Colorado Real Estate Journal - May 4, 2016

Tupelo Honey to open at Platform at Union Station

The Union Station area later this year will become a little sweeter.

Tupelo Honey Cafe plans to open a 5,870 square-foot restaurant 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 restaurant 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 Southeast and joining the Denver community 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 Southern Appalachian 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 activate 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 to Asheville, 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 fantastic 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 represented by Southern Management and Development in the transaction, while the landlord was represented by Feder Commercial Realty Advisors.

The new Denver restaurant will employ about 150 “team members,” 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 determine 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 second 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 apartment community, has the company 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.”



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