DENVER — A new food hall called Eats on the Platte is opening in Denver's Sun Valley neighborhood, giving local vendors a subsidized space to launch their businesses and share their food traditions with the community.
Jama Miami Cuban and La Brujola Cafe are two of the six vendors setting up shop at the new food hall. The space is owned by the Denver Housing Authority, and Chief Real Estate Investment Officer Erin Clark says the goal is to bring more food options to the neighborhood — while also supporting local business owners with space and business tips.
See what the new food hall looks like in the video below:
"Looking to provide opportunities for local vendors to get up and running, to have a space that is subsidized and where they can really share their food traditions and cultures," Clark said. "We're just trying to give them enough runway to really get a foothold and to thrive here.”
Enrique Socarras, owner of Jama Miami Cuban, is building a Miami-inspired Cuban sandwich shop in the space.
"Focusing on fresh bread and fresh pastries and what that felt like in Miami growing up," Socarras said.
At La Brujola Cafe, owner Charleen Ramirez-Mares is keeping things simple.
"We're trying not to be pretentious about our coffee. It's just good coffee," Ramirez-Mares said.
Eats on the Platte is only one small part of the redevelopment happening in Sun Valley. In 2019, the Denver Housing Authority started demolishing more than 300 homes to make way for more than 900 new ones.
But the housing is not all that is changing. Denver is also developing nearby space into the Sun Valley Riverfront Park, and officials hope the whole area will become a community gathering space.
"I really feel that once that park is opened and the riverfront is now exposed to us. I think we'll see a lot of people stopping on their bike rides or whatever coming through here," Socarras said.
For the Denver Housing Authority, redeveloping a community is about much more than housing.
"We'll be able to roll up the garage doors here and have this amazing opportunity for you to be in the park, come here to eats on the Platte, grab a coffee, grab a beer, hang out with us outside," Clark said.
Vendors are hopeful about what the changes will bring.
"There's lots of really cool and exciting changes, and hopefully we can be a positive light in that in that change," Ramirez-Mares said.
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