In December 2023, Herman’s Osage Studios LLC bought a parcel of land at 1305 North Osage St. for $2.1 million. Herman, a designer, saw an opportunity to rehabilitate a couple of junk-car-storing warehouses into an interactive attraction at the northern tip of the abandoned Burnham Yard railyard. The dream for the site — bringing an immersive tiki lounge to Denver — was strong enough to shrug off a couple of purchase inquiries by legal representatives connected to the Denver Broncos, in the midst of a massive land grab just down the street. But actually designing such physical plans in a dilapidated area, Herman said, has been “an absolute horrorfest” of legal issues and property damage.

“There were days where I was like, ‘I’ve made a huge mistake,'” Herman said.

The Broncos have now become the most visible entrepreneur to identify Burnham Yard as a ripe pocket for redevelopment, continuing to march forward with the railyard as their preferred site for a new stadium district in Denver. Beyond a finalized agreement to buy the railyard itself, property records compiled by The Denver Post show the Broncos have been tied to at least $186 million in land purchases in the surrounding area, with the expressed goal to build out a mixed-use district around a new stadium. For now, unlike Herman and its neighbors, the organization does not need to concern itself with potential break-ins.

The Broncos’ path to a successful stadium-anchored development at Burnham, though, is fraught with larger-scale hurdles surrounding their planned stadium opening in 2031 — stemming directly from the same reasons they keyed in on the site in the first place.

“I’m so skeptical,” Herman said, “that they’re going to pull it off in time.”

A simple building remodel took Herman a year and a half due to city processes. People have broken into his warehouses on multiple occasions, and stripped the copper wire from his air-conditioning units. He has bled money on damage control. And on one occasion, he walked into his primary building at North Osage to find his window shattered and a man without any clothes standing in the middle of the room.

Herman has stuck it out, one of several owners who have poured money into new development around the railyard in recent years. Directly east of Burnham, The Refractory — — has seen interest from potential businesses ranging from a jiu jitsu gym to an indoor golf facility, broker Russell Gruber said. Directly adjacent to Herman’s property, Memphis Orion and Adam Lerner are leading a $27 million development of a wellness center dubbed Coba Bathhouse; they saw a “giant wave” in the area, Orion said , and felt they could surf it. And the Broncos are the latest to hop on, because of such tantalizing development potential.

The modern era of stadium construction has popularized the “stadium district,” a mini-neighborhood that relies on mixed-use offerings around the stadium itself to generate revenue outside of gamedays. The Broncos are buying up over 150 acres around Burnham to build out that concept in Denver, similar to Kroenke Sports & Entertainment’s plans at Ball Arena. But such a large-scale development in an area primarily zoned for industrial use has inevitably entangled the Broncos in a web of lengthy city processes, community-benefits-agreement negotiations with the recently established Burnham Yard Community Action coalition, and soon-to-be-costly negotiations with private landowners and the public utility, Denver Water, that have yet to be resolved.

And that’s just the first wave, as both the organization and the city will need an immaculately phased development at Burnham to justify the investment there.

“While our current focus is on the community-benefits-agreement process, the long-term goal is for Burnham Yard to contribute to a connected, mixed-use community to the La Alma Lincoln Park and Baker neighborhoods,” Broncos president Damani Leech told The Post. “In terms of selecting the Burnham Yard site, we think it’s important for the Broncos to remain in Denver.

“Though a project of this scope on a former railyard presents some challenges, it aligns with our overall vision to create Denver’s next great neighborhood, the future home of the Denver Broncos and a year-round destination that delivers meaningful impact for the city.”

Why the Broncos ‘have to make the mixed-use district work’

Twenty miles south, a 440-acre expanse of open dirt spills out below the intersection of East Lincoln Avenue and Interstate 25 in Lone Tree, the site that was — and could still be — the Broncos’ Plan B.

Over the last two years, the organization has done its due diligence on the Lone Tree City Center, a massive planned mixed-use sprawl that Douglas County has openly campaigned for as a possible home for the Broncos.

Lone Tree has already approved a sub-area plan for the Lone Tree City Center, and the area is zoned for large mixed-use development. The city “prides itself on being business-friendly,” Mayor Melissa Harmon told The Post, and aims to provide “clear expectations, timely feedback and response, and always a predictable permitting process.” And the alignment with the Broncos — or any other catalyst developer — is obvious: the city would make sure the integration was as smooth as possible, Harmon pointed.

“They have our phone number, and we know — I joked with Damani (Leech), I said, ‘You still say preferred, you know,'” Harmon said, referring to the Broncos’ current positioning at Burnham.

“But in all honesty, of course, we always knew that Denver and Burnham Yards was their preferred and No. 1 site for many reasons,” she continued, “and it was really such an honor to be able to have the conversations, but also really get national attention for this piece of property.”

