Construction Watch: Here's What's Coming to Stapleton's East Side

Nearly two years have elapsed since Stanley Marketplace announced that it would be converting the former Stanley Aviation Building, where airplane ejector seats were once manufactured, into a multi-vendor indoor market at 2501 Dallas Street in Aurora. Some six months later, restaurateur Robert Thompson revealed that he'd be adding Punch Bowl Social to Stapleton and that his popular restaurant and entertainment center would be going into the striking building (at Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Uinta Street) that was once the long-gone Stapleton Airport's control tower. Since then, a host of chefs and local eateries have thrown their hats into the Stapleton ring, with a multitude expected to help fill the Stanley Marketplace and several others headed for the upcoming Eastbridge Town Center. Here's a rundown of what's coming, along with current photos to help illustrate the progress.
The Stanley Marketplace isn't technically in the Stapleton neighborhood — or even in Denver, for that matter. Instead, the 100,000-square-foot building sits in a northwest corner of Aurora, separated from Stapleton by parkways and creekside trails. But the variety inside should draw shoppers and diners from all over the region, and seeing the building firsthand certainly gives a better understanding of where all of the announced vendors will squeeze in. Our last roundup of confirmed restaurants and shops came in March, when there were fourteen local eateries and food producers on the list (and not an Orange Julius or Cinnabon to be seen). Since then, chef/restaurateur Kevin Taylor has pulled out his beer-hall concept to focus on Hickory & Ash in Broomfield, and several new purveyors have been added. Here's what's new to the list:

Rolling Smoke BBQ
Infinite Monkey Theorem tap room
Annette (a new farm-to-table concept)
Yellowbelly Chicken
Glazed & Confuzed Donuts

Two businesses that had previously been reported as joining the lineup, Happy Cakes Bakeshop and Starling Wine & Whiskey Bar, will not be part of the project.

Opening dates for the complex have been previously announced and then pushed back a number of times — Aurora mayor Steve Hogan predicted Labor Day weekend at his State of the City speech two months ago — but judging from the state of construction right now, Stanley Marketplace still looks to be several months away from its debut.

The Eastbridge Town Center will be anchored by a King Soopers at Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Havana Street and will feature an open, pedestrian-friendly plaza surrounded by shops and restaurants. While there will probably be the usual mix of yoga or CrossFit studios and cellular-service shops in the project, several big-name chefs have already signed leases here.

Chef Elise Wiggins — who headed the kitchen at Panzano for more than a decade — is opening an Italian eatery called Cattivella, Italian for "naughty girl." Chef Lon Symensma, founder of ChoLon and Cho77, will add a breakfast, lunch and dinner restaurant called Concourse. And Troy Guard, who has already launched Lucky Cat and Mister Tuna this year, will land a third Los Chingones as well as a yet-to-be named breakfast spot at Eastbridge. Joining them will be new outposts of Little Man Ice Cream and the Kitchen Next Door. 

Openings are expected to begin by the end of this year, stretching into early 2017.