The national neighborhood grocer, known for its mix of everyday staples and unique finds like trendy mini canvas tote bags and frozen hash brown patties, has leased a 25,000-square-foot space at City Center Marketplace, between Golf Galaxy and Sierra Trading Post at 92nd Avenue and Sheridan Boulevard.

“We’ve consulted our maps and compass and have found a terrific location for a store in Westminster, CO,” the grocer announced on its website.

“We are proud to be joining the neighborhood, and to continue our commitment to providing nourishment to the surrounding communities through our Neighborhood Shares program.”

The store, 9350 Sheridan Blvd., will be added to the lineup of locations in Boulder, Colorado Springs, Denver, Fort Collins, Greenwood Village, Littleton and Parker.

In addition to unconventional finds, fresh flowers and everyday basics like milk, eggs, meat, bakery items and fresh produce, the new Westminster location will also offer beer and wine, according to the store’s description.

The exact date and time for the store opening later this year has yet to be announced.

Founded in 1967, Trader Joe’s shoppers “travel the world searching for products,” and won’t find a lot of branded items on its shelves.

The company website currently lists 10 planned locations “opening soon” across several states such as Oklahoma, California and Texas.

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“Our experience at Porteos and the deals that we were not able to compete for because we didn’t have enough land led me to pursue other alternatives in the area,” said Bill Wichterman, president of the San Juan Co.

“This one was right across the street, so it made all kinds of sense in the world.”

Porteos, a 1,287-acre commercial mixed-use site 2 miles south of DIA’s main terminal, was once given little notice when it was first introduced but has since garnered attention from major companies such as Amazon and Costco.

The site has a little over 200 acres still available. However, only about 65 of those acres are contiguous, limiting its appeal to large-scale users like Philip Morris International or Microsoft, Wichterman said.

As a result, Wichterman said they have chosen to pursue the King Ranch site as demand for land near the airport continues to grow.

Aurora public records show that talks surrounding King Ranch have been ongoing for more than two decades, ever since the land was annexed into the city in the late 1980s.

Since then, the area has been dormant and untouched, allowing itself to be open for the opportunity to be customizable, according to Steven Mulhern, owner and president of Mulhern and Co.

“To have 500 acres that’s contiguous this close to the airport is one of the primary features that I think sets this project apart,” said Mulhern, who is representing the seller, Monaghan Properties LLC, and the buyer, the San Juan Co.

“We’ve seen a number of users come in wanting 150 to 300 acres to 500 acres, and for various reasons — many of the users today want to own their own site. They want to control their own destiny.”

King Ranch will be south of Porteos at the corner of 56th Avenue and Monaghan Road. The land is designated for industrial use, including manufacturing, technology, distribution and data centers.

Documents outlining the King Ranch master plan show the area will feature pedestrian trails, public art and open spaces. The development will also embrace a design theme that highlights the site’s industrial and commercial character, incorporating materials such as board-form concrete, stone veneer and gabion structures.

“King Ranch is the next piece for large industrial developments. It’s perfectly situated for it,” Wichterman said.

“The time is now and I’m just excited to have something else to work on out there that could accommodate these kinds of users.”

Porteos is home to users such as Kroger and its 300,000-square-foot customer fulfillment center, Kärcher’s North American headquarters featuring a 280,000-square-foot manufacturing facility and 100,000 square feet of office space, the DIA Logistics Park and JAG Logistics Center at DEN.

A few other companies on the site include FedEx, Ryder, Costco, Amazon and Walmart, which has yet to build its e-commerce distribution center on the 169 acres of land it acquired for $13.5 million in 2016.

The price at which the San Juan Co. is acquiring the land has not been disclosed. Mulhern said they expect to close the deal in late summer or early fall of this year.

After that, Wichterman’s team will begin the next phase of installing and building out the infrastructure on the site for a user to come in. This includes water, sewer and street systems.

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Though Tesla is ranked third in brand popularity in Colorado, new car registrations have decreased by 9.3% compared to last year’s fourth quarter, according to data provided by the Colorado Auto Dealers Association.

“Tesla is taking a beating right now, mostly over politics,” said Matthew Groves, CEO of the Colorado Automobile Dealers Association, in an email to The Post.

Musk’s leadership in the Department of Government Efficiency and his involvement with recent federal government policies — particularly the mass layoffs at federal agencies — have prompted protests at Tesla dealerships around the county. Dealerships have been vandalized and property destroyed, including damage to charging stations and some vehicles. One individual was arrested on suspicion of arson at a Loveland Tesla dealership. Another person is accused of throwing Molotov cocktails and spray-painting “Nazi cars” on the building in Loveland.

