The King Soopers at 825 S. Colorado Blvd. closed at the end of the day on Tuesday, June 2, 2026, after more than 50 years. Its replacement opened the next morning about a mile south. The new store and the empty building trace back to the same developer, so the corner at Exposition and Colorado reads more clearly as one plan in two steps than as a store leaving. The first step was finished in a single day. As of the last public update, in early August, the second step was still waiting on the city.
One Developer, Both Ends of the Boulevard
The new $37 million store at 4201 E. Arkansas Ave. was developed by Kentro Group, according to the Denver Post. Kentro, working with San Antonio-based Embrey, is also behind the current proposal for the seven-acre Belcaro Shopping Center at the southwest corner of East Exposition Avenue and Colorado Boulevard.
That link explains the order of events. The Virginia Village store sits on land that used to be the Colorado Department of Transportation's headquarters. King Soopers broke ground there in 2025 on a 103,000-square-foot building. By July 2025, a few months after the groundbreaking, Kentro had filed a landmark demolition application covering the whole Belcaro strip between Ohio and Exposition. Denverite pointed out that the filing asked Landmark Preservation staff to confirm the property had no historic value. It did not clear the site for demolition.
So the grocery was never going to stay while something new went up around it. The store was always going to move first.
How the Plan Got Shorter
The current proposal is the third version of the site that the public has seen. Each version moved because of pressure from the neighborhood or the process.
- 2023. Plans filed with the city showed up to 300 housing units and 320 parking spaces.
- November 2024. Belcaro Park homeowners learned of a bigger concept: three towers, roughly 700 units, mixed-use retail and green space, with the tallest tower at 12 stories. HOA president Susan Livingston told Denver7 that the first community meeting drew more than 100 homeowners. "They were pretty angry," she said. Residents put up signs and organized more meetings.
- August 2025. Kentro said it would drop its plan to rezone the lot. Without a rezoning, the taller buildings could not be built.
- May 15, 2026. Norris Design submitted a formal site development plan for Embrey: a four-story, wrap-style apartment building with 347 units on about five of the seven acres.
The height came down by two-thirds. The unit count landed between the 2023 filing and the tower concept. Belcaro Park HOA had a "Kentro Site" update on its January 27, 2026 meeting agenda, but the posted page is an agenda, not minutes, so it doesn't record what was said.
Three Pieces, Three Separate Clocks
Talk about "the redevelopment" usually treats it as one project. Each piece of the corner is actually moving through its own process, and none had cleared as of the Denver Post's August 4, 2026 report, the most recent public status that research turned up.
| Piece | Who | What's proposed | Last public status, Aug. 4, 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sale of 825 S. Colorado Blvd. | King Soopers and an unnamed buyer | Transfer of the vacant store property | King Soopers said it had identified a buyer and was "working through the details of the sale" |
| Apartment building | Embrey and Kentro Group, with Norris Design | Four stories, 347 units, about 5 acres | Formal site development plan listed as "resubmittal required"; overall project "in progress" |
| 865 S. Colorado Blvd. | Dardano's, with G3 Architecture | Shoe store replacing the vacant liquor store | City awaiting a formal site development plan application after concept review |
On the sale, BusinessDen reported in June that Kentro was looking to buy the site. King Soopers' spokesperson Jessica Trowbridge did not name the buyer in August, and that report did not say the deal had closed.
On the apartment plan, Alexandra Foster of the city's Community Planning and Development department said the department had finished its first review and was waiting for the developer to resubmit. Casey Klein, Embrey's vice president of development, said the team was responding to the city's comments and "fully committed to the project."
No demolition start, construction start or completion date has been reported. Today is October 4, so the August status is two months old. Treat it as the last thing said publicly, not as a reading of where things stand this week.
What Four Stories and 347 Units Look Like on That Lot
The site development plan lists studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom units. Under the city's affordable housing requirements, 35 of the 347 units, or 10%, would be leased at 60% of the Area Median Income. Those 35 break down as three studios, 19 one-bedrooms, 12 two-bedrooms and one three-bedroom.
The apartment plan covers about five acres, which leaves the rest of the seven-acre center for other uses. Dardano's is one candidate for part of that space. Its May filing proposes tearing down the 8,884-square-foot liquor store building at 865 S. Colorado Blvd. and putting up a single-story, single-tenant store. The new building would have 14,910 square feet on the main floor plus a 3,124-square-foot mezzanine, 18,034 square feet in all, with 57 on-site parking spaces and frontage along E. Ohio Ave.
Taken together, a corner that for decades held one grocery anchor and a row of storefronts would become housing plus a single destination retailer. Most of those storefronts were empty well before June. Denverite noted the faded RadioShack and Mike's Camera signs still hanging over empty bays. The Denver Post described much of the center as vacant in recent years. The King Soopers was the last big reason to pull into that lot.
The Errand Map Until the Corner Fills In
The grocery store closed before anything replaced it, so the corner now has a gap between the move and whatever comes next. These are the nearby options that store listings and local reporting support:
- King Soopers, 4201 E. Arkansas Ave. About a mile south in Virginia Village, with a Murray's Cheese Shop, a Starbucks and a King Soopers gas station. Its pharmacy has a drive-through, and the store's pharmacy page offers prescription transfers. No source confirms that prescriptions from the Belcaro pharmacy moved over automatically, so it's worth a call to check.
- Whole Foods Market, 870 S. Colorado Blvd. Across the boulevard from the old store.
- King Soopers University Hills, 2750 S. Colorado Blvd. Farther south, with a pharmacy.
- Target Glendale, 4301 E. Virginia Ave. Groceries and an in-store CVS pharmacy.
Fewer grocery stores line the stretch than a few years ago. The Safeway in Cory-Merrill closed in 2025, and Denverite noted that the new Arkansas Avenue store could fill that gap too. One new food stop opened nearby this summer. Home Team Deli opened its third Colorado location in July at 1233 S. Colorado Blvd., in the former Wahoo's Fish Tacos space, according to Westword's monthly roundup.
The next public milestones are clear: a resubmitted site development plan from Embrey, a confirmed sale of 825 S. Colorado Blvd., and a formal application from Dardano's for 865 S. Colorado Blvd. Until one of them shows up in city records or the news, the old King Soopers building stays as it is.
If you own near Exposition and Colorado and want to talk through how a four-story building next door might affect your plans, Nick Bruce will go over the filings with you, one step at a time. Schedule a consultation.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
