The Fort is a 2-story adobe building constructed in 1963. (Courtesy City Street Investors)
Tuesday marked the changing of the guard at The Fort in Morrison.
Two local real estate players, City Street Investors and Revesco Properties, paid $4.5 million for the 63-year-old restaurant and the 8 acres it sits on, City Street co-founder Joe Vostrejs told BusinessDen.
The two firms went 50/50 on the deal and are also under contract for an additional 50 acres adjacent to the property, Vostrejs said. The deal is set to close in 2027.
Joe Vostrejs
“We’re definitely approaching this as a little bit of divide and conquer, with our side taking on the restaurant pieces and Revesco taking on the land piece, but we’re still collaborating on both,” Vostrejs said.
The 12,500-square-foot restaurant and its property was sold by Holly Arnold Kinney, whose parents constructed the building in the early 1960s. She was looking to retire, according to an October news release. She also owns the adjacent 50 acres.
“When she decided to sell, it was her desire that one buyer would buy the restaurant and their land. … That sort of narrowed down the potential universe of buyers,” Vostrejs said.
The new owners plan to give the building some “gentle” improvements, mostly to its electrical, plumbing and mechanical systems, Vostrejs said. But the restaurant, famous for its buffalo, elk and quail, will remain the same.
City Street frequently buys and restores historic buildings. It played a role in the redevelopment of Union Station, and also has a robust restaurant business. It owns five beer gardens across the metro area, along with restaurants like Billy’s Inn, ChoLon downtown and Sloan’s Bar & Grille.
Rhys Duggan, CEO and founder of Revesco, was approached by the listing broker, Mike Kboudi of Cushman & Wakefield. The two have done business together for decades, Duggan said.
“‘Rhys, you like weird deals. I got a weird deal for you,’” Duggan recalled Kboudi saying.
Revesco, a development firm, previously owned Denver amusement park Elitch Gardens and spearheaded plans to move it and replace it with a new neighborhood dubbed the River Mile. Last year, Revesco sold its stake in that site to its partner in the deal, billionaire Stan Kroenke. Revesco is also building Akin-branded apartment complexes around the city in conjunction with Alpine Investments.
After going under contract on The Fort, Duggan said his first phone call was to Vostrejs, hoping to bring him on board. Though the pair have been longtime friends, they’d never done a deal together. Duggan said the deal wouldn’t have happened without the partnership.
“It was Rhys’ inspiration that we would make a good match,” Vostrejs said.
Now, the two will work together to maintain the grounds and the large adobe building that houses the restaurant.
Rhys Duggan
Duggan said the pair are still deciding what to do with the adjacent 50 acres, which records show are zoned for agricultural use.
Sam and Elizabeth Arnold, the parents of Holly Arnold Kinney, purchased the site in 1961 for a family home. They ultimately decided to open a restaurant inside to pay back the expensive construction costs, according to the business’s website.
The building, constructed of 80,000 straw and mud bricks weighing 40 pounds each, was designed by an architect from New Mexico that specialized in adobe construction.
Its design was inspired by drawings of Bent’s Old Fort, an 1830s trading post in southeastern Colorado. The Fort’s adobe construction was done so well that the National Park Service used it as a model when it reconstructed Bent’s Old Fort in the 1970s, according to historic preservation records.
Today, The Fort also has a significant events business, Vostrejs said. And a history that includes a 1997 dinner featuring President Bill Clinton and the rulers of the world’s eight largest economies, who were in Denver for the G8 Summit.
“You had eight world leaders all sitting around eating bison steaks,” Vostrejs said.
The Fort is a 2-story adobe building constructed in 1963. (Courtesy City Street Investors)
Tuesday marked the changing of the guard at The Fort in Morrison.
Two local real estate players, City Street Investors and Revesco Properties, paid $4.5 million for the 63-year-old restaurant and the 8 acres it sits on, City Street co-founder Joe Vostrejs told BusinessDen.
The two firms went 50/50 on the deal and are also under contract for an additional 50 acres adjacent to the property, Vostrejs said. The deal is set to close in 2027.
Joe Vostrejs
“We’re definitely approaching this as a little bit of divide and conquer, with our side taking on the restaurant pieces and Revesco taking on the land piece, but we’re still collaborating on both,” Vostrejs said.
The 12,500-square-foot restaurant and its property was sold by Holly Arnold Kinney, whose parents constructed the building in the early 1960s. She was looking to retire, according to an October news release. She also owns the adjacent 50 acres.
“When she decided to sell, it was her desire that one buyer would buy the restaurant and their land. … That sort of narrowed down the potential universe of buyers,” Vostrejs said.
The new owners plan to give the building some “gentle” improvements, mostly to its electrical, plumbing and mechanical systems, Vostrejs said. But the restaurant, famous for its buffalo, elk and quail, will remain the same.
City Street frequently buys and restores historic buildings. It played a role in the redevelopment of Union Station, and also has a robust restaurant business. It owns five beer gardens across the metro area, along with restaurants like Billy’s Inn, ChoLon downtown and Sloan’s Bar & Grille.
Rhys Duggan, CEO and founder of Revesco, was approached by the listing broker, Mike Kboudi of Cushman & Wakefield. The two have done business together for decades, Duggan said.
“‘Rhys, you like weird deals. I got a weird deal for you,’” Duggan recalled Kboudi saying.
Revesco, a development firm, previously owned Denver amusement park Elitch Gardens and spearheaded plans to move it and replace it with a new neighborhood dubbed the River Mile. Last year, Revesco sold its stake in that site to its partner in the deal, billionaire Stan Kroenke. Revesco is also building Akin-branded apartment complexes around the city in conjunction with Alpine Investments.
After going under contract on The Fort, Duggan said his first phone call was to Vostrejs, hoping to bring him on board. Though the pair have been longtime friends, they’d never done a deal together. Duggan said the deal wouldn’t have happened without the partnership.
“It was Rhys’ inspiration that we would make a good match,” Vostrejs said.
Now, the two will work together to maintain the grounds and the large adobe building that houses the restaurant.
Rhys Duggan
Duggan said the pair are still deciding what to do with the adjacent 50 acres, which records show are zoned for agricultural use.
Sam and Elizabeth Arnold, the parents of Holly Arnold Kinney, purchased the site in 1961 for a family home. They ultimately decided to open a restaurant inside to pay back the expensive construction costs, according to the business’s website.
The building, constructed of 80,000 straw and mud bricks weighing 40 pounds each, was designed by an architect from New Mexico that specialized in adobe construction.
Its design was inspired by drawings of Bent’s Old Fort, an 1830s trading post in southeastern Colorado. The Fort’s adobe construction was done so well that the National Park Service used it as a model when it reconstructed Bent’s Old Fort in the 1970s, according to historic preservation records.
Today, The Fort also has a significant events business, Vostrejs said. And a history that includes a 1997 dinner featuring President Bill Clinton and the rulers of the world’s eight largest economies, who were in Denver for the G8 Summit.
“You had eight world leaders all sitting around eating bison steaks,” Vostrejs said.