The company’s image has suffered so much to the point where President Donald Trump addressed it early last month outside of the White House.

Trump, standing next to Musk with his son X Æ A-Xii, spoke to the media and said that violence against Tesla stores would be labeled as domestic terrorism and those who perpetrated the crimes would “go through hell.”

Since the beginning of this year, Tesla’s stock price has plummeted. The stocked closed at 379.28 on Jan. 2, dropping to $233.39 on Monday .

The company has reported that it delivered about 336,681 cars in this year’s first quarter, nearly 160,000 fewer than the previous quarter. This also marks a decrease of about 50,000 vehicles compared to the first quarter of last year.

Groves also said his dealers are seeing many Teslas on trade and that the company is seeing an impact internationally — Tesla was booted from the Vancouver International Auto Show last month.

“The Vancouver International Auto Show has removed Tesla as a participant, after the automaker was provided multiple opportunities to voluntarily withdraw,” said Eric Nicholl, executive director of the Vancouver International Auto Show.

Nicholl said the decision was made because the show’s top priority was the safety of attendees, exhibitors and staff.

Potential changes in government policies during 2025, including possible tax cuts, increase in tariffs and reductions in labor force because of deportations, can introduce an increase in uncertainty into the outlook for new vehicle sales, according to a fourth quarter 2024 auto outlook report by the Colorado Automobile Dealers Association.

Tesla did not respond to requests for comment about Colorado vehicle sales.

Since the company’s inception in 2003, Tesla’s mission has been to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy, based on the company’s website.

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Now, the chain is opening a third Colorado store in Centennial, with a two-day grand opening Saturday and Sunday, April 12-13.

“Daiso has received so much love from Colorado before we even announced our expansion to the state. We’re very excited to continue opening locations in Colorado and invite the community to discover Daiso,” said Daiso USA’s brand and content marketing manager, Kimika Rhone.

Located at Cherry Knolls, 6770 S. University Blvd., shoppers can expect a variety of products, ranging from Sanrio stationery and Japanese snacks and drinks to plush toys, beauty essentials, home decor, kitchenware, gardening supplies and for the first time in Colorado, Daiso’s Standard Products line.

Launched in Japan in 2021, Standard Products is a take on a lot of Daiso’s popular categories, including elevated home decor and cookware, Rhone said. From home fragrances to eco-friendly accessories, the line focuses on sustainability and is designed to reduce environmental impact while maintaining style and function.

Daiso’s store in Oswego Commons in Oswego, Ill., debuted the Standard Products line in the U.S. earlier this year. This will be the retailer’s second U.S. store to carry these products, based on their store locator.

The Cherry Knolls store’s hours of operation will be Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. The first 100 customers to make a minimum purchase of $30 will receive a special Daiso goodie bag.

Up next, Daiso plans to have a store in Southlands Shopping Mall in Aurora, tentatively scheduled to open Aug. 9, and a location in Arvada’s Northridge Shopping Center, 7821 Wadsworth Blvd., scheduled for Dec. 13.

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DIA is the site of dozens of ongoing developments, including new hotels, a state-of-the-art flight training center and significant industrial growth.

Airport representatives and municipalities are working together to transform surrounding undeveloped areas into an “airport city,” positioning DIA as a key hub for commerce in the region.

“Anytime that our team looks at real estate development on our land, we do so with the lens of making sure that it’s good to the airport and the region as a whole,” said Ken Cope, senior vice president of real estate development at DIA’s real estate team.

DIA has about 53 square miles of land area annexed from Adams County, and still has more than 16,000 acres of non-aviation land available for compatible commercial development.

The airport’s strategic development plan has seven districts: 40th and Airport Commuter Rail Station, 61st and Peña Station, Second Creek Campus, 72nd and Himalaya, West Approach, East Approach and the Aeroindustrial District.

These districts will feature a variety of mixed-use developments and transit-oriented designs, accommodating businesses like retail, hospitality, restaurants, entertainment, professional services, technology, agribusiness, research and development, light industrial and advanced manufacturing.

Cope said the intergovernmental agreement with Adams County, which they entered in 1988, allows them to develop 1,500 acres for long-term ground lease and development.

If Denver plans to develop any more than 1,500 acres, it will need to amend the agreement with Adams County and with the consent of the Airport Coordinating Committee. No further voter approval will be needed, according to the agreement.

