Denver’s 2100 Larimer building, empty for years and neglected structure in the city’s Ballpark District, is inching closer to a long-awaited comeback.
The two-story, 11,600-square-foot structure, built in 1908 and long viewed as a historic fixture on Larimer Street, was purchased last year for $1.45 million by local businessman and real estate investor Matt Van Sistine, who is leading a renovation aimed at transforming the dormant building and revitalizing the block.
As board chair of the Ballpark Collective RNO, Van Sistine plans to preserve the building’s historic western charm while adding modern amenities. The property will become a three-story mixed-use hospitality and entertainment space.
The restoration is expected to be completed by the end of 2027, and updated plans are set to be submitted to the city soon.
“I was excited in 2019 when they were going to develop it, and then it fell apart. Literally, the building was falling apart, and they weren’t planning to do do anything too quickly. So, that’s when we started talking about doing something,” he said.
Since purchasing 2100 Larimer, Van Sistine and his team have cleared out the property of accumulated belongings, hauling away an estimated 10 to 12 dumpsters’ worth of material.
Area artists have added a “Wild Wild West” mural to the building’s exterior, while contractors have stabilized the nearly century-old structure through extensive brick repairs on both interior and exterior walls. Inside, crews have connected separate basement areas, removed boarded-up windows, deteriorating stairwells and walls, and installed temporary supports to secure the building.
Van Sistine said he is working with area architects and engineers on new plans and preparing a core-and-shell submittal to the city to advance the next phase of construction.
“It’s a bit of a puzzle. The challenge with these type of buildings is trying to match up the modern codes and modern requirements, but trying to preserve the past,” he said of the renovation progress.
He also said he’s in the process of evicting the building’s current tenants, a small flock of pigeons that have taken up residence in the ceilings and wall crevices. Van Sistine laughed as he told The Post that he doesn’t know how they keep finding their way in.
The next phase of 2100 Larimer’s redevelopment includes the crew digging the basement two to three feet deeper and underpinning the foundation, converting the previously dark space into a functional floor with a high-volume kitchen, bathrooms, storage, a karaoke lounge, and a hidden “Boiler Room” speakeasy built around the original coal boiler.
A new steel structure will rise inside the historic brick shell, while efforts will be made to find ways to repurpose some of the building’s original materials. Van Sistine said the building will feature a lobby, street-level patio, a small theater-style venue, and a 15-room boutique hotel.
The top floor will also feature restaurant space and a wraparound rooftop patio with views of downtown, the mountains, and Coors Field, transforming the boarded‑up relic into a neighborhood hub for dining, nightlife and lodging.
The wild West
The neighborhood around 2100 Larimer Street developed in the late 1800s, fueled by Denver’s silver and gold mining boom, according to the Ballpark Collective’s website.
The 1893 silver crash and the following regional depression left the area in decline, turning it into skid row with brothels, speakeasies, pawn shops and widespread crime.
The neighborhood remained run-down for decades. Many historic buildings were demolished in the 1960s through the 1980s during the Skyline Urban Renewal Project and a series of suspicious fires to make way for parking lots for downtown high-rises fueled by an oil and gas boom.
At its peak, the neighborhood grew around Denver’s rail lines, with warehouses, factories, and lodging serving train-related commerce, while waves of immigrant communities including African American, Italian, Irish, Japanese, Chinese, and Mexican residents left a lasting cultural imprint on the area.
The building was originally a saloon built in the early 1900s. Van Sistine said the building’s upstairs at one point was used as a 42-room pay-by-the-hour hotel before becoming low-cost monthly rentals in the 2000s.
He said between 1940s to 70s the corner part of the building was the Juarez Lounge, where patrons played pool and drank 20-cent beers.
Over the decades, the property went through a series of uses and transformations, including housing El Charrito, one of Denver’s oldest dive bars, which closed in 2018 after 56 years. Soon after, 2100 Larimer was left to decline.
The green cornice crowning the roofline had begun to fade, while layers of black paint and tattered posters peeled from the building’s exterior.
After the pandemic began, Ballpark became a hotspot for homeless encampments, prompting activity both around and inside the building. The property was tagged with graffiti and trash often piled up along the sidewalk.
At one point, Lisa Franz, owner of Frank’s Gentlemen’s Salon at 2111 Larimer St., said people would openly sell and purchase illegal drugs just 100 feet from her business right across the street.
“It was becoming dangerous, and it was really disheartening to see. The community that has businesses down there, they’re just struggling every day, and that really added to the struggle, because there was no activity or activation on that block, it was really hard,” she said.
“I employ 11 people, nine of which are women, and you know, to convince people to come down and walk by there to get their paycheck or get their hair cut, at times, was tricky.”
Franz said she and several neighbors would often reach out to the previous owners and Denver Police Department but nothing would ever be done to ultimately resolve the problems the building was having. The situation escalated in February 2024, when part of the roof collapsed, leading to a building complaint, according to city records.
That same year, the city added the property to its “neglected and derelict building list,” a designation reserved for structures that inspectors determine are unsafe, a nuisance, repeatedly in violation of city codes, or behind on property taxes. As of January, the property’s address, 2100 Larimer Street, is still on the list.
After years of watching the building deteriorate and sit in disrepair, Franz said she finally felt a sense of relief when she learned Van Sistine had stepped up to buy the property.
“I really did want to shout it from the rooftops, because there is no one better situated in the community, in the neighborhood, than Matt to take over that building,” she said.
“He has a vision for that building and the neighborhood that is just amazing, and for him to take on the responsibility of that building, it really is a testament to his commitment to the neighborhood. Literally, the day after they closed, they had fences up, and they started working on the building, and it was just like, ‘oh my gosh, this is really happening.’ ”
Van Sistine said what makes the area special is its predominantly small, owner-operated businesses. That connection to the community made it personal for him when he saw the structure fall into disrepair, boarded up and crumbling, with only partial changes from an office project that never materialized.
“I really want it to be a story of not only this building seeing its potential, but the neighborhood seeing its potential, that we’re this close to a stadium, this close to a downtown, and that this area still has so much opportunity,” he said.
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