A proposal for the plaza surrounding Denver’s Mission Ballroom would allow patrons at two nearby restaurants to bring alcoholic beverages outside and intermingle in front of the concert venue.
Westfield Co., which manages a 14-acre property that includes Mission Ballroom, the Chubby Unicorn Cantina and Left Hand Brewing’s taproom, has applied to establish a “common consumption” area with Denver’s Department of Excise and Licenses, representatives for the city and the real-estate developer confirmed Wednesday.
The application was received last week and is pending approval by the licensing department and Denver City Council, department spokesperson Eric Escudero said.
Common consumption areas were established by the state in 2011 and are already found in several cities, such as The Exchange in downtown Fort Collins and Stanley Marketplace in Aurora. Others exist in Telluride, Black Hawk, Salida and Edgewater.
Denver signed off on the concept six years ago and launched an official application in 2021, but this is the first one that has been accepted by the city, Escudero said. (Others have applied without completed applications, he added.)
“Denver is kind of late to the party,” Escudero said. “This is Denver catching up.”
Westfield hoped to have a common-consumption area when it opened the plaza in 2019, said special projects manager Ally Fredeen. Stanley Marketplace, which the company also manages, has one so customers could “sip and shop” in the enclosed space.
After Chubby Unicorn Cantina opened earlier this year, joining Left Hand Brewing inside the retail building at 4180 N. Wynkoop St., the developer had the two businesses it needed to allow it to file for a common-consumption license, Fredeen said.
Chubby Unicorn and Left Hand didn’t respond to requests for comment.
For now, Westfield intends to confine the common consumption area to the cement square between the restaurants and Mission Ballroom, Fredeen said. But people attending concerts won’t be allowed to bring their drinks outside, she said, as the venue is not included in the application.
The developer’s proposal would clear the square by 1 a.m., Fredeen said. Building and venue security personnel would help enforce drinking rules, including by removing unruly imbibers from the area, according to a Westfield logistics report.
If its application is approved, Westfield would return to the city council with a plan to create a larger entertainment district encompassing the consumption area, a move that would allow future tenants to participate in the agreement.
A cocktail bar, Peach Crease Club, is expected to join Chubby Unicorn and Left Hand in their building and allow customers to mix in the plaza when it opens in October, Fredeen said. The building has thousands of square feet available for retailers that could also allow outside beverages.
Common consumption areas, as permitted by the state, are similar to the new City-Established Consumption Areas that Denver created rules for in May. The primary difference is that the businesses must apply for the former, while the city designates the boundaries of the latter — the goal being to “create a more vibrant Denver,” .
The first of these City-Established Consumption Areas took effect in May around Glenarm Place and 16th Street as part of the effort to bolster activity around the newly renovated pedestrian mall. In these zones, customers can bring drinks purchased at surrounding businesses out onto barricaded sections of the street dotted with tables, chairs and wooden benches.
The businesses currently allowed to sell drinks to go include Que Rico Mexican Restaurant, Maggiano’s Little Italy, the Paramount Theatre, 5280 Burger Bar and Henry’s Tavern.
