On a soft opening day for Poppy & Pine Flowers Company in the southeast corner of Aurora’s Stanley Marketplace, Karla Rehring was busy arranging stuffed animals on a display inside her little shop as industrial construction activity whizzed around the half-built shops outside.

Rehring was still breaking down moving boxes and organizing trinkets in small baskets on her cashier station when her first customers, a Stapleton woman and her 12-year-old daughter, came in to peruse her displays of candles.

“My business partner, Nicole, heard that (Stanley Marketplace) was opening up, and she said that it would be the perfect place for our first brick-and-mortar shop,” Rehring said. “It’s been a long journey. We just got our keys on Friday, and we’ve had a crazy few days, but we’ve been preparing for this for a long time.”

Remediation, construction and extensive renovation of the former Stanley Aviation manufacturing plant at 2501 Dallas St., started in August 2014. Flightline Ventures, the project’s first-time developers, started announcing some of the 54 businesses that will open inside the market hall beginning with Cheluna Brewing Co. on Dec. 1.

“The original vision was for everyone to open at once, but it didn’t happen that way, and we had to figure things out,” said Mark Shaker, one of the founding partners of Flightline Ventures. “It’s actually worked out better for us to roll things out a little at a time and really get an understanding how people circulate through the building, for example. We’re getting smarter every day.”

Unforeseen construction and timing hiccups have pushed the approximately $30 million redevelopment’s opening dates back by months at a time since last year. Right now, Shaker envisions that all tenant spaces will be open by the end of February.

“It’s been challenging,” Shaker said. “There’s been moments where you’re able to soak some things in, in between the day-to-day construction work. But there’s also been these exhilarating moments where you see the vision coming to life with multiple businesses. It’s exciting.”

Bryant Palmer, spokesman for Stanley Marketplace, said the series of soft opening receptions has been overwhelmingly packed night after night.

“I like to say that it’s been beautiful chaos,” Palmer said. “The last few weeks have been wild, but the biggest thing for me is the sheer joy of seeing actual people in this space and seeing something we’ve been working on for years finally come to life in a way that’s open to the public. It’s been really inspiring and even more motivating to help everybody else get as open as these folks are.”

There are about seven or eight businesses open inside Stanley Marketplace now, with one or more opening every week, Palmer said. So far, OPENair Academy, Cheluna Brewing, Comida, the Stanley Beer Hall, Starre Denver, Miette et Chocolat and other smaller shops have opened. A full list of all stores leased inside the market hall can be found at stanleymarketplace.com.

“People seem really happy, and appreciative and understanding that we’re not fully open yet,” Palmer said. “They come in, they walk through and experience the space and see the businesses and talk about what’s going to go there. There’s generally this nice degree of excitement. The beer hall guys are already saying that they have their first regulars after just a few days.”

Shaker said the customers walking around while half of the building is still under construction demonstrates a proof of concept that North Aurora can be revitalized and that people will shop and spend time in the neighborhood, which is largely marked with surrounding vacant storefronts.

The marketplace will also have urban farms located around 7 acres of remediated garden plots on the west side of the building. Already, several events have been held in the market hall’s 10,000-square-foot indoor open-use space, and more outside partnerships are being formed to keep 2017 full of activities.

Off-Center, the production branch of the Denver Center for Performing Arts, is producing a site-specific show at Stanley in March and April.

“We’re figuring out the logistics now,” Palmer said. “But it’s going to be an immersive theater experience where maybe 45 people at a time can buy a ticket and come in and have the experience through the public spaces.”

And as plans for the next year are already taking shape, business owners are thrilled to be opening now.

On the northwest end of the 140,000 square foot market hall, Danielle Van Ede was sweeping up the floors of her clothing boutique, Starre Denver. With elegant clothing arrangements perfected on top of fine, handmade furniture, the tiny, Dutch-import shop emanated a golden aura from between two shops that aren’t quite open yet.

“I’m from the Netherlands, and I worked for some of my friends who own stores on Larimer,” Van Ede said. “Seven years later, this opportunity at Stanley popped up. I loved the concept and I love working with Mark and Bryant and really belonging in a community of other small business owners, many of whom are starting from scratch like me.

“I got to build my own vision and dream and make it exactly the way I want it,” she said. “All of us have been waiting for this for such a long time, and it makes it so much more special to be at this point now. This is a dream come true.”