In terms of those first 1,500 acres, Cope said his team is focused on certain districts along the Pena Boulevard corridor, including the Second Creek Campus, where Utah-based manufacturer and distributor Swire Coca-Cola plans to build a more than 570,000-square-foot bottling plant at the northeast corner of Tower Road and Peña.

Construction at the Swire Coca-Cola facility is expected to begin in the third quarter of this year, with a planned grand opening in 2027, according to the project’s website.

The Denver City Council approved a $270.7 million, 75-year ground lease agreement with Swire.

PepsiCo is also developing a 1.2-million-square-foot Pepsi bottling plant south of the Coca-Cola plant, near the intersection of East 72nd Avenue and Argonne.

PepsiCo’s facility is expected to open this summer.

The West Approach district, where a cellphone lot and Phillips 66 gas station are located, will also begin to see more retail development, with plans for another large gas station, a restaurant, a coffee shop with a rooftop deck and additional cellphone lots and ride-share parking services.

“There aren’t a lot of places, candidly, that you can take a look at 16,000 acres and say, you know, how can we build an aerotropolis, or a city around an airport? It’s a phenomenal opportunity for our region to do in the right way,” Cope said.

“We want to make sure that what happens on our land is compatible and also a benefit to the region. You know, we are a public agency, and we have a duty to make sure that we are providing a public benefit, and so we don’t take that lightly.”

A future airport city

Before Denver was home to one of the busiest airports in the U.S., it had Stapleton International Airport, a 4,700-acre site bordered by Quebec Street, Montview Boulevard, Peoria Street and 56th Avenue.

Originally starting as a small airfield, it became the city’s main airport in 1929. However, by the late 1980s, the airport had become too small and outdated to meet Denver’s expanding aviation needs, according to Bill Aiken, deputy director of the Community & Economic Development Department at Adams County.

“If you look at where the Denver airport was, and before it moved to its current location, it was completely boxed in. It was surrounded,” he said.

“There was no opportunity for expansion.”

Besides the inability to expand, Stapleton faced problems like delays, traffic jams, inadequate runways and concerns about aircraft noise from residents in nearby neighborhoods.

DIA opened in February 1995, driven by the efforts of former Denver Mayors Federico Peña and Wellington Webb.

Stapleton airport was decommissioned that same year. Today, the area is still being redeveloped with residential, retail, office, industrial and warehouse distribution space.

The concept of a “Colorado Aerotropolis” was announced last year with DIA at the center of plans, though the area of impact extends well beyond the airport and its borders. The aerotropolis project website says the future city is an ideal location for organizations that need immediate access to global transport networks and supply chains, including proximity to the airport.

Aiken said his team is working through a process to help with a groundbreaking in unincorporated Adams County for a large Fortune 500 company. Because of confidentiality, he was unable to share information about the specific location or the user at this time.

Another focus for development is finding opportunities in existing infrastructure, such as roads, site access and the availability of power, water and sewer connections, Aiken said.

“One of the big initiatives that we’ve been working on internally with staff is a strategy to start to do our land use coordination in the same room together in this area,” he said.

“So, that we’re not planning sewer lines that maybe someone else is unaware of or maybe planning on a duplicative type of sewer line or other utility or infrastructure.”

However, areas where there is no existing infrastructure and no access are decades away from seeing any development, Aiken said. In addition, some portions of the land cannot be used to build housing.

The project is a shared vision and collaboration among eight partners, including Adams County, DIA, Aurora, the City and County of Denver and Adams County cities Federal Heights, Thornton, Brighton and Commerce City.

“If you want to go fast, you go by yourself, and if you want to go far, you go with others,” said chair of the Adams County Board of Commissioners Lynn Baca, who is also a board director for the Aerotropolis Regional Transit Authority and serves on the Airport Coordinating Committee.

“We want to do really good work in the region and be really thoughtful when it comes to economic development, when it comes to attracting residents, when it comes to having employees call Adams County home. We want to make sure all of our municipalities are on board with this concept of it really is the people at the center of this.”

Key updates to watch out for in the area

• A contract to construct the Peña Boulevard Phase 1B work was executed in the second quarter of last year with Flatiron Constructors for $50.8 million, according to DIA’s website.

The project’s purpose is to improve traffic safety, create efficient shuttle bus operations and rehabilitate pavement on outbound Peña from the terminal to Jackson Gap and will construct a diverging diamond interchange. Construction is underway and will continue through 2026.

Denver City Council members are also reviewing a $15 million contract to study and start designing a potential widening of Peña Boulevard as they look for solutions to ease traffic congestion. DIA and the council are looking primarily at Peña west of E-470.

