In case you haven’t heard yet — there’s a public park for entrepreneurs coming to downtown Denver. Still with no official name, the building at 1245 Champa is in the process of being converted behind the efforts of the Downtown Denver Partnership and The Colorado Technology Association.

300 person area for events, conference rooms with cutting edge technology (provided by private partner Comcast), coffee shop, huddle, booths, Wi-Fi, large TV monitors, modular furniture in a collaborative space — you name a resource for small businesses and entrepreneurs, they’ll have it.

We’ve covered all of this, we’re excited about all of this, and we just wanted to remind you that you should be excited too. Furthermore — we wanted to find out as much as we can. We were recently lucky enough to have an exclusive conversation with Kate Barton who left Vibrant Media in New York City last April for Denver, where she joined the Partnership.

Here, she serves as the Manger of the DDP’s executive office — a liaison to board members and key stakeholders, responsible for managing the administrative functions of the President’s Office and overseeing an array of organizational special projects and programs.

We wanted to learn, from her, everything going on at 1245 Champa.

Kate Barton.

Here are the main takeaways from our talk:

The Entrepreneur’s Playground

As we’ve previously reported, we’re looking at public park for entrepreneurs at 1245 Champa, what Barton described to us as

“an entrepreneurial resource center that takes all of the resources that help the young entrepreneurial start-up community and brings them to one place. It allows people to come there to collaborate, to hold their charity events, to test different events, and to also act as a one-stop shop for people who are trying to start or grow a business in Denver or in Colorado.”

She also noted that it will be an

“entry place where people can come together and ideate on their entrepreneurial dreams.”

The Importance of the Space

The idea for the “playground” didn’t come as a result of finding the prime space downtown.

“I’ve heard that [we] were looking for space that would work that was in downtown Denver, kind of in the center of the financial district that was easily accessible”

Barton said

“but also the partnership with city of Denver really helped make this possible because the space that we’re renovating is a city-owned building, so we can be in the space, and they’re allowing us to change it, but also occupy it.”

Photo.

She also reminded us the importance of the members of Denver small business community know they have a home there: “[not only] giving a location where people know that they can come and meet different people who are all aligned to start a business or grow a business, but also having a space where you can host events or invite people that host events that fit the community is really, really important. That’s an integral part of our whole plan here.”

The Wonderful Partnerships

“We are fortunate that there [have been] people helping us with this project before we even really had a plan”

Barton said on the relationships they’ve been able to leverage in the process of making what was once just a great idea what will be a huge part of downtown Denver’s community.

Photo.

“JG Johnsons Architects have provided all the architectural designs for the space. John G. Johnson has spent a long time working with us, and has been a wonderful partner … Obviously PCL Construction has been a lifesaver for us, helping us figure out and navigate construction projects.”

The Timetable

“We’ll have the bodies on the floor in February, and we’ll move in mid to late-March.”

So really quickly.

The Community Involvement

Over the next couple of months:

“we’ll be doing some town halls and different events, to get some feedback about what they’d like to see in the space and that will help us shape the programming.”

Right now: “we’re looking for sponsors … partners in the community that will help us stand up this programming side of the project will really kind of put forth a lot individuals to have access to this space. We’re looking for that, we’re looking for a group of supporters who will come and help us get people excited about the space.”

The Challenges

“We’ve had timing challenges, which I think come along with any construction. Our original plan was to be open in December, and obviously that’s not happening. But there’s just been some bumps in learning the intricate details that come with doing a construction project, but also stand up a space from scratch. It’s been really exciting but also – we’re learning a lot.”

In short — it’s looking like spring 2015 will be bringing a whole lot more than some warm weather that we can look forward to. Denver entrepreneurs and aspiring small business owners should all stay tuned for the grand opening, as well as an announcement of what will be 1245 Champa’s official name. In the meantime — you can check out some more pictures of the space here.

by Joseph Afton