Corvus Coffee has brewed up a deal for a fifth location.
Founder and owner Phil Goodlaxson signed a lease with Charlotte-based Crescent Communities in March to open a coffee shop inside the company’s Novel Rino apartment complex at 1300 40th St.
“I’ve always thought of RiNo as an area where people care about what they’re doing and pursue excellence,” Goodlaxson said.
He said Corvus will open in a lobby-like area, with about 650 square feet dedicated to the coffee operation attached to roughly 1,500 square feet of community lounge space.
Crescent bought the land for $23.7 million two years ago and has been building a 483-unit complex that tops out at 12 stories.
The complex partially opened early this month, and will fully open in the fall. Goodlaxson said he doesn’t expect to open until June because of coffee equipment delays.
Goodlaxson started Corvus in his garage in 2010, selling at farmers markets before opening his first shop on South Broadway in 2012. His business model revolves around sourcing coffee beans from individual farmers, instead of large companies. Right now, Corvus has 18 long-term deals with farmers in Ethiopia, Colombia, Rwanda and more.
“The idea that you can take individual farmers and build a brand for them and make them identifiable … then they can kind of control their own price – that was originally the idea and hope of what coffee could be for me,” Goodlaxson said.
Corvus employs 55 people across all locations, and Goodlaxson expects to hire eight more for the new space. In addition to South Broadway, the company has locations in the Denver Tech Center, Arvada and Littleton. This will be the second inside an apartment complex.
“I don’t usually take spots where I think the majority of customers would just be in the building – that’s more the icing on top,” Goodlaxson said.
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