If approved, a five-year contract with Lakewood-based Peak Consulting would be paid for out of DIA accounts. It would include an environmental review to meet federal requirements and some design work for the project.

• In recent years, the area surrounding the airport has experienced significant industrial growth, including the completion of Phase I of Aurora’s Sun Empire development, a 3.9 million-square-foot industrial park at East 56th Avenue and Harvest Road.

To date, two buildings totaling just more than 800,000 square feet have been constructed, with several prospective tenants interested, Todd Witty, senior vice president with CBRE, told The Post.

Last year, Witty said 150 acres of land in the park were sold to Philip Morris International for a new manufacturing plant to produce its popular ZYN nicotine pouches, which are marketed to those looking to quit smoking or chewing tobacco.

The global tobacco company plans to invest $600 million in the facility, which is under construction and expected to be completed later this year, according to the CoStar Group.

The facility is expected to be fully operational by next year, employing at least 500 full-time workers and generating upward of $550 million annually in economic benefits statewide.

Witty said they do not expect the Sun Empire’s Phase II, which includes two additional buildings, to break ground until after Phase I is fully leased.

• Additional activity can be found in the HighPoint Elevated industrial park, where Dollar General has a 919,000-square-foot distribution facility that is now operational. Whole Foods Market has also signed a lease for a 137,000-square-foot distribution center in the same park and a brewery and amphitheater are set to open next year.

The 400-acre industrial and logistics park, which is being developed by Hyde Development and Mortenson, plans to have 15 buildings on its site.

• Other nearby developments around the airport include Southwest Airlines, which has opened a new 23,000-square-foot learning center at 6611 N. Powhaton Road in Aurora, located within the JAG Logistics Center at DIA. The space also offers an opportunity to expand by 12,000 additional square feet.

“We appreciate this partnership and our new training center, which allows us to invest in our people by offering the latest tools, enhanced training environments, and functional spaces to maintain a focus on safety as we continue growing and serving the Denver community,” said Bobby Loeb, vice president of Southwest Airlines University at Southwest Airlines.

Most employees supporting the airline’s Denver operation will use the new facility as part of a training curriculum. The airline’s pilots will continue to train at its corporate campus in Dallas.

• United Airlines is also building a flight center at 64th Avenue and Yampa Street, designed to complement its main training facility in northeast Denver.

United announced in 2023 that it had paid $33 million to acquire the undeveloped 113.7 acres of land from L.C. Fulenwider Inc., a Denver-based company.

The airline is expanding its fleet and plans to add 700 new planes by 2033. Its Quebec Campus, in the Central Park neighborhood along Quebec Street, functions as the only pilot training facility for United’s 16,000 pilots, according to an infrastructure master plan prepared by the architecture firm ZGF.

However, the current Quebec Campus has reached its limit in both space and the number of trainees it can support. United is aiming to have flight training capabilities at the new flight center by 2028.

As United builds out the new training center, the area will also require additional support services such as a support storage warehouse, an operations and/or data center and central energy center.

• Just up the road from the center, visitors can expect new lodging to be built in the area, including a stayAPT Suites, which has been proposed to be built on a vacant lot at 18311 E 71st Ave. Denver property records reveal the four-story hotel will have 111 rooms and 113 parking spaces.

• Right next door, a four-story Extended Stay America Hotel with 124 rooms is also proposed for development at 18331 E. 71st Ave.

• In addition, New York-based hotelier Highgate purchased a 5.4-acre lot at 18503 E. 57th Ave. for $4.4 million to build a four-story, 126-room hotel.

The undeveloped land at 18331 East 71st Avenue has plans for a four-story Extended Stay America Hotel to be built near Denver International Airport, as seen on April 2, 2025, in Denver.

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Adventurous Journeys Capital Partners, a Nashville-based real estate and hospitality company, has acquired the property from longtime owners Frank and Gina Day.

“The Boulderado is more than a hotel — it’s the pride of the city, an iconic part of Boulder’s distinct character and charm,” said Ben Weprin, founder of Graduate Hotels and CEO of AJ Capital Partners.

“We are thrilled and honored to partner with the Days, who have been passionate stewards of this beloved property for over four decades. Together, we look forward to honoring The Boulderado’s unmistakable spirit, celebrating its history, and introducing thoughtful touches that will elevate the guest experience for generations to come.”

The hotel’s name will be preserved, along with the property’s signature architectural elements, according to AJ Capital Partners.

