The Oceanaire Seafood Room, seen here in May 2020, operated at 1400 Arapahoe St. for 13 years and closed when COVID hit. (BusinessDen file)
The owner of The Diamond Cabaret and other local strip clubs has purchased a vacant restaurant unit downtown.
Houston-based RCI Hospitality Holdings plans to open its Bombshells Restaurant & Bar concept in the 1400 Arapahoe St. unit, which was formerly home to The Oceanaire Seafood Room.
According to public records, RCI paid $4.45 million in June for the unit, which is down the street from the Colorado Convention Center. The space is 8,500 square feet, making the deal worth $523 a square foot, according to NAI Shames Makovsky. Citywide Banks provided financing for the deal.
NAI Shames Makovsky brokers Dorit Fischer, Hayden Hirschfeld and Jonathan Power represented the seller, an entity affiliated with Nashville-based AllianceBernstein. That company acquired the space in 2015 as part of its purchase of the nearby Curtis Hotel from Denver-based Sage Hospitality.
The Oceanaire, a chain owned by Houston-based Lawry’s, closed at the onset of the COVID pandemic in 2020. It had operated there since 2007.
The deed transferring the property to RCI prohibits a strip club or adult book store in the space, along with other less titillating uses like a vet’s office or an Army Navy surplus store.
RCI’s planned restaurant does draw inspiration from some of those banned uses, however. Bombshells is a military-themed restaurant staffed with waitresses who wear cleavage-revealing crop tops, according to the restaurant’s website. An extensive menu features burgers, salads, wings, pizza, pasta and other entrees.
There are currently 12 Bombshells restaurants, all in Texas, according to the company’s website.
Colorado has become a focus for RCI.
In 2021, the company acquired five Denver-area strip clubs as part of an $88 million deal involving Troy Lowrie, once referred to by 5280 as “king of Colorado strip clubs.” Then, at the end of last year, RCI bought the Grange Hall food hall in Greenwood Village from chef Troy Guard. The company said in a news release at the time it planned to add a mini Bombshells location there.
RCI also bought space at 23860 E. Orchard Road by Aurora’s Southlands mall in 2022 for $850,000, records show. A Bombshells is also planned there, according to the Denver Post.
Additionally, RCI is working to open a Rick’s Cabaret Steakhouse & Casino in Central City.
The Oceanaire Seafood Room, seen here in May 2020, operated at 1400 Arapahoe St. for 13 years and closed when COVID hit. (BusinessDen file)
The owner of The Diamond Cabaret and other local strip clubs has purchased a vacant restaurant unit downtown.
Houston-based RCI Hospitality Holdings plans to open its Bombshells Restaurant & Bar concept in the 1400 Arapahoe St. unit, which was formerly home to The Oceanaire Seafood Room.
According to public records, RCI paid $4.45 million in June for the unit, which is down the street from the Colorado Convention Center. The space is 8,500 square feet, making the deal worth $523 a square foot, according to NAI Shames Makovsky. Citywide Banks provided financing for the deal.
NAI Shames Makovsky brokers Dorit Fischer, Hayden Hirschfeld and Jonathan Power represented the seller, an entity affiliated with Nashville-based AllianceBernstein. That company acquired the space in 2015 as part of its purchase of the nearby Curtis Hotel from Denver-based Sage Hospitality.
The Oceanaire, a chain owned by Houston-based Lawry’s, closed at the onset of the COVID pandemic in 2020. It had operated there since 2007.
The deed transferring the property to RCI prohibits a strip club or adult book store in the space, along with other less titillating uses like a vet’s office or an Army Navy surplus store.
RCI’s planned restaurant does draw inspiration from some of those banned uses, however. Bombshells is a military-themed restaurant staffed with waitresses who wear cleavage-revealing crop tops, according to the restaurant’s website. An extensive menu features burgers, salads, wings, pizza, pasta and other entrees.
There are currently 12 Bombshells restaurants, all in Texas, according to the company’s website.
Colorado has become a focus for RCI.
In 2021, the company acquired five Denver-area strip clubs as part of an $88 million deal involving Troy Lowrie, once referred to by 5280 as “king of Colorado strip clubs.” Then, at the end of last year, RCI bought the Grange Hall food hall in Greenwood Village from chef Troy Guard. The company said in a news release at the time it planned to add a mini Bombshells location there.
RCI also bought space at 23860 E. Orchard Road by Aurora’s Southlands mall in 2022 for $850,000, records show. A Bombshells is also planned there, according to the Denver Post.
Additionally, RCI is working to open a Rick’s Cabaret Steakhouse & Casino in Central City.
