Pizzeria sued by landlord over unpaid rent, build-out

When Breckenridge’s Piante Pizzeria tried and failed to expand to Denver last year, it left behind a pile of unpaid bills and broken promises, according to a lawsuit filed last week.

The vegan pizzeria signed a five-year lease at 1350 S. Broadway in Platt Park and operated a restaurant there for about one year between October 2020 and November 2021.

Beginning in September 2021, Piante stopped paying rent, according to a lawsuit in Denver District Court.

1350 SOBO POST LLC, which owns the building at 1350 S. Broadway, alleges in its lawsuit that Piante and its owner Jason Goldstein owe eight months of back rent at $20,500 per month, plus late fees and interest, unpaid property taxes and unpaid utility bills.

The landlord also alleges that Piante failed to make $500,000 in improvements to the building, which was a term of the lease. An attorney for the property owner declined to say what the total amount of money owed by Piante allegedly is. A court exhibit with that total number is sealed.

Emails requesting comment from Goldstein and Piante were not answered last week. A voice message left at Piante was not returned.

The lawsuit suggests Piante struggled mightily to pay its bills last year. The landlord alleges the pizzeria hired an architectural firm to do $21,450 worth of work but then couldn’t pay the firm, which threatened to file a lien against the building until 1350 SOBO paid the $21,450 on Piante’s behalf.

Goldstein founded Piante in Breckenridge in 2017. In 2019, it opened pop-up locations around Denver. Success at those led to the 8,711-square-foot brick-andmortar spot at 1350 S. Broadway, a former Veterans of Foreign Wars post.