A nearly century-old building at 3300 Tejon St. that was leased to Hearth Bakery still displays the signage of its previous tenant, The Firehouse Church. (Justin Wingerter photos)
At the northeast corner of Tejon and 33rd is a rare sight in LoHi: an empty building.
Its landlords say it shouldn’t be this way and, under the law, that it can’t be this way. They blame a new bakery two miles away in RiNo.
In a lawsuit filed Aug. 25 in Denver District Court, the landlords claim Hearth Bakery owner Matthew Quinlisk signed a five-year lease at 3300 Tejon St. two years ago but hasn’t paid rent in recent months or made improvements required under the lease. Instead, the lawsuit claims, Quinlisk flatly ignored his lease and moved Hearth into a spot at 2500 Lawrence St.
“Hearth has let the condition of the property significantly deteriorate since Oct. 16, 2020,” the lawsuit states, referring to the date Quinlisk is said to have signed the lease.
Hearth, Quinlisk and their attorneys did not respond to several requests for comment.
A “for rent” sign hangs in a window at 3300 Tejon St.
First built in 1929, the 8,700-square-foot, off-white brick building at 3300 Tejon was bought by John Peavy, a Mississippi resident, in 1991 for $87,860 and is worth $1.5 million today, according to the Denver Assessor’s Office. The property is managed by Sheila and Mark Harris, according to last week’s lawsuit.
It is the Harrises who say that in April they first learned Hearth Bakery would not be moving into the spot it had been leasing for 18 months and advertised online as its future home. Quinlisk told them that renovations required under the lease would cost more than $500,000 and that was more than he could afford, according to the lawsuit.
Unbeknownst to the Harrises, Hearth had signed its lease in RiNo two months before, the lawsuit claims. The Harrises say they weren’t told Hearth “had abandoned the (Tejon) property until July 28.” Less than a month later, Hearth opened in RiNo.
As a result of this alleged abandonment, the 93-year-old building at 33rd and Tejon still displays the signage of its last tenant: Firehouse Church, which left in October 2020.
“My understanding at the time was, ‘Oh, they’re taking over the property,’” Greg Miller, the pastor of Firehouse Church, said of Hearth during an interview this week.
Hearth Bakery opened last month at 2500 Lawrence St. in RiNo.
“They went and put up banners over our Firehouse signage that was outside; the banners said ‘Hearth.’ So, we didn’t yank down our signs because they were covered, but two years have gone by and I think those Hearth banners have either fallen off or been taken off,” he said.
The church occupied the space for 10 years between 2010 and 2020, according to Miller, and watched LoHi soar in popularity during the decade. Property taxes and insurance “went way, way, way up” as a result, Miller said, and by 2020 the church was priced out.
The lawsuit claims Hearth owes rent for April, May, June and July, along with the cost of structural improvements it never made. The attorney who filed the lawsuit, Scott Gelman, declined to answer when asked how much money Hearth allegedly owes.
In July, Hearth was hailed as a “hot new shop to watch” by the Denver Post. Quinlisk told the newspaper he was previously a pastry chef at Moxie Bread Co. in Louisville and boasted that Hearth would sell “a beautiful, poetic, big country sourdough loaf” and other treats from homemade flour. Quinlisk previously sold at coffee shops and farmer’s markets.
A nearly century-old building at 3300 Tejon St. that was leased to Hearth Bakery still displays the signage of its previous tenant, The Firehouse Church. (Justin Wingerter photos)
At the northeast corner of Tejon and 33rd is a rare sight in LoHi: an empty building.
Its landlords say it shouldn’t be this way and, under the law, that it can’t be this way. They blame a new bakery two miles away in RiNo.
In a lawsuit filed Aug. 25 in Denver District Court, the landlords claim Hearth Bakery owner Matthew Quinlisk signed a five-year lease at 3300 Tejon St. two years ago but hasn’t paid rent in recent months or made improvements required under the lease. Instead, the lawsuit claims, Quinlisk flatly ignored his lease and moved Hearth into a spot at 2500 Lawrence St.
“Hearth has let the condition of the property significantly deteriorate since Oct. 16, 2020,” the lawsuit states, referring to the date Quinlisk is said to have signed the lease.
Hearth, Quinlisk and their attorneys did not respond to several requests for comment.
A “for rent” sign hangs in a window at 3300 Tejon St.
First built in 1929, the 8,700-square-foot, off-white brick building at 3300 Tejon was bought by John Peavy, a Mississippi resident, in 1991 for $87,860 and is worth $1.5 million today, according to the Denver Assessor’s Office. The property is managed by Sheila and Mark Harris, according to last week’s lawsuit.
It is the Harrises who say that in April they first learned Hearth Bakery would not be moving into the spot it had been leasing for 18 months and advertised online as its future home. Quinlisk told them that renovations required under the lease would cost more than $500,000 and that was more than he could afford, according to the lawsuit.
Unbeknownst to the Harrises, Hearth had signed its lease in RiNo two months before, the lawsuit claims. The Harrises say they weren’t told Hearth “had abandoned the (Tejon) property until July 28.” Less than a month later, Hearth opened in RiNo.
As a result of this alleged abandonment, the 93-year-old building at 33rd and Tejon still displays the signage of its last tenant: Firehouse Church, which left in October 2020.
“My understanding at the time was, ‘Oh, they’re taking over the property,’” Greg Miller, the pastor of Firehouse Church, said of Hearth during an interview this week.
Hearth Bakery opened last month at 2500 Lawrence St. in RiNo.
“They went and put up banners over our Firehouse signage that was outside; the banners said ‘Hearth.’ So, we didn’t yank down our signs because they were covered, but two years have gone by and I think those Hearth banners have either fallen off or been taken off,” he said.
The church occupied the space for 10 years between 2010 and 2020, according to Miller, and watched LoHi soar in popularity during the decade. Property taxes and insurance “went way, way, way up” as a result, Miller said, and by 2020 the church was priced out.
The lawsuit claims Hearth owes rent for April, May, June and July, along with the cost of structural improvements it never made. The attorney who filed the lawsuit, Scott Gelman, declined to answer when asked how much money Hearth allegedly owes.
In July, Hearth was hailed as a “hot new shop to watch” by the Denver Post. Quinlisk told the newspaper he was previously a pastry chef at Moxie Bread Co. in Louisville and boasted that Hearth would sell “a beautiful, poetic, big country sourdough loaf” and other treats from homemade flour. Quinlisk previously sold at coffee shops and farmer’s markets.
