"The Welton Street corridor is one that's lied dormant for almost 40 years now," James Ellis, senior associate with Civil Technology, Inc, said.

But Ellis and other officials with his development company have a plan to bring Five Points back from blight.

"We're very excited about it," he said.

Civil Technology has already restored a number of buildings in the neighborhood. They're now trying to get other developers to be a part of the multi-million dollar project.

The neighborhood is also part of Denver's Neighborhood Marketplace Initiative, a multi-year project focusing on analysis, community outreach and market studies.

"Independently we could all build our buildings, but collectively we could craft a community," Ellis said.

But Five Points residents like Jeff Campbell want to make sure that community includes all types of people.

"When they fix up the neighborhood... folks that are low-income who have been here for years, they're getting pushed out of this area," Campbell said.

That process, known as gentrification, has happened in a number of cities in which urban areas regained popularity. As a result, property values rise and lower-income residents and small businesses have been pushed out.

"It's a legitimate concern," said Ellis. "And it takes a certain amount of sensitivity to address that."

Campbell hopes community leaders can work alongside developers to create a vision for the new Five Points.

"It's not a one-size-fits all. It's about breaking down barriers and talking," he said.

Ellis says, in less than a decade, residents of Denver will see a new Five Points.

"Five years is our horizon, in terms of the build-out we're looking at," he said.

That development is planned to include residential, commercial and retail spaces that Ellis hopes will lure people back to the state's only cultural historic district.

"I think people across the U.S. are going to say 'Wow, how did you guys do that?'" he said.