businessden

Denver restauranteur Frank Schultz testified emotionally Thursday that his mother, who is also his business partner, has purloined hundreds of thousands of dollars from their bars and restaurants, seriously jeopardizing the financial future of once-thriving companies. “My mom and I started this in 1997 and we always had our differences, but we each had a role to play and we fed off each other,” Schultz said of the Tavern Hospitality Group’s origins as he pushed back tears on the witness stand. “I think we were a pretty…

The top 10 luxury home sales in 2023 in the Denver metro area included six Boulder properties, two Denver homes, one Cherry Hills Village mansion and a ski resort turned luxury ranch above Golden. Let’s begin the countdown. No. 10: $9.3 million: 400 block Westwood Drive in Denver Listing agents: Helm Weaver Helm with Compass-Denver Buyer’s agent: Blake O’Shaughnessy with LIV Sotheby’s International Realty Details: TDDK Revocable Trust spent $9.3 million to win a bidding war for this Country Club mansion listed for $8.5…

Little Bear Saloon, the decades-old downtown Evergreen bar and music venue known for its Wild West vibe, has new owners. Kenneth and Judy Jeronimus sold the business at 28075 Highway 74 in November. Kenneth bought Little Bear in 1976, according to Colorado Serenity Magazine. The bar was sold to JR Iannaccone, Patrick Robson and his wife Alexandra, according to Little Bear staff members and Iannaccone’s daughter. Iannaccone owns Bistro Del Lago, an Italian restaurant down the street from Little Bear, and Evergreen-based JR…

December’s top sale signaled a changing of the guard in Cherry Hills Village. Nicholas D. Miller — a musician, DJ, producer and songwriter known professionally as Illenium — spent $15 million last month to buy a 23,000-square-foot mansion from private equity executive Charlie Gallagher. The eight-bedroom, 14-bath mansion on Cherry Hills Drive sits adjacent to the 10th green at Cherry Hills Country Club. Chicago architect Gregory Maire designed the brick and stone mansion to resemble a 14th-century French country home.…

A local company has gone from “Shark Tank” to bankruptcy court. Thornton-based M.C. Squares, which makes whiteboard sticky notes, planners and to-do lists, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Dec. 22. The company said in the filing that it owes $3.3 million to 43 creditors and has assets of $900,000. Chapter 11 bankruptcy allows a business to restructure and keep operating while paying creditors over time. Founder and CEO Anthony Franco signed the filings. He declined to comment. Franco founded M.C. Squares nearly 10 years…

United Airlines wants to have the first facility on a 113-acre site it purchased near Denver International Airport up and running by fall 2027, according to plans submitted to the city. The company and ZGF Architects said in a “large development review” document submitted to Denver in late December that “an immediate need exists to establish a new simulator building, supporting approximately 12 full flight simulators” on the site northwest of Tower Road and 64th Avenue. It’s that building that the company hopes to have…

Four hundred and six homeowners in Superior are suing Jefferson County, accusing its airport of violating their airspace, dumping lead on them and devaluing their 230 houses. Their lawsuit, filed Dec. 21 in Boulder, marks an escalation in a years-old dispute between Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport and residents of the Rock Creek neighborhood, which is located just northwest of the airport in Boulder County. The airport has surged in popularity in recent years, with 300,000 takeoffs and landings in 2022, or one every…

Startup ski mountain Bluebird Backcountry announced in July that it won’t operate this winter after three seasons running a lift-less resort on a ranch near Steamboat Springs. It never could quite solve the real estate puzzle. Jeff Woodward, a 40-year-old Boston native, spent the last six years building the backcountry-only ski area with his cofounder Erik Lambert. The business raised $2 million from investors. But Bluebird’s insurmountable hurdle was the three-hour drive from Denver, Woodward said. The addition of some…

Shortly before close one night in mid-November, Kim Danner, manager of Gerard’s Pool Hall in RiNo, stepped outside the business to make a call. She didn’t see anyone when she looked around. But within a minute, Danner said, a man approached her as she sat on a ledge. “I could tell pretty quickly he was mentally ill, but that’s a super common occurrence, so I didn’t run away,” Danner told BusinessDen. “I just figured I wouldn’t interact with him.” The man, Danner said, crouched down in front of her — “his face was about an…

A South Park Hill home that the current owner wants to demolish, but that some neighbors want to see preserved, is now being marketed for sale. A listing for the 4,500-square-foot home on 0.43 acres at 5013 E. Montview Ave. went live on Zillow last week with a $2.73 million asking price. Owners Mark and Marianne Rinehart purchased the home on 0.43 acres through a trust for $2.5 million in September 2022, records show. They want to demolish the structure and build a larger single-family home, according to documents…