The company said its goal is to preserve the hotel’s architectural charm while leading a revitalization effort in partnership with the Days. Those efforts will include redesigned guest rooms and refreshed public spaces.

The hotel is a part of Concept Restaurants Inc., built by Frank Day, a restaurant and hospitality veteran. Day has served as president of Concept Restaurants since 1976.

Day has acted as managing general partner of Hotel Boulderado since 1980. Table Mountain Inn in Golden was added to the Concept Restaurants family in 1991. Day would later expand to Colorado Springs with the Best Western Plus Fillmore Inn.

“We have chosen to partner with AJ because of the magnificent work they’ve done with other historic hotels like the Chicago Athletic Association, Randolph Hotel in Oxford, and Rusacks in St. Andrews,” said the Days in a Monday news release.

“They have the wherewithal to take the Boulderado to the next level.”

AJ Capital Partners will also work with the Days on the future operations of the hotel.

The five-story brick building at 2115 13th St., designed by local architects William Redding & Son, features a blend of Italian Renaissance and Spanish Revival styles. Its name, a combination of “Boulder” and “Colorado,” was intended to ensure that visitors would always remember where they stayed.

It also continued the tradition of open court hotels, a concept pioneered by San Francisco’s Palace Hotel and later adopted by Denver’s Brown Palace Hotel, which was completed in 1892.

The hotel welcomed its first guests in 1909 and was one of Boulder’s first luxury hotels, according to its website. It features 160 guest rooms, each decorated with either a modern mountain or historic Victorian style, offering views of downtown Boulder, the Rocky Mountain foothills and the Boulder Flatirons.

Over the years, it has hosted a variety of notable figures, including conservationist Enos Mills, actress Ethel Barrymore, actor Douglas Fairbanks Sr. and evangelist Billy Sunday, as well as Clarence Darrow, Helen Keller, Robert Frost, Benny Goodman and Louis Armstrong.

The hotel is a designated city landmark, a member of the Historic Hotels of America and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

A phased renovation is slated to start later this year. Upon completion, the Hotel Boulderado will join the Graduate by Hilton collection.

The hotel will remain open for business while repairs and improvements are underway. The anticipated completion date is spring 2026.

The sale price of the hotel was undisclosed. However, Boulder County public records revealed in December 2024 the hotel was sold for a 41% undivided interest.

Founded in 2008, AJ Capital Partners’ portfolio includes $5.4 billion of assets across over 100 properties and more than 50 geographic markets. A few notable brands include the Graduate Hotels, Marine & Lawn Hotels & Resorts and Field & Stream Lodge Co.

The company’s headquarters are in Nashville, with additional offices in Chicago, London, Miami, New York, San Francisco and New Orleans.

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The Idaho-based grocery store, known for its warehouse-style stores with low prices and a variety of bulk items, will be at the southeast corner of East 164th Avenue and Washington Street on undeveloped land.

Site plans reveal the store will be a single-story building, painted in a neutral bronze color and will feature two signs. The 16.8-acre property will also include about 455 parking spaces, landscaping and future pad sites.

Most of WinCo Foods’ employee-owned stores are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, only closing on part of Thanksgiving, part of Christmas Eve and all of Christmas Day. WinCo stands for “Winning Company,” according to the firm’s website.

The two parcels of land, at 16380 and 16350 Washington St., are owned by Clyde E Webb Family LLC.

However, to develop the store, the two parcels will need to be combined and re-zoned as the existing Business Park zoning does not allow for grocery stores above 3,500 square feet, according to pre-application documents submitted to the city.

The documents further showed Thornton city staff has identified the Regional Commercial zoning district as the most compatible with the proposed use and the existing future land use designation.

The zoning amendment will also require a neighborhood meeting and three public hearings, one at Thornton’s Planning Commission and two others before City Council.

This may not be the grocer’s only expansion plan in Colorado. Last month, WinCo Foods purchased land in Firestone for $3.6 million, according to records filed in Weld County and reports from several media outlets.

Founded in 1967 in Boise, Idaho, WinCo Foods employs over 20,000 individuals and operates 141 stores in states such as Idaho, Arizona, California, Utah, Washington and more.

Representatives from WinCo Foods did not respond to requests for comment from The Denver Post.

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The popular Japanese household goods retailer, known for its affordable prices, offers a range of products, including home decor, kitchenware, beauty products, stationery and Japanese snacks.

“We are beyond excited to bring Daiso to Colorado for the first time,” said Jack Williams, chief retail operations officer for Daiso USA in a news release this month.

