News

The Clayworks project establishes a district-wide resilience and wellness strategy that will be the most ambitious sustainability program ever adopted in Golden. Simultaneously, it preserves multiple historic buildings and introduces a cohesive set of design standards to guide development for decades.

A project transforming a former manufacturing site in downtown Golden into a mixed-use district is taking shape as construction progresses on the first building of the development, which will eventually remake six city blocks.

Golden's historic CoorsTek site is undergoing one of Colorado's most ambitious redevelopment projects yet! The 16 acre campus at the base of the Rockies will become Clayworks, a million square foot mixed-use district developed by AC Development Company, a Coors family venture.

Construction in downtown Golden unearths historical artifacts as CoorsTek site transforms into the new Clayworks district.

AC Development and its anchor tenant CoorsTek, Inc., along with their design and construction partners, Holder Construction and Tryba Architects, celebrated the topping out of Clayworks Building B3 on Thursday, May 8, 2025, marking a major milestone in one of the most notable mixed-use developments in Golden’s history. 

CoorsTek broke ground on its new four-story headquarters last month, which will be the first new building in the five-block Clayworks district. The new headquarters will be a four-story commercial building and, once complete, will house other office space tenants as well as ground-floor restaurants and retail businesses

“The opportunity to reknit this really sort of industrial super-block back into the surrounding city — bringing streets and sidewalks through, bringing people here to live, work, stay, eat — will make it a really integral part of downtown,” said Dan Cohen, president of AC Development.

“It will enhance and extend the experience of what’s already an amazing and beautiful place in downtown Golden.”

“We are committed to preserving key historic elements of this site while bringing modern amenities such as incredible outdoor spaces where our community can connect and enjoy our beloved town,” said Darden Coors, AC Development board member.

“Members of the family thought it was important that the most historically significant buildings be preserved and be part of the future of CoorsTek,” said Dan Cohen, president of AC Development.

Repurposing the site is exciting, [Michael] Coors said. “It will be part of the next 100 years of our company’s history.”

The Coors family has owned a prime piece of downtown Golden property since 1884, and instead of selling it, the family has decided to spend $900 million and 10 years to redevelop it.

CoorsTek will also be moving its global headquarters to the site from its current location a few miles away.

The first phase of the large-scale mixed-use redevelopment of the CoorsTek manufacturing facility in downtown Golden began today. The new district, covering five city blocks, will be anchored by a new global headquarters for CoorsTek, Inc., and will account for approximately 1.25 million square feet of office, multifamily residential, placemaking retail, and hotel space.

AC Development, a Golden-based master and vertical developer, today initiated the first phase of the large-scale mixed-use redevelopment of the CoorsTek manufacturing facility in downtown Golden.

June 9, 2022

AC Development received unanimous approval from the Golden City Council this week for its CoorsTek Ninth Street Redevelopment master plan and rezoning. City Council endorsed the plan’s comprehensive package of innovative planning strategies and community benefits.

June 3, 2022

“The concept for the new CoorsTek global headquarters is both visionary and practical. True to form, CoorsTek wants to transform this closed area into one of the most sustainable and vibrant mixed-use districts in Colorado.” – Tracie Wilcox

April 7, 2022

“Our vision for our Ninth Street property is to transform this heavy industrial complex into a vibrant, publicly accessible district for our community to work, play, eat, relax, and live. This will be a significant redevelopment for downtown and the community.” – Michael Coors