Baker Historic

The Blue Bonnet Café located at 457 S. Broadway (bluebonnetrestaurant.com), has an exciting new loyalty program. Members will earn one point for each dollar spent at the restaurant. Reach 200 points and you will receive $10 off your next visit. You can pick up a free loyalty card at the restaurant and register online to track your status. There will also be special deals throughout the year for Loyalty Program Members. Follow on Facebook to learn about double points days and other goodies.

Crossfit Wash Park Gym  has a new home and a much larger space, tripling its size. The new location at 393 S. Broadway will allow the gym to accommodate new members and offer more classroom space for workouts.New equipment has also been added: exercise bikes, a rowing machine and climbing equipment. The gym originally started in the owner’s garage, so the move to this new facility is quite an accomplishment (crossfitwashpark.com).

Lowry

If you’re still trying to beat the heat and deal with Denver’s high temps, you have a new place to go. Glacier Ice Cream & Gelato (glacierdenver.com) has opened a store in the Lowry Town Center,at 200 Quebec St. They are serving up 24 ice cream flavors and 10 gelatos and sorbets, so everyone is sure to find a favorite.

Overland

A new apartment community will be built half a mile from the Evans light rail station. The Encore Evans Station apartments will stand three stories high, with 226 units, including an attached clubhouse. This location will offer its residents numerous options in the way of restaurants and shopping, as well as easy access to anywhere the light rail travels. Construction is scheduled to begin in early 2016.

Platt Park

Many residents of Platt Park have been waiting, reusable grocery bag in hand, for the opening of Sprouts Farmers Market (sprouts.com) at 197 E. Mississippi Ave. The newest addition to the grocery store chain cut its ribbon on August 26 and offered coffee and muffins to customers as it officially opened for business. The store will serve the ever-growing area around the old Gates Rubber factory, where single-family and multiple-unit homes and apartments have been popping up on every corner.

If you’re feeling like a little light French fare, you can now head over to 1842 S. Broadway. Euro Crepes is open for business and serving breakfast, lunch and dinner six days a week. It’s a bit tucked away, so look for the Eiffel Tower on the sign hanging on the corner of the brick building. The entrance is on the south side along with the parking lot(eurocrepescolorado.com).

We lost a neighborhood gem this month when Jean Condit of the Sand Dollar Gallery passed away just a few days before her 94th birthday. Her shop may have resided in Platt Park, but her warm personality touched many in Denver and far beyond. Our sincerest condolences go out to her family during this sad time. Jean’s obituary can be found atolingerhampdenmortuary.com.

Platt Park neighbors have been pondering the fate of the third “Den” on South Pearl Street, Ototo, located at 1501 S. Pearl St., closed its doors about three years ago and seems to now be ready for its rebirth. It is scheduled to reopen sometime this month and the menu is still being finalized. There has been mention of a robata grill, a style of cooking that comes from Northern Japan, originally used by fishermen as a way to cook on the boats. Whatever is on the menu, it is sure to complement the cuisine of Sushi Den and Izakaya Den.

The Washington Park Station apartment complex is under new ownership. Champion Diversified Private Equity received an offer they couldn’t refuse, and decided to sell the 32 unit building to Laramar Group, a company based in Chicago. At the time of the sale, the property was fully leased. Not surprising, given its prime location near the Louisiana-Pearl light rail station and the shops and restaurants on Old South Pearl Street. Retail spaces is still being filled.

Rosedale

On another sad note, the Auxiliary Thrift Shop at Porter Adventist Hospital is going out of business. Without enough volunteer staff to keep it going, the shop at 2379 S. Downing St. will need to close its doors. Many will feel the loss of such a neighborhood institution.

Speer

Do you love coffee? How about chocolate? If you answered “Yes” and “Yes,” you’re going to love what Pablo’s Coffee (pabloscoffee.com) has in store. The small, two-location coffee company has been experimenting with cocoa beans to make its own line of chocolate bars. The idea and production is still in the beginning phases and a search is on for a warehouse to use, so stay tuned.

