4201 E. Arkansas Avenue
King Soopers will open its new 103,000-square-foot Denver store at 4201 E. Arkansas Avenue on June 3, one day after the grocer closes its longtime Belcaro location at 825 S. Colorado Boulevard. The handoff caps a development cycle that began at the former Colorado Department of Transportation headquarters site and ends with the imminent demolition of one of south Denver's oldest retail anchors.
The new store sits on land that Denver-based Kentro Group acquired from CDOT in 2018, when the state agency sold its Colorado Boulevard headquarters and a nearby regional office to the developer for $19.3 million. CDOT has since relocated to a site off Federal Boulevard near Empower Field at Mile High. King Soopers holds a ground lease on the Arkansas Avenue parcel, owning the building while Kentro retains the land. The grocer's parent company Kroger pegged total investment at $37.1 million, with the store generating more than 200 jobs.
The new location includes a pharmacy with a drive-thru, a Murray's Cheese Shop, a Starbucks, a sushi department, and pickup and delivery services. A fuel center across the street is already open. Kentro also retains about 1.5 acres of the former CDOT site for additional development, with co-founder Jimmy Balafas planning roughly 4,000 square feet of restaurant space and converting two-thirds of the remaining land into green space.
The Belcaro store closes the evening of June 2 after operating for more than half a century at 825 S. Colorado Boulevard.
Earlier this year, Kentro and San Antonio-based Embrey floated a 12-to-16 story proposal with up to 700 units, and Belcaro homeowners mobilized hard against it. The opposition centered on building height, the affordable housing component, and preservation of neighborhood character in an area where the median sale price runs well into the millions. Residents hired a lobbyist and a land-use attorney to fight the rezoning, packed community meetings, and pushed back on density that they argued belonged elsewhere on Colorado Blvd. Three blocks from the Belcaro Center, a 0.28-acre vacant lot at 755 S. Jackson Street is currently listed for $1.75M, underscoring the land value the neighborhood is protecting. Kentro withdrew its rezoning request in August.
The current plan is significantly smaller. On December 27, 2025, Embrey and Kentro filed a concept plan for EMBREY Belcaro, a four-story, 350-unit wrap-style apartment building on a 4.5-acre portion of the site. The proposal includes 569 parking spaces, mostly internal, and stays within the existing three-story zoning by capping building height at 55 feet. Approximately 35 units will be reserved for households at or below 60% of area median income, in compliance with Denver's Mandatory Affordable Housing requirements. The concept plan was recently approved and now moves to site development review. The closed liquor store at the southern end of the property will be replaced with a separate retail development, though timing has not been disclosed.
The Belcaro Shopping Center has sat largely empty for months as tenants moved out ahead of the grocer's relocation. Demolition follows the June 2 closing.
The shift from full-block retail strip to anchored multifamily reflects a broader Colorado Blvd pattern, with concept plans landing for higher-density residential just as Denver metro apartment vacancies hit a 16-year high. Whether that supply lands well into a softening rental market will play out over the next two to three years as Embrey breaks ground.