Plans to tear down tavern draw outrage

Williams family proposes mixed-use redevelopment of 9.5-acre site

Many community members who turned out to a Boulder Planning Board hearing last week voiced strong opposition to a developer’s concept plan that would tear down the historic Dark Horse Tavern and build a mixed-use commercial and residential development on the property.

The Dark Horse has been a Boulder landmark since 1975, known for its selection of bar food and drinks as well as its assortment of Colorado Buffaloes memorabilia, unique décor and fun atmosphere, according to its website. Not to mention the bar’s infamous bathroom signage, which has misdirected many a customer through the wrong door over the years.

Those at Tuesday night’s meeting noted how the bar at Baseline Road and U.S. 36 has become a melting pot of community members and University of Colorado Boulder students, especially on game days, and lamented the idea of destroying the prominent community fixture in favor of upscale student housing.

According to the concept plan, the six-building development on 9.5 acres was proposed by the same Williams family that donated the land where CU built its Williams Village dormitory towers across the street.

The newly proposed development would feature 610 housing units, much of which would be dedicated to off-campus student housing, and commercial space, according to city planning documents.

In addition to the Dark Horse, the property being eyed for redevelopment hosts the Boulder Broker Inn, a Sprouts grocery store and numerous other businesses that could be forced to move if the project is approved.

But many community residents who attended the Planning Board meeting highlighted the benefits of maintaining the “world famous” tavern’s present state.

“The Dark Horse is a place where you find both undergraduate and graduate students… it is a place for everyone,” said Guillaume Lostec, an international student and research assistant at CU. “How many other places do you know in Boulder where you can get a burger and a beer for $10?”

“Demolishing the Dark Horse would represent an incredible loss. It is irreplaceable, It is historic,” said Kurt Dageforde. “I also worry about a baitand-switch in which the original intent to relocate the Dark Horse is abandoned for something else; there’s a well-known history of broken promises in Boulder developments.”

Andy Bush of Morgan Creek Ventures — one of the project’s developers — noted at the meeting that the Williams family has been subsidizing the Dark Horse for the past 15 to 20 years, and said that they were interested in including a more economically viable space for the tavern in the new development, though it admittedly would be different from its current iteration.

Others voicing their opinion focused more on the proposed development’s apparent lack of affordable housing units.

“The unique architecture, based on a quick Google search, will not fit with anything in the architectural portfolio of Morgan Creek Ventures or Coburn,” said Destin Woods, a robotics technician at CU. “The fact that they think this is going to be affordable housing with the architecture they have planned is a ridiculous idea.”

Although outnumbered at the meeting, some professed support for the project in its current state.

“As a regular bike commuter along U.S. 36, the current excess of asphalt is inherently unfriendly and hostile toward bikers and pedestrians,” said Daniel Howard. “The current design addresses this and creates a much friendlier destination.”

“Boulder urgently needs more housing and mixed-use developments,” said Nick Aguilera. “We absolutely need to increase our housing supply at large at the same time as providing more affordable housing in the city, and this development is part of that.”

One member of the planning board concurred, given the strong public support for keeping the Dark Horse as is, that it may be wise for the developers to redesign the plan to work around the building to smooth the approval process.

But others noted that the site may not be eligible for historical landmarking and that the city has no control over the landlord’s use of the building, rendering it difficult for the city to ensure the business remains as is.

The developers can now revise the proposal considering the Planning Board’s feedback and submit it for the city to evaluate.

Several upper-level Dark Horse employees, representatives for architecture firms Coburn Architecture and Morgan Creek Ventures, and applicant Petur Williams either declined or did not respond to several requests for comment from The Denver Post.