A retail property in Denver’s Belcaro neighborhood is expected to become a four-story apartment building.

Developers Kentro Group and Embrey plan to demolish the Belcaro Shopping Center, a largely vacant retail strip with a King Soopers at 825 S. Colorado Blvd., and replace it with a four-story, 347-unit apartment building.

The concept plan was recently approved and will now move to the city’s site development phase, the Denver Business Journal reported.

Plans submitted to the city call for the L-shaped multifamily development to reserve 35 units for those making up to 60% of the area median income, according to the DBJ.

The 6.5-acre lot is owned by Dillon Cos., the parent company of King Soopers, according to property records. In addition to the retail strip, the southern end of the property has a closed liquor store.

Kentro Group and Embrey intend to split the property into a multifamily development to the north, near Colorado Boulevard and East Exposition Avenue, and a retail development to replace the vacant liquor store, according to the DBJ.

If the city approves a zone lot amendment and development plan, the retail project would house an approximately 18K SF store for the shoe company Dardano’s, according to the DBJ.

The redevelopment plan moving forward is much smaller than Kentro and Embrey’s original proposal, which called for a mixed-use project with several residential towers and approximately 700 units. The developers downsized the project after nearby residents voiced concerns, according to Naked Denver.

The retail strip and King Soopers are expected to be demolished after the supermarket opens a new location at Colorado Boulevard and East Arkansas Avenue, according to Naked Denver and the DBJ. It isn’t clear when work on the liquor store will begin.

The proposed multifamily project replacing the Belcaro Shopping Center comes as apartment rents have softened and Denver metro apartment vacancies reach a 16-year high.

Yet San Antonio-based Embrey continues to build new apartment complexes in the Denver metro.

“We have four assets operating out there right now,” Embrey Chief Investment Officer Garrett Karam told the DBJ in April. “We have several more under construction. We have several more that we intend to start construction on in the next couple of years. We believe strongly that Denver is a great market to operate in.”

Embrey is building a 395-unit residential community in Englewood near the Oxford Light Rail Station. It purchased the land in early 2024 for $19.8M, with plans for the first units and a clubhouse to open in late 2026, Bisnow previously reported.

The real estate company also bought a 17.5-acre property in Littleton for $17.1M in late 2024 to build a 370-unit multifamily community called The Sullivan. It expected the project to be complete in the third quarter of 2027, the company said in December 2024.