ink! Coffee Joins Booming Business At Renovated Union Station

DENVER (CBS4)- Business is booming around the newly renovated Union Station. The grand reopening is set for Saturday with a new hotel, new restaurants and new businesses surrounding the transportation hub.

For two decades ink! Coffee has built a name for themselves in Colorado but what they've done in the last few weeks could make them known nationally.

"We really look to be in the center or the hub or the hot spot. We think we picked a great place," said ink! Coffee Vice President Brente Elliott.

Their newest shop is less than a block from Union Station. ink! believes they're on the footstep of massive growth.

They're building their future on the idea that Union Station will work. This is the latest of four locations along 17th Street where thousands of travelers and residents will pass by.

"We wanted to be pioneers of the revitalization of downtown Denver," said Elliott.

"In terms of the growth and development for this area, this is only the beginning," said Downtown Denver Partnership Vice President of Economic Development Jim Kirchheimer.

Kirchheimer calls downtown a safe bet. Businesses are scrambling to fill spots nearest to Union Station, even before it's fully transformed into a transportation hub.

Empty lots are still under development and it will be decades before all the rail lines into the station are completed.

With thousands of travelers departing and arriving in Denver at Union Station, businesses are in a race to be first to welcome them.

For companies like ink! the investment downtown is bringing in some profits but they expect that return to increase soon.

"I think it's going to blow up. I think the promise and the opportunity here is the best there is in Denver," said Elliott.

Some businesses have undergone soft openings in the weeks leading up to the grand reopening of Union Station which officially kicks off at 10 a.m. Saturday.