Alison Nishi, who has been coming to services at the Tri-State Buddhist Temple for nine years and now works there.

Nishi said the apartments provided affordable housing for elders leaving their businesses and farms. She recalls fond memories and gatherings at Sakura Square growing up. 

“We’d have family reunions here. We’d have my great-grandmother’s birthday party every summer up in the penthouse.”

Above all, Ozaki and the Sakura Foundation are trying to preserve the community surrounding Sakura Square.

A spokesperson for the DDDA said the application is actively under review and no decisions on Sakura Square have been made as of July 2026.

If the DDDA does not approve the loan, the community will have to be resourceful to keep Sakura Square’s culture alive.

“We have to keep moving forward. And we’re going to have to rely on the general public’s help,” Ozaki said.

Supporters say the $30 million loan would provide much-needed support to downtown Denver’s struggling economy.

“I think it would be strategically important for the city to be of assistance if they can,” Ozaki said. 

Nishi echoed this point, citing the mayor’s vision for Denver. 

“He’s wanting people to move back downtown, to live their lives downtown,” Nishi said. “This block seems to be one of the only areas downtown where you have a built-in community [of people] from all over the region.” 

For those fighting to preserve Sakura Square, the mission isn’t just about saving the aging structures alone, but rather the sense of community that has made it a gathering place for generations.

“It’s not about buildings. It’s about people,” Ozaki said.