Discover Denver's Zeppelin Station food hall

Melissa Kravitz | Special to USA TODAY

Zeppelin Station is on the wrong side of the tracks. Or at least, it was. Near the A Line's 38th and Blake Station, a pedestrian bridge leads visitors straight into Denver’s newest food hall in a 100,000-square-foot mixed-used building, where nine food vendors making cuisine from around the world await.

Unlike countless food halls across the country serving Millennial-friendly flavor in antique buildings, Zeppelin Station is part of a new project by Zeppelin Development, which creates multi-use buildings in formerly undeveloped (in this case industrial) areas. The River North, or RiNo, neighborhood has been transformed from abandoned warehouses into an arts district where Zeppelin (run by father and son duo Kyle and Mickey), built Zeppelin Station and subsequently, The Source Hotel.

New developments often evoke complicated debates regarding gentrification, and the consequences of these new multi-use buildings raising neighborhood rents are seen from Brooklyn to San Francisco. Zeppelin’s projects, however, have been praised by anti-gentrifiers for choosing a neighborhood in a previously uninhabited part of town, instead of displacing people in an existing or historic neighborhood. The development offers opportunities for entrepreneurs and small businesses inside Zeppelin Station.

More: Tour Legacy Food Hall in Plano, Texas

Justin Anderson, who helped open Chicago’s Revival Food Hall, moved to Colorado to finesse Zeppelin Development’s vision and curate the culinary selection.

“Our goal with Zeppelin Station was to create a place within a space; unique from other market halls by featuring ethnic food concepts from around the globe by operators that too had a unique story and created and delivered a concept with a purpose,” Anderson says. “You can find great food in most any city, but it’s rare that you find as much variety under one roof executed in a fast, casual environment at this level of quality and care behind it.”

Zeppelin Station, which officially opened in March 2017, features a range of vendors serving up Indian street food, Vietnamese sandwiches, vegan Italian gelato and more, all chosen to suit nearly every palate.

“The vendor identities are concise and deliberate with chef-driven concepts that span from American South to Hawaii, Japan, Montreal, Vietnam, Italy and South India,” Anderson says. “When we envisioned Zeppelin Station, we imagined the same person coming in for a latte in the morning would come back in for a smoked meat sandwich in the afternoon and return for happy hour to enjoy a high ball with friends in the neighborhood after work.”

Get a sneak peek inside Zeppelin Station in the photo gallery above, and see more food halls across the country below.