The Fifth Brings Coffee Back to Welton Street

Coffee's on again at 710 East 26th Street. Torrance "Pines" Green is the owner and general manager of the Fifth Coffee House, so named not only for the historic Five Points neighborhood that surrounds it, but also because it's the fifth local establishment that Green has pioneered.

"The Fifth is the culmination of all those other spaces," Green says. "Some were retail, some were activation spaces for young creatives to be able to get their shit off." The Fifth is designed to be both those things, plus "implementing the lineage of the businesses that were here before us, namely Coffee at the Point and Blackberry's," he adds.

Blackberry's closed in the mid-2000s and was replaced by Coffee at the Point, which shuttered two years ago. That was a blow not just to the Welton Street corridor, but to Green himself, who'd used the space often to work and hold meetings. "I grew up here," Green says. "So when it was asked of me to consider opening this space, I did it. Jumped at it."

Green is the entrepreneur behind AE, a streetwear brand he founded in 2015. This latest move, he notes, is less about fashion and more about "curating" and honoring the cultures threatened by the forces of gentrification — something that Five Points has been dealing with for decades.

Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Green moved to Denver as a kid some 25 years ago. "Came out here with my mother, did all my schooling here," he says. He went away to college for a year, and then moved back. He moved to New York City, and then came back. Denver kept calling him home.

It was during Green's post-high school years living in Denver that Coffee at the Point became especially important to him. "There were four of us in a two-bedroom apartment on Downing, right near Downing Market. Young homies trying to figure shit out, you know?" Green says, and grins. "A lot of times, coming to Coffee at the Point was just one of our places. I've been doing this branding stuff as AE for about ten years now, and I used to hold all my meetings there. It was always a touch point."

One of those friends teamed up with Green to craft the coffee drinks at the Fifth, and now works behind the counter, which boasts a breakfast cereal bar as well as ice cream.
Green remembers what he still calls "the Eastside" used to be like. "I refuse to call it RiNo," he says. "Sketchy-ass warehouse parties, dirt alleys, things like that before the gentrification. And even just the improvements. I don't think all the changes that have come about for Five Points have been in poor taste, but even those that aren't come with their own set of new challenges.

"Granted, two of my shops were in 'RiNo'," Green admits, using air quotes. "But that's just a label that makes it a little more palatable for white people to feel like they're not in a desolate neighborhood. Like they have some new hip shit going on. But that doesn't change the fact that this is a character-driven neighborhood full of Black and Brown history. These other businesses that might get put up after gentrification, that doesn't necessarily erase the stories, but if you don't know about them, don't care about the history? That's what pushes it out." 

It was Goshen Development — a company headed by Haroun Goshen, and a driving force for heritage-conscious redevelopment in Five Points — that asked Green to get involved. "Goshen has lots of plans to revitalize the neighborhood," Green says, noting that "there are a lot of active, moving parts to make sure these plans aren't just dreams. From idealistic to actualization — making these things feasible. That's my thing. Being part of such a great team as Goshen, the visionaries I'm able to work with there, like Haroun, that's made me confident that the opening of the Fifth is just the first of many positive announcements."

Green says he's been "blessed" to be one of those who still has an understanding of the heritage of Five Points, "the stories that existed before us." And blessed, too, to be "in a position to curate new stories and not leave our previous ones behind. Those gave us the gateway to do what we do now."

And it sounds like an inspired cup of coffee is only the start.

The Fifth Coffee House is open from 8 a.m. to about 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday, at 710 East 26th Avenue, at the corner of Welton Street.