Golden Triangle

The Golden Triangle is the wedge of blocks south of Colfax Avenue, with Speer Boulevard curving along its west and south sides and Broadway on the east. On the city's neighborhood map it's called Civic Center, after the park at its north end, but almost nobody uses that name for the blocks where people live. The creative district that uses the Golden Triangle name reaches one block past Broadway to Lincoln Street and spans 45 blocks.

Auto row, parking lots, then lofts

Broadway was Denver's Automobile Row, lined with dealerships. Inside the triangle, the blocks were a patchwork of parking lots, old warehouses and open space, with very few people living there. Speer Boulevard, built in 1906 along the Cherry Creek channel, marks the west and south edges.

The change began in the 1990s. Condo and loft buildings went up, and old supply stores and garages became restaurants, galleries and offices. A neighborhood association formed in 1993, the first Golden Triangle plan followed in 1998, and the creative district became official in 2016.

Condos and lofts, with some older houses

Most of what you'd buy here is a unit in a building, from 1990s-era lofts to newer towers. Victorians and bungalows from the late 1800s and early 1900s are still scattered among them. The Byers-Evans House at 1310 Bannock is the best-known survivor: William Byers, the founder of the Rocky Mountain News, built it in 1883, and Evans family members lived there until 1981. It's a museum run by History Colorado now, and parts of it open only on a guided tour.

Budget for monthly HOA dues, and ask to see the association's budget, reserves and rules before you write an offer. A 1990s loft building and a newer tower can be run very differently.

Taller buildings are allowed

The city rewrote the zoning for the Golden Triangle in 2021, the first update since 1994, and the new standards took effect July 26 of that year. Typical buildings can now run from about 3 to 20 stories, and slender point towers can go higher. The rules also call for active ground floors and for reusing older buildings. If you're buying for the view, look at what's next door. A parking lot or low building across the street is a likely spot for something much taller.

The museums and Civic Center Park

The Denver Art Museum campus fills the top of the triangle. Daniel Libeskind's Hamilton Building, wrapped in about 9,000 titanium panels, opened in 2006. Across 13th Avenue, Gio Ponti's eight-story Martin Building from 1971 (his only finished project in the U.S.) reopened in October 2021 after a four-year renovation. The Kirkland, a Jim Olson building at 1201 Bannock that opened in 2018, merged into the art museum in 2024. The Clyfford Still Museum is next door, and the History Colorado Center at 1200 Broadway opened in 2012.

Civic Center Park, which opened in 1919 as part of Mayor Robert Speer's City Beautiful plan, fills the north end with a Greek amphitheater, a colonnade and the Voorhies Memorial Seal Pond. The City and County Building, finished in 1932, stands at its west end.

Where to eat

Lo Stella, at 1135 Bannock, is the Denver sister of a restaurant in Portofino, Italy, and it's known for house-made ravioli. FIRE Restaurant & Lounge, inside the Art Hotel at 1201 Broadway, was 5280's 2026 readers' choice for brunch. Leven Deli Co., at 123 W. 12th Ave., took the readers' choice for deli on the same list, with house-made pastrami on its Reuben. Cuba Cuba Cafe & Bar has been serving out of two joined historic houses at 1173 Delaware St. since 2001.

Getting around

Bannock is the main street through the middle, and Colfax, Broadway and Speer along the edges carry a lot of traffic. Wade Blank Civic Center Station, at 16th Street and Broadway just north of the neighborhood, is one of RTD's main bus hubs, with 18 routes. RTD renamed it in January 2026, so many maps still say Civic Center Station. The free 16th Street FreeRide runs from there to Union Station, about 1.25 miles, roughly every five minutes. The 10th & Osage light rail station is in neighboring La Alma-Lincoln Park, and the Cherry Creek Trail runs along Speer.