Small part of famed El Chapultepec building will be saved as Monforts reach compromise with Historic Denver

A Denver developer associated with the family that owns the Colorado Rockies has reached a compromise on the future of the historic El Chapultepec building in Lower Downtown.

Monfort Companies on Tuesday revealed a new design they say will honor the building, which is at the corner of 20th and Market streets. It would preserve the main entrance to the former jazz club along with a short stretch of wall on either side. The plan, which Monfort Cos. said will cost it an extra $2 million, will also save the iconic neon-cactus sign and red canopy.

It represents a hard-won compromise with Historic Denver, following two months of back-and-forth over the 130-year-old building’s fate. As a result, Historic Denver has withdrawn its application for landmark designation, president John Deffenbaugh said.

Monfort Cos. bought the building along with the Giggling Grizzly for $5.38 million in 2022, according to property records. That purchase price is not included in the updated cost of the project, which now sits at around $17 million.

“As a Denver native who grew up in east Denver, I’ve lived through a lot of urban renewal projects and different entities (promoting) growth in the city,” said civic leader Elbra Edgeworth, a former president of Denver City Council. “To save this historical building and sign is something we always have wanted. Not just as public officials, but as private citizens.”

The nonprofit Historic Denver in March launched a campaign to preserve the building with a landmark designation after Monfort Cos. submitted an application to demolish the structure at 1962 Market St. The landmark application was “extremely surprising” to Monfort Cos., executive vice president Kenneth Monfort said at the time.

The demolition also had the support of the Downtown Denver Partnership (DDP), which is seeking to revitalize the area and the urban core in general.

But El Chapultepec is unique. The nearly 90-year-old business, which closed in December 2020, quickly became the subject of heated debate and protests about the changing culture of the Ballpark neighborhood, which is packed with historic buildings, sports bars and condos.

“The structural components of the building that made it very complicated if not impossible to renovate do not exist in this (new) design,” said Kenneth Monfort. “What we’ve done is actually replicate that historic building through the modern addition of glass. So the silhouette that will exist today will live on in way to tell that story.”

The design from Circle West Architects shows glass walls that mimic the existing building’s shape, but removes its roof in favor of an open-air, ground level patio and second-level balcony. Most of the crumbling building will still be demolished, but the glass will feature an overlay that reproduces the design of the original brick walls and preserves the “architecturally significant piece, which is the corner,” Monfort said.

“Integrating an existing structure into a new one isn’t unusual, but it creates really wonderful design outcomes,” Historic Denver’s Deffenbaugh said. “The old adage that the most successful outcomes are generated by the greatest constraints is true here.”

The formal application for the new design was submitted today, with an expected 8-month approval process followed by the 10-month construction, Monfort said.

Monfort Co. had designed a new bar and restaurant at the site that would have removed the old building entirely. Its centerpiece was a sprawling patio, according to architectural renderings by Circle West Architects.

During a March walkthrough of the existing structure with news media, an engineer provided by Monfort Cos. argued the building was unsalvageable and unsafe. That’s still the case, Monfort said.

Kenneth Monfort’s uncle, Dick Monfort, and father, Charles Monfort, own the Colorado Rockies. Coors Field is only a few blocks from El Chapultepec, and the brothers, as well as Monfort Cos., have been developing and building new properties in the area — including the massive McGregor Square.

The new design for the El Chapultepec corner is now being considered by the Lower Downtown Design Review Commission, Monfort said.

“Good things happen when people talk to each other,” Deffenbaugh said. “Nothing comes through when you take entrenched positions. So after the initial turbulence of the demolition application, we’re realizing we have a lot in common. It takes subtly and nuance, and we’re going to have that.”