Ask a Mayfair resident how Colfax construction is going, and the answer depends entirely on which cross street they use to get home. Near Eudora, five new storefronts have opened or announced openings this year, right on the same blocks where the heaviest work of the whole project is happening this fall. Further east, near Hudson Street, crews are only just now digging utility trenches, a lighter phase that suggests the loud part still hasn't arrived there. Both of these are true right now, in September 2026, on the same street, in the same 3,200-household association's back yard.
That gap is the story. The Colfax Mayfair Business Improvement District runs East Colfax Avenue from Eudora Street to Monaco Parkway, plus the small commercial pocket known as the Mayfair Town Center. The whole stretch sits inside the East Colfax Bus Rapid Transit project, which has had construction crews on the corridor since late 2024. But BRT work doesn't move down a street all at once. The district's own update on Segment 3 construction says the work began at Eudora Street in late June and is moving eastward from there, block by block. That means the loudest, most disruptive phase right now is happening closest to Eudora Street, and it's easing off the further east you go. The five businesses have opened or announced openings in 2026. Together, they offer one way to gauge how a stretch of Colfax is doing, alongside the construction dashboard.
The Loudest Block Is Also the Newest
The stretch of Colfax closest to Eudora Street, where Segment 3 construction began June 30 and is expected to run three to four months, is where the district's new Elm Street station is being built alongside full median removal and new travel lane configurations. Run that timeline forward and the heaviest part of the work on this stretch should wrap sometime this fall. It's also, in the middle of all that, exactly where five businesses have opened or announced openings in 2026, according to the BID's own updates:
| Business | Address | What it is | Status this fall |
|---|---|---|---|
| VIVA! Mexi-Coffee Shop | 4900 E Colfax Ave | Coffee shop from Elisa Garcia and Leonardo Munoz-Corona, with hand-painted murals and café lechero | Open |
| BoxBox | 5038 E Colfax Ave | Customizable bento-style salad boxes from owners Tim and Laurie | Open |
| Circular Lounge by Knotted Root Brewing | 5126 E Colfax Ave | A '70s-themed dive bar with arcade games and a pool hall, on a site with a history as a local hangout | Open |
| Couscous Hice | 5325 E Colfax Ave | Family-run Moroccan restaurant from Fouad and Soumia, serving chicken pastila and mergaz sandwiches | Open |
| Catfish King | 5454 E Colfax Ave | Louisiana and Southern-style fried catfish, ribs and brisket from owner Larry Washington | Opening this fall |
Four of the five businesses are listed as open, while Catfish King is listed as opening this fall.
One Segment West, the Finished Version Is Already Real
Walk a few blocks west, past Colorado Boulevard and outside the Mayfair BID's own boundary, and you're looking at what the Eudora-Fairfax stretch becomes once its current phase wraps. RTD has confirmed that the segment from Broadway to Colorado Boulevard reopens this fall, with the two center lanes converting to bus-only lanes for the Lynx service and left turns restricted to signalized intersections. Curb medians separating eastbound and westbound traffic went in over the summer. It's a finished sample of the exact treatment now under construction closer to Eudora, just not proof that Mayfair's own stretch has arrived there yet.
Ali Hoskins-Kelly, co-owner of Fiction Beer Company on the corridor, told Denverite in May that her business held up mostly because its customers come from the neighborhoods on either side of Colfax rather than drive-by traffic.
Mayfair's five newest tenants are on a different part of the corridor's construction timeline.
The Wave Hasn't Reached Hudson or Monaco Yet
Further east, the district's own update describes lighter work still in its early stages. Preparation for the future BRT station at Hudson Street has involved digging underground utilities and drainage in the center of Colfax, work expected to run three to four weeks, concentrated on the east side of Hudson. Toward the district's far edge, between Glencoe Street and Monaco Parkway, crews have been doing preconstruction potholing and short-term intersection closures lasting three to five days each. Side streets have stayed open and business access has been maintained throughout both, but it's a much lighter touch than what's happening near Eudora right now.
That's consistent with a project moving in one direction. The BID's own update says the current phase started at Eudora and is moving eastward from there, so Hudson and the Glencoe-to-Monaco stretch reading as calmer right now isn't a sign they've been spared. It's a sign the wave hasn't reached them yet. By the time the Eudora-Fairfax work wraps this fall, the heavier phase is likely still ahead for the businesses closer to Krameria and Monaco.
How the Construction Grants Were Structured
The one-time construction grants available to small businesses were geographically specific: eligibility ran from Broadway to Glencoe Street, tiered by revenue, $7,500 for businesses grossing $100,000 or less annually and $15,000 for those above that threshold. Construction began in late 2024, which means some merchants along the route have now been living with it for nearly two years, even as Mayfair's own heaviest phase only started this past June.
The BID also promotes community campaigns. The We Back the Fax initiative asks anyone visiting the corridor to eat, drink, shop or play at an East Colfax business, post a photo with the hashtag #WeBackTheFax, and enter for a chance at a $50 Colfax Cash gift card redeemable up and down the district. The BID has also published its own pairings for a night out on the corridor this fall, worth stealing directly: coffee at VIVA! Mexi-Coffee Shop paired with a yoga session at Mile High Bikram Yoga, a workout at Body Practice followed by sushi at Jett Sushi Denver, or dinner and drinks capped off at R&R Lounge.
What This Fall Actually Looks Like on the Ground
For anyone living within the Mayfair Neighbors Inc. boundaries, which run Colfax to Monaco to Sixth Avenue Parkway to Eudora, the practical takeaway is less about a finish date and more about paying attention to your specific block. If you're near Eudora, you're in the loudest part of the project right now, and Catfish King's soft opening this fall gives that stretch one more reason to walk over once the dust settles. If you're closer to Hudson or Glencoe, the light prep work underway now is likely just the opening act. Mayfair Neighbors Inc. has formally partnered with the Colfax Mayfair BID this year specifically to keep that kind of block-level information flowing to residents rather than leaving it buried in a project dashboard.
The corridor isn't waiting for a single grand reopening, and neither are the people betting their businesses on it. Reading Colfax accurately this fall means reading it in segments, because that's how it's actually moving.
If you're curious what any of this means for property values or timing along the corridor, Jan Nelsen has spent decades watching Denver's inner-ring neighborhoods change block by block. Reach out anytime to talk through what's happening on your specific stretch of Mayfair.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