Cho77 (cho77.com) is bringing Southeast Asian street food to the neighborhood. They have happy hour seven days a week if you want to try out some of their shared plates and get a feel for the cuisine. Visit them at 42 S. Broadway.

Wash Park

Two Sole Sisters (twosolesisters.com) have expanded their Boulder-based business in order to bring their artisan-made items to Denver. The store, located at 1078 S. Gaylord St., is open for business, bringing unique shoes, handbags, jewelry and more to the Wash Park area. Just in case you were as curious as I was, the store is aptly named and the ladies are actual sisters.

Car2Go, the car sharing service with the blue and white Smart cars parked throughout the city, is making changes that will affect many Denver neighborhoods. On September 14, the company will no longer service the outer Denver neighborhoods, such as Wash Park, Platt Park, and Park Hill. The company is basically taking its service area and shrinking it to the region immediately in and around downtown. Car2Go is dropping the zones with the lowest car usage rates in order to provide more cars to the core downtown area, where they feel there is the most need. Lyft and Uber will no doubt see an increase in business once this change occurs.

Wish Boutique has sprouted a new sister store right down the street. W (wishdenver.com) is now open at 1071 S. Gaylord St., offering shoppers an East Coast versus West Coast vibe. It plans to specialize in “fast fashion,” selling high quality, high fashion items for under $100. Wish Gifts, the trio’s mothership, located at 750 S. University Blvd., is open and going strong at its new location.

The Spicy Ginger, on the corner of Alameda Avenue and South Downing Street has closed its doors. A new restaurant will open in the space in mid-September, if everything goes as planned. Café Marmotte, whose sister restaurant is located in Telluride (lamarmotte.com), will serve contemporary French cuisine and offer carefully selected wines from small, family-owned wineries. The chef, Mark Reggiannini, trained in Manhattan under some of that city’s most influential chefs and plans to create the freshest food from meticulously sourced ingredients.

Wash Park West

Allure Rug (allurerug.com) the Denver-based custom rug maker, will be moving from its West Bayaud Avenue location to the old Atomic Records space, at 340 S. Broadway. The company is still open for business as it makes the transition and those in need of a one-of-a-kind rug can still find them in the old location. There is a lot that needs to be done to make the South Broadway store ready for customers and they hope to complete the work by October.

Why go to the Himalayas when you can stay in Denver and achieve the same health benefits? 5 Star Salt Caves located at 722 S. Pearl St., has created a 360-square-foot den that is lined with over 13,000 pounds of Himalayan rock salt (5starsaltcaves.com). Dry salt therapy is a popular health treatment in Europe and is used for a variety of ailments. It doesn’t stop there, though. The location has additional spa treatments that you can experience and is planning to add even more in the future.

Vert Kitchen (vertkitchen.com) is still serving up great French cuisine at 704 S. Pearl St., and if you stop by you will see new breakfast sandwiches on the menu. For those who think it doesn’t get any better than this, keep reading, because it really does. Overt is due to open in mid-September, just two doors down at 712½ S. Pearl St. Overt will be Vert Kitchen’s new coffee shop.

Around Town

Fried chicken fans were sad to see The BSide close its doors after only one year in business. The restaurant, located at 1336 E. 17th Ave. was part of the strip of great places to eat just east of downtown.

Luna Gourmet Coffee & Tea Company, the largest family-owned coffee roaster in Colorado, has acquired Boyer’s Coffee. Luna, a socially conscious company located at 73rd & Washington, will continue the Boyer’s tradition with a focus on quality beans and expert roasting, capitalizing on Denver’s unique climate to produce a high quality coffee.

Mile High Business Alliance is closing up shop. The collective was launched in 2007 with the  goal of promoting and connecting local, small businesses. Thanks to their efforts over the years, the local economy has grown more supportive of small businesses. Although this mission is ongoing, the number of projects and organizations that are working toward it has increased exponentially and Mile High has decided to step down and let them take over the movement.