“Both Fort Collins and Aurora are fantastic communities, and we’ve seen growing demand for our distinctive and value-driven offerings. We can’t wait to introduce our brand to these new customers.”

The first Colorado location debuted in Fort Collins at Pavilion Shopping Center on March 15.

Shortly after, the second store opened in Aurora’s Village on the Park on March 22, occupying nearly 8,500 square feet of retail space at 2353 S. Havana St.

Both stores held two-day grand openings, with customers in Aurora reportedly standing in long lines that stretched around the entire building. Some even waited over four hours to get inside.

“We’ve been receiving tremendous interest from customers in Colorado, and we’re eager to offer them the Daiso experience,” said John Clarke, chief development officer for Daiso USA.

“These two locations are just the beginning of our expansion in 2025. We’re excited to introduce more customers to our special and budget-friendly items.”

Store hours for both locations will be Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Daiso will continue to expand its presence in Colorado with other locations, including one in the Cherry Knolls Shopping Center in Centennial, at 6770 S. University Blvd. Several news outlets reported the store is scheduled to open on April 12.

Other upcoming stores include a spot at the Southlands Shopping Mall in Aurora, slated for this summer, and a location in Arvada’s Northridge Shopping Center at 7821 Wadsworth Blvd., based on a job listing on their careers page.

Representatives for Daiso USA did not respond to requests for comment from The Post regarding exact opening dates.

Besides Colorado, Daiso also plans to open more stores this year in 15 other states, including Arizona, California, Texas and Illinois.

The idea of Daiso started in March 1972 in Japan when Hirotake Yano opened his first street vending shop, selling 100 Yen products. He later established Daiso in December 1977. Since then, the family-owned company has expanded to over 6,000 stores across the globe, with over 150 of those within the U.S.

Daiso entered the U.S. market in October 2005, with its first store in Seattle. The company’s U.S. headquarters is in Anaheim, Calif.

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The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment went from processing just under 100,000 initial claims in 2019 to nearly 800,000 claims in 2020 and close to 1 million in 2021. In comparison to Colorado’s 700% spike, South Dakota experienced a nearly 500% increase in initial claims from 2019 to 2020, while California saw a 450% rise.

Colorado’s sevenfold surge in the first year taxed the system so much that it resulted in claimants reporting significant delays in receiving benefits and difficulties in getting a real person on the phone to resolve problems with their claims.

Even as the economy began to bounce back and the number of claims declined, complaints about the bureaucracy unemployed Coloradans must negotiate to pay their bills haven’t subsided.

Frustrated claimants report reaching out to the department multiple times a day for weeks, while others lost track of how many attempts they made. This has left them frustrated, emotionally drained and without any financial aid to support themselves or their loved ones.

Delays in processing claims have been linked to several factors, including high claim volumes and challenges with the labor department’s new computer system, which has led to a backlog due to difficulties with ID verification.

Nearly 100 people have reached out to The Denver Post over the past few months to share their experiences and concerns about the system. Some eventually received their money while others have thrown in the towel.

Complaints have been lodged with the attorney general and the governor’s office, with one individual even suing the labor department over missing unemployment benefits and another over integrity holds.

Broomfield resident Misha McGinley, 53, lost her job in October 2024 and applied for unemployment right away, unaware of the trouble she was about to face.

“There is no other business in this world that could function like the Colorado Department of Labor and still be in business had it not been a government agency,” she said.

Even though the volume of claims the CDLE is dealing with has dropped from the highs at the beginning of the pandemic, they’ve stayed well above where they were before.

“Our claim loads week over week are running somewhere around 7 to 8% higher than they were just pre-pandemic in 2019,” said Phil Spesshardt, director of CDLE’s Unemployment Insurance Division.

Initial claims have remained above pre-pandemic levels, with more than 150,000 claims recorded in 2024.

In 2024, the department paid over $850 million in benefits and about 206,160 calls were answered.

In January of this year, the unemployment call center answered about 16,175 calls, paid $73 million in benefits and the virtual agent, which helps claimants on the phone and the web, responded to more than 10,000 webchats and helped over 60,000 callers.

“For context, on average we are seeing 2,000 to 4,000 initial claims, 30,000 continued claims and paying $17.5 million in benefits each week,” according to an email from CDLE sent to The Post.

After a year of working as a school nurse, Penelope Eppling, 52, applied for unemployment benefits after losing her job in September 2024.

Eppling waited, but the benefits never came.

She received no further communication from CDLE, so she checked on her claim – it had been closed.

Frustrated, she reached out to the department, only to face another challenge — getting in touch with a live person.

