Bernard Hurley poses for a portrait at in RiNo on Thursday, March 25, 2022. (Hyoung Chang, The Denver Post)
Bernard Hurley learned that the Blue Moon brewpub in RiNo would close from his office manager, who saw it on the news.
Which didn’t feel great — given that Hurley is the brewpub’s landlord.
“They haven’t even notified me yet,” he told BusinessDen shortly before 9:30 Wednesday morning.
Hurley said he was still processing the news that brewing giant Molson Coors had made the decision to shutter the spot at 3750 Chestnut Place at the end of this month.
He said he hoped to find a new tenant and keep the existing structure, which he fixed up a decade ago.
“It’s a beautiful brick building, and the character of it needs to stay there,” he said.
Blue Moon opened in RiNo in 2016. Hurley said Coors signed a 20-year lease in April 2015 for the 36,000-square-foot building. That lease included an option to opt out at the 10-year mark.
“There’s penalties with them getting out at the 10-year mark,” he said.
Ten years is now. But Hurley wasn’t expecting Coors, which he said has been a great tenant, to bail.
“They were supposed to let me know a year in advance if they were going to terminate,” he said, later adding he hopes that Coors will continue paying rent for the next year.
Bartender Logan Baer pours a beer for a customer at the newly opened Blue Moon Brewery in RiNo in July 2016. (Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post)
In a statement announcing the closure, Vice President of Blue Moon Courtney Benedict didn’t directly state a reason for it. A Coors spokesman didn’t directly answer questions emailed by BusinessDen on Wednesday but said that the company is abiding by the terms of its lease.
Hurley bought the 3750 Chestnut property in December 2013 for $1.68 million, according to public records. He said he completed core and shell work on the rehab, then handed the building over to Coors and gave the company $2.5 million for tenant improvements. He figures the company spent at least twice that building out the space.
“I don’t know what they spent, but they spent a lot of money — more than I gave them,” he said.
Hurley owns another 6 acres adjacent to the Blue Moon property. He plans to redevelop that site as part of a project called Hurley Place and said he’s in talks with a local firm about possibly partnering on the project. Ideally, he’d love to start construction in a year or 18 months.
“We’re hoping interest rates come down a little bit and we can get a pro forma that works,” he said.
Bernard Hurley poses for a portrait at in RiNo on Thursday, March 25, 2022. (Hyoung Chang, The Denver Post)
Bernard Hurley learned that the Blue Moon brewpub in RiNo would close from his office manager, who saw it on the news.
Which didn’t feel great — given that Hurley is the brewpub’s landlord.
“They haven’t even notified me yet,” he told BusinessDen shortly before 9:30 Wednesday morning.
Hurley said he was still processing the news that brewing giant Molson Coors had made the decision to shutter the spot at 3750 Chestnut Place at the end of this month.
He said he hoped to find a new tenant and keep the existing structure, which he fixed up a decade ago.
“It’s a beautiful brick building, and the character of it needs to stay there,” he said.
Blue Moon opened in RiNo in 2016. Hurley said Coors signed a 20-year lease in April 2015 for the 36,000-square-foot building. That lease included an option to opt out at the 10-year mark.
“There’s penalties with them getting out at the 10-year mark,” he said.
Ten years is now. But Hurley wasn’t expecting Coors, which he said has been a great tenant, to bail.
“They were supposed to let me know a year in advance if they were going to terminate,” he said, later adding he hopes that Coors will continue paying rent for the next year.
Bartender Logan Baer pours a beer for a customer at the newly opened Blue Moon Brewery in RiNo in July 2016. (Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post)
In a statement announcing the closure, Vice President of Blue Moon Courtney Benedict didn’t directly state a reason for it. A Coors spokesman didn’t directly answer questions emailed by BusinessDen on Wednesday but said that the company is abiding by the terms of its lease.
Hurley bought the 3750 Chestnut property in December 2013 for $1.68 million, according to public records. He said he completed core and shell work on the rehab, then handed the building over to Coors and gave the company $2.5 million for tenant improvements. He figures the company spent at least twice that building out the space.
“I don’t know what they spent, but they spent a lot of money — more than I gave them,” he said.
Hurley owns another 6 acres adjacent to the Blue Moon property. He plans to redevelop that site as part of a project called Hurley Place and said he’s in talks with a local firm about possibly partnering on the project. Ideally, he’d love to start construction in a year or 18 months.
“We’re hoping interest rates come down a little bit and we can get a pro forma that works,” he said.
