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COLORADO REAL ESTATE JOURNAL
— May 18-May 31, 2016
Retail
by John Rebchook
The Union Station area later this
year will become a little sweeter.
Tupelo Honey Cafe plans to
open a 5,870 square-foot restau-
rant with 212 seats at the base of
an apartment tower next to Union
Station, its first location outside of
the Southeast.
Tupelo Honey will open a res-
taurant on the ground floor of the
Platform at Union Station.
Platform was developed by the
Holland Partners Group.
The Platform opened about a
year ago.
Tupelo Honey opened its first
store 15 years ago in Asheville,
North Carolina.
“Growing outside of the South-
east and joining the Denver com-
munity is a very exciting time
for us,” said Tupelo Honey Cafe
founder and CEO Steve Frabitore.
“We are thrilled to be in Denver,
create good jobs and bring our
unique version of SouthernAppa-
lachian cuisine to downtown,” he
added.
The Tupelo Honey is expected
to open at the Platform in the
fourth quarter.
“Tupelo Honey Cafe is a perfect
match for the Platform at Union
Station restaurant space, and we
could not ask for a better front
door of our building,” said Jeff
Bernard of the Holland Partner
Group.
“We can’t wait for Tupelo
Honey Cafe to open this year,”
Bernard said.
“They offer exceptional food
and cocktails done the Tupelo
way,” he said.
“We are particularly impressed
by their restaurant design details,
and know that it will fully acti-
vate the west side and continue
the great street environment from
Union Station to the future Whole
Foods Market across the street,”
according to Bernard.
Although Asheville is almost
1,500 miles from Denver, the two
cities are quite similar, according
to Kara Veringa, marketing brand
manager at Honey Tupelo Cafe.
“We thought Denver was very
similar toAsheville, where Tupelo
Honey Cafe hails from,” Veringa
said.
“Denver’s got a fun, casual,
laid-back energy, and even more
than that, this city has got a fan-
tastic culinary reputation, tons of
chef talent and lots of foodies,”
Veringa continued.
However, Tupelo Honey Cafe’s
Southern cuisine will distinguish
itself from other restaurants in the
Mile High City, she said.
“We also know that there’s not
a glut of Southern chefs in town
so there’s plenty of room for our
Appalachian-inspired brand of
Southern comfort food,” Veringa
said.
The restaurant considered a
number of options before landing
at the Platform at Union Station.
“We are blown away by the
vast array of great communities in
Denver, making it hard to choose
just one,” Veringa said.
“In the end, we were really
drawn by the energy of Union
Station and the exciting growth
taking place in LoDo,” she said.
Tupelo Honey Cafe was repre-
sented by Southern Management
and Development in the transac-
tion, while the landlord was rep-
resented by Feder Commercial
RealtyAdvisors.
The newDenver restaurant will
employ about 150 “team mem-
bers,” she said.
Tupelo Honey Cafe is known as
a progressive company providing
good wages and benefits.
Of course, Denver’s housing
costs are much higher than in the
Southeast.
“We always evaluate every
market’s cost of living to deter-
mine the local minimum wage
paid by our restaurants,” Veringa
said.
“We plan to follow this same
process in Denver,” she added.
In some markets, the minimum
hourly wage is as high as $12.50.
The Platform likely won’t be
the last Tupelo Honey Cafe in the
Denver area.
“Our hopes are to open a sec-
ond location in the area, but there
are no solid plans at this time,”
Veringa said.
Since Tupelo Honey Cafe will
be in a first-class, luxury apart-
ment community, has the com-
pany spoken to Holland Partner
about getting any kind of rent
concessions for its employees
who would like to live, as well as
work at, the Platform?
“Great idea,” Veringa said. “No,
we haven’t approached them
about this yet.”
Other News
n
SkyZone
leased 26,744 square
feet in the 367,5190-sf Arvada Mar-
ketplace Shopping Center at 7310
W. 52nd Ave. in Arvada.
New-
Mark Merrill Mountain States
is the landlord.
MattWritt
of
CBRE
was the outside broker in the trans-
action.
n
Geoffrey Bruce
paid $249,000
for a2,025-sf retail spaceandgarage
at 5290 Marshall St. in Arvada.
Bruce has opened a U-Haul rental
and storage center in the space.
He was represented by
Heather
Laneou
of
Colorado Homefinder
Realty
in the transaction. The seller
was
David Caldiero.
He was rep-
resented by
Carabello Properties.
n
Youth Dentistry PC
renewed
its 8,040-sf lease at 14251 E. Sixth
Ave. in Aurora.
John V. Propp,
president of
John Propp Commer-
cial Group,
handled the five-year
lease renewal.
s
Tupelo Honey Café will showcase Southern fare, such as the dish shown,
when it opens later this year near Union Station.
Tupelo Honey Cafe is coming to the Platform at Union Station.