“You call and it says that they are too busy, or like, you get the same voicemail and then you can’t leave a message, so you don’t have any person to person access,” she said.

Eppling tried to get her benefits backdated but was told she had to submit an appeal. However, once she did, she never heard back.

“I’ve completely lost my trust in the whole unemployment process right now,” she said.

Diminishing federal funding

In addition to high claim volumes and issues with a new computer system, the state labor department said it’s facing challenges because of increasingly complex fraud schemes that complicate investigations, delays in fact-finding and the loss of federal funding provided during the pandemic.

Spesshardt said CDLE has over 500 employees who work within the unemployment division, with 80 workers who actually process unemployment insurance claims.

“Unfortunately, the funding that we receive at a federal level continues to diminish, which makes it harder and harder to actually increase the staffing that we would have,” he said.

“We look at year over year, incoming claim volume, incoming issue volume, to determine what our needs are. And so when we have the availability on funding, then what we do is we look to (increase) staff as necessary in those areas.”

Spesshardt said federal regulations limit how much they can do with technology to speed up the processing of claims.

The state’s January 2025 unemployment rate was 4.7%, higher than the U.S. rate of 4.0%, according to data produced by the Colorado Labor Department and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Colorado, along with Alaska, ranked 44th out of 50 states and the District of Columbia for having a high unemployment rate, according to preliminary data from BLS. Nevada had the highest at 5.8%, with South Dakota having the lowest rate at 1.9%.

Five minutes and 30 seconds

Eppling, a single mother, went two months without pay.

She had to tap into her retirement savings and borrow money from her mother just to help pay for basic necessities and living expenses.

“I feel that it was very scary. It put a lot on me and my daughter.”

By Nov. 11, 2024, Eppling had found a new job but had still not received any payment from unemployment.

The following month, she received a letter letting her know she was denied benefits but was told she had $794 left to collect.

She never received any money.

McGinley, the Broomfield resident who lost her job in October 2024, applied for unemployment right away.

McGinley said she experienced a three-month delay in benefits. She reached out to the department more than 75 times during that period, all without success.

Her average call time was five minutes and 30 seconds before she got disconnected.

“It’s impossible to reach a live person,” she said.

“When I did they said they could not tell me why it’s delayed but it’s in adjudication. They couldn’t say more and I had to be patient.”

McGinley had just enough in her savings to get by but toward the end of the three months, she began to panic, fearing she would have to put her mortgage and car payment on a credit card.

When she was able to speak with an unemployment representative, she was told only foreclosure or car repossession expedites claims.

She explained that while neither of those situations applied, not receiving her benefits would impact her ability to make payments the following month.

“They said it does not matter,” McGinley said.

“They only expedite your claim if you already have lost your car or in the process of losing your car or your home.”

Going through the process

Unemployment insurance claims are processed by a point system. There are 225 points of eligibility that could be considered before benefits are awarded.

In addition to the reasons for job loss, before a benefit is awarded, Spesshardt said the department must review all wages earned from all employers in the last 18 months to determine monetary eligibility.

Unemployment benefit claims take four to six weeks to process.

“As of January, roughly 70% of claims were processed within three weeks. This is an increase from 40% one year ago,” Spesshardt said.

He said the improvement came from ongoing changes based on feedback from staff and claimant focus groups over the past few months.

“Parties become irritated because they can’t speak to a human and they are deflected to our virtual assistant at this point in time. The virtual assistant, at this point in time, is somewhat limited in the information it can provide,” Spesshardt said.

Spesshardt said the goal is to eventually modernize the virtual assistant so it can verify individuals and give them detailed information about their claims. As a result, the need for more human staff to handle claims should be reduced.

Other improvements the department plans this year include hiring 25 call center agents, rolling out a Spanish version of MyUI+, text message reminders to claimants for incomplete actions, more automation where appropriate and a call center upgrade.

“It’s also important for people to understand this program is funded entirely by employers in the state of Colorado,” he said.

Employers pay federal unemployment taxes, which are sent to Washington D.C., and a portion is returned annually to help manage the fund and make decisions.

Many people are under the impression that their regular tax dollars are covering this cost, which is not the case, according to Spesshardt.

“This is an eligibility program. Right. It’s not free money, it’s not an entitlement program,” Spesshardt said.

Another factor putting stress on the department is  a rise in claims from federal workers laid off because of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by President Donald Trump’s adviser Elon Musk.

The move seeks to reduce the federal workforce to significantly cut spending and restructure government priorities.

