Last updated Friday, August 14, 2026
If you've ever slowed down past a dirt lot or a gutted storefront around here and asked exactly that question, you're my kind of neighbor. This page is the running answer for Littleton's 80127, Ken Caryl, and the edges we can see from the Hogback. Everything below comes from the actual paperwork, county permits, recorded deeds, state filings, and the city of Littleton's development files, plus what the businesses themselves publish. I update it when projects actually move, and the free Friday newsletter is where every change lands first.
Ziggi's Coffee, 8020 South Sangre de Cristo. The Colorado-grown drive-thru chain has been building at Chatfield and Sangre de Cristo since spring, and its own website now shows a grand-opening week of Thursday, August 27 through Saturday, August 29. The full rundown runs in the newsletter the week before.
The Summit Steak Bar, the Bevy's building on South Alkire. A steakhouse with a live website, a dinner menu, posted hours, and a working reservation page. State filings trace it to an Indiana-based company. What it doesn't have is an announced opening date, and as of August 14 the reservation system showed no bookable dates. I've asked, and I'll print the date the moment there is one. The first look ran in Issue #19.
Better Mattress, 8055 West Bowles at Bowles Crossing. The Colorado chain with stores from Arvada to Lone Tree now lists Bowles Crossing as Coming Soon on its own store locator, matching a tenant-finish permit issued in late July. No date yet.
Jersey Mike's, 7735 West Long Drive. One zip over, about a mile east of Kipling. A tenant permit issued in July reads like a sub shop starter kit, two kitchen hoods and a brand-new grease trap. Details in Issue #19.
The old Walgreens at Simms and Ken Caryl. It's becoming a medical office building. The conversion permit issued July 1, right after the property sold in June, and the first phase demolishes everything that makes the building recognizable as a Walgreens, the gable canopies, the pharmacy drive-through, the old entrance. No tenant is named in the county's records yet. The tenant permit is where a name usually shows up first, so I'm watching for it. The story ran in Issue #18.
Turnbuckle Distilling, northwest corner of Bowles and C-470. The old Whistling Hare property is turning into a five-acre distillery with a restaurant, a silo tasting room, and a working farm. Construction was underway when I checked in early July, and as of mid-August the company's own site still says Coming Soon with no date attached.
The new Deer Creek Library, 11100 Bradford Road. Jeffco Public Library is building a full branch at its Bradford site in Ken Caryl, and the system's own project records point at a 2028 opening. Between now and September 27, the library is collecting marker drawings of Colorado nature from all ages for a community art wall inside the future building. I've been pulling the project's records for a fuller story in the newsletter.
Westend Ridge, the old church site behind Dutch Ridge near Kipling and Coal Mine. The congregation sold its 10.77 acres for 4.9 million dollars in June of last year to GMCD Westend LP, a Delaware partnership run from a Toronto office suite. The approved plat carves the land into 103 lots, 51 detached homes and 52 attached, under zoning that allows up to 109 units, and the brokerage that sold the site has announced Dream Finders Homes as the builder. No Dream Finders company owns a lot there yet, and no home permits show up in the county's files. Future buyers should read the tax fine print, because the lots sit in their own metro district, about 172 mills against roughly 99 for the houses across the fence. That's roughly 75 percent more property tax on the same dollar of home. And the county's own engineers opened a violation case against the project in June, still open as of mid-August. The full records story is in Issue #20.
300 senior apartments proposed at 5649 South Alkire. A site development plan filed July 20 proposes a 300-unit senior living facility on Alkire, up the street from the Summit Steak Bar building. The application sits in the county's earliest review stage, the part where staff checks whether the paperwork is complete, so nothing is approved and no developer is named in the file yet. I'm digging into who's behind it. First reported in Issue #20.
In-N-Out at Mineral and Southpark Terrace. The filed plans describe a 3,887-square-foot restaurant with a 30-car drive-thru queue. A site improvement plan has been under review with the city of Littleton since last fall, and the city's file hasn't recorded a move since May. We covered the Mineral corridor push in Issue #1, and the moment this one moves, newsletter readers hear first.
Shea Homes at the TrailMark entrance. The last undeveloped parcel at South Wadsworth and TrailMark Parkway, 7.68 acres, proposed for roughly 27 single-family homes. That takes a rezone plus a land-use map change, and the City Council hearing moved to December 1 at the applicant's request. The postponement story is in Issue #16.
Dutch Creek Horse Farm, 6859 South Iris Street. Just across the zip line in 80128, about a mile north of the Westend Ridge site. The owner has applied to rezone the farm from agricultural to Planned Development for up to 47 single-family lots. The county file shows the applicant revising the application after the first referral round, with the county's clock pointing at November or December, and no hearings are scheduled. An opposition petition stood at 1,849 signatures when I checked in early August.
Also watching: STEM School has taken pre-application steps toward a rezone at 1101 and 1151 West Mineral, with no formal application filed. The Portillo's pre-application from last year was administratively closed in September, and nothing new has been filed since. And the Costco talk from the spring hasn't produced an application in the city's development files. If any of these moves, it lands in the Friday email first.
If dirt is moving somewhere in 80127 and it's not on this page, tell me: [email protected]. Half the best stories in the newsletter start with a neighbor asking what's going in there. And if you'd rather not check back, subscribe free and get every update in the Friday issue.
More field guides from the Post: the new-restaurants page for what's opening to eat, and the trails page for where you can actually hike around here.
Your weekly guide to Littleton, Ken Caryl, and the SW Denver foothills. Events, restaurants, trails, development news, and the stuff your neighbors are talking about.