Owner and developer Matt Van Sistine said he aims to preserve one of the neighborhood’s few remaining examples of early commercial architecture while adapting the property for a new use.
When Van Sistine acquired the property in early 2025, it came with approved plans for a first-floor and basement bar-restaurant concept, Howl at the Moon, along with second-floor and new third-floor office space.
However, he said “very little” of the original plan could be used because the building, at 2100 Larimer St. about two blocks from Coors Field, had to be brought up to current building codes.
That process, Van Sistine said, was a challenge as they tried to maintain the historic brick façade and build a new building inside. As a result, crews spent more than eight months restoring and cleaning the brick inside and out.
The extensive restoration also prompted the team to reconsider the building’s long-term use.
He said that because of the lack of demand for office space and an effort to reflect the building’s history, the project was redesigned as a bar-restaurant and hospitality venue throughout.
“We feel these are uses better suited to be a community hub and destination supporting the Ballpark Districtap mixed entertainment offerings,” he said.
“These core and shell plans reflect the intended uses so we can get under construction while we finalize the operations and tenant finishes.”
Van Sistine said a key design choice of the project is excavating the front 4,000 square feet of the basement by nearly four feet to create a multi-level venue space on the first floor and a full-height basement.
The front portion of the basement will include venue bathrooms, a green room, event space and storage, while the back 2,250 square feet will house operations including laundry, food storage and a kitchen, as well as a private speakeasy dubbed “the boiler room.”
On the first level, the front 4,000 square feet will serve as venue space, while the rear 2,250 square feet will function as a boutique hotel lobby with a bar and kitchen that will serve both interior guests and a sidewalk café wrapping around the 21st Street and Larimer Street sidewalks.
The second level will include a 6,250-square-foot boutique hotel with 15 rooms, replacing the former 42 pay-by-the-hour Western Hotel rooms.
At the top of the building, the third level will feature 4,000 square feet of interior space and a 2,000-square-foot wraparound balcony, with plans calling for either a rooftop bar and restaurant or a smaller rooftop lounge with additional suites.
Last week, Van Sistine told The Post in an email that the team is working to be under full construction in September. Van Sistine has documented the project through a , giving the community a behind-the-scenes look at the process. He also shares updates on Instagram.
Since moving to Colorado in the 2000s and down to the Ballpark neighborhood around 2008, Van Sistine has bet heavily on this part of Denver. As a longtime resident near the property, Van Sistine serves as Board Chair of the neighborhood association and played a key role in establishing the Ballpark General Improvement District.
But Van Sistine is not working alone to revive the long-vacant property. Joining him in the effort is partner and investor Blair Gifford.
Gifford, a professor emeritus at the University of Colorado Denver’s business school who runs a in Kenya, told The Post in March over the phone that he’d “been thinking about doing something locally, not just in Kenya,” and saw the 2100 Larimer project as a way to support the Ballpark neighborhood’s rebound.
Van Sistine said he met Gifford in Kenya a few years ago and connected over their community development interests.