The rise in claims from laid-off federal workers has led the department to implement several measures to manage the increase, including a special queue within their call center, a dedicated federal claims team, a dedicated page on their website with several resources and on-site support for former federal workers at workforce centers statewide.

There are roughly 57,000 federal workers in Colorado and Spesshardt said that of the approximately 3,000 new claims received each week, about 5% to 7% come from individuals who were laid off because of current issues in the federal government.

“Who do you go to?”

Forty-nine-year-old Jason Miller has been waiting for more than six weeks for the department of labor to issue his unemployment claim payments, which he filed for in early January of this year.

Miller, a father of three, had previously worked as a general manager for a car dealership in Meeker, before he moved to Spokane, Wash., for a new job.

However, he was let go after two months because of employee turnover and was advised to file with Colorado’s unemployment office.

He described reaching out to the office as “frustrating,” “inefficient” and “disappointing.”

“I have had the number on my phone ready to hit send at 7:59 watching my cell phone, because if you wait until 8:30, it’s sometimes impossible to get through to somebody,” Miller said.

“There was a lot of anxiety, of like, I need to talk to somebody today because I’ve got bills due, my kids, you know, we’ve got to pay for groceries.”

Miller said when he was finally able to speak with a live representative, he was told that if he was at risk of eviction or vehicle repossession, his case would be prioritized.

Despite sending his landlord’s eviction notice multiple times and submitting all the necessary documents, Miller said nothing was expedited.

Instead, an integrity hold was placed on his account, causing further delays. As a result, Miller submitted an appeal and is still waiting for a resolution.

“The frustrating thing is, who do you go to?”

Miller also sought help by submitting a complaint to Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, while around 23 other applicants who contacted The Post reached out to the governor’s office.

The governor’s office accepts calls about issues with either worker’s compensation or unemployment, according to their website. All information received is referred to CDLE.

“The governor’s office works with Coloradans on a variety of issues and connects them with the resources they need to access benefits, find answers, or connect with the appropriate agencies or government offices, including supporting people who come to us with outstanding unemployment insurance claims,” said Eric Maruyama, a spokesperson for Gov. Jared Polis, in an email response to The Post when asked about the delays and concerns raised by Coloradans.

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“We’re excited to bring Switchyards to Denver. There’s a growing need for that ‘third place’ in this city and beyond—a space that’s not your home or office, but somewhere to mix it up,” said CEO and Founder Michael Tavani.

“LoHi is the perfect neighborhood to introduce our first Denver work club, with its unique history, energy and civic spirit. When we thought about expanding here, LoHi was the obvious choice. This will be the first of many.”

Like all Switchyards clubs, the LoHi location will provide members with 24/7 access, internet, bookable phone booths and meeting rooms, a library for focused work and a quarterly tabloid created by members for members for $100 per month.

A basic WeWork All Access monthly membership starts at $160, while the All Access Plus monthly membership starts at $240.

Club members will also have access to a cafe featuring coffee by Huckleberry Roasters and Sweet Bloom Coffee Roasters, organic tea by Rishi Tea and Stroopwafels shipped straight from the Netherlands.

For its first Colorado location, Switchyards will use a 5,000-square-foot warehouse at 3222 Tejon St. The nearly 100-year-old building is owned by Paul Tamburello, the founder of Little Man Ice Cream, according to public records.

“We love neighborhoods, we love buildings and we love history,” said Switchyards’ creative director Brandon Hinman.

Founded in 2019, Hinman said Switchyards aims to combine the best elements of working in a coffee shop, a college library and a boutique hotel lobby.

He also said the team draws inspiration from the building’s history, its previous work and the surrounding area’s heritage to design the club’s space. For instance, the LoHi location will have special focus on honoring the neighborhood’s Italian history.

“We learned that at one point Highland had four Italian language newspapers just in that neighborhood,” he said.

The club’s LoHi location will open its doors to members on April 7, with memberships available on April 3.

Only 250 memberships will be available, with the last five clubs selling out on launch day. New members can try Switchyards for eight days for only $12.

Besides Denver, membership also provides access to all 23 current and future clubs, including those in Atlanta, Nashville, Charlotte, Asheville, Greenville and Kansas City, Mo.

With a $5 million venture capital investment, led by Bullpen Capital, joined by existing investor Cercano and with participation from Overline, Switchyards plans to open about 200 new clubs in the next five years, according to its website.

“We have 12 clubs right now in Atlanta, and we still have many more to go. That’s how we feel about Denver,” Tavani said.

On April 2, the LoHi club will open its doors for a sneak peek.

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