An effort is underway to secure funding for the redevelopment of the culturally significant Sakura Square in downtown Denver.
Located at the corner of 19th Street and Larimer Street, the site belongs to the more than century-old Tri-State Denver Buddhist Temple, and in recent years has been home to nearly two dozen apartment units, as well as a restaurant and some retail space.
Now Sakura Square officials have requested some $30 million to fund an extensive redevelopment of the property. That funding request has been submitted to the Denver Downtown Development Authority.
The funding will target the construction of a two-story building that will house a new temple, as well as a community center. Additional features will include classrooms and additional retail space.
Altogether, the project is expected to encompass around 46,500 square feet.
Sakura Square was designed by architect Bertram Bruton and was recently recognized by the group History Denver as one of the city’s most treasured historic sites.
The Square includes a garden dedicated to Minoru Yasui, a lawyer who challenged the internment of Japanese Americans in World War II. Yasui was eventually sent to a camp site run by the War Relocation Authority in Idaho.
For decades the Sakura Square has been the center point of what has been called Denver’s Japantown and is the home to the annual Denver Cherry Blossom Festival every June.
In a statement, Nozomu Tim Higashide, chief executive officer of Sakura Square, said the proposed redevelopment would “reshape the block into a modern cultural, residential, and public destination that enhances downtown’s vibrancy and strengthens Denver’s collective identity.”
January 5, 2026
By Garry Boulard