To Harmon’s point, the Walton-Penner ownership group selected Burnham over Lone Tree or Aurora specifically to keep the franchise in Denver. And the specific location makes sense, as several real estate and development experts told The Post, because of the immediate proximity to higher-population-density neighborhoods around Denver that can therefore attract tenants and foot traffic alike.

“Obviously, like, the Broncos chose to be here instead of going to some suburban location,” said Ryan Meeks, founder of Denver-based Bosk Urban Design. “And so 
 they have to make the mixed-use district work, right?”

The appeal of building a stadium district at the Ìęlies in built-in historical and industrial aesthetics that the Broncos have highlighted since their very first Large Development Review pre-submission in November 2025. The organization has repeatedly cited theÌęrefurbishment of the site’s locomotive shop as a key component of its initial design plans. In that vein, the Broncos are the largest piece of a greater transformation around Burnham; a slew of developers have bought warehouses to repurpose for non-industrial uses in recent years, commercial broker Gruber told The Post.

“It¶¶Òőap a more challenging site, in some ways,” Broncos owner Greg Penner told The Post in September. “But we think it creates an opportunity to create something special.”

Those challenges, though, are substantial in the short term. Penner said in late March that the Broncos want to have “all of (their) ducks lined up” before officially shedding the preferred-site label for a Burnham development.

That calls for progress on a legally binding community-benefits agreement with the recently finalized Burnham Yard Community Action coalition, for one. That calls for progress on negotiations with Denver Water around the utility’s relocation, which has been further complicated by community pushback against the utility’s plans for a potential facility on Lot M of the existing Empower Field stadium site.

And that calls for progress toward a resolution with SRM Concrete, which owns a large concrete plant smack-dab in the middle of the Broncos’ stadium district plans.

Most important of all are the dominoes that’ll fall once the city’s Department of Community Planning and Development completes a small-area plan for the site, which a source with knowledge of the process said should be finalized late in 2026 or early in 2027.

The Denver Urban Renewal Authority will only begin work on an urban-renewal plan at Burnham once that small-area plan is finished, DURA Interim Executive Director Bill Pruter told The Post. That urban-renewal plan will determineÌęwhetherÌętax-increment financing is approved for the Burnham development, which Pruter said he expects the Broncos will seek.

Penner and Denver’s brass have made clear the stadium itself won’t introduce any new taxes. But if the larger 150-acre site is approved for a TIF district by Denver’s City Council, the infrastructure around the stadium can be paid for in some capacity by borrowing against future growth in property taxes within that district — a form of tax break.

Essentially, the Broncos can wind up using the potential for a larger-scale stadium district at Burnham to actually pay for the stadium itself.

“This is incredibly typical in stadium ancillary development,” said Geoffrey Propheter, a . “You build the stadium first, and then all the non-stadium stuff that you’re actually using to try to convince lawmakers to support this — all of this comes in years 10, 20, 30. And they all come with a promise.”

“The track record for delivering on these promises by teams in development,” Propheter said later, “is shaky. And that¶¶Òőap being super generous.”

Why the phasing and selection of district features matter

Fortunately for Denver, the Walton-Penner Group has built a considerable track record of delivering on its promises.

Look to Denver, for one, where Broncos owners Penner and Carrie Walton Penner have revitalized the NFL franchise and just invested significant capital into the Colorado Rockies. And look across the country to Bentonville, Arkansas, where has been transformed into a mini-metropolis at the Walton family’s investment.

Nelson Worldwide senior vice president Lamar Wakefield, an expert in mixed-use development who helped design The Battery stadium district in Atlanta, told The Post that he’s working on a current development in Bentonville for the Waltons.

“They really want to see a wide range of housing options,” Wakefield said. “And I was really pleased to hear that. They understand that if you can make it attainable, but the whole neighborhood itself has all these wide ranges — maybe that single mom with three kids raising them in that environment is a little bit different … so they embrace that. I was very impressed.”

The Broncos will likely focus, in the initial phase, on the stadium and surrounding infrastructure before a 2031 opening at Burnham, multiple experts in stadium-district development told The Post. Slow-playing other aspects of the district for too long, though, would do a “huge disservice,” nearby warehouse owner John Victor said, to both community and city investment in the development. And the Broncos will face the challenge of establishing a center of gravity where there isn’t one at Burnham — different from KSE’s task of developing a district around the nearby Ball Arena.

“That’s the secret sauce there,” said Matt Mahoney, KSE’s senior vice president of development, “when we’re talking about neighborhoods that just do not exist. I mean, both these properties — our property is a surface parking lot. We’re fortunate to actually have an arena already built.

“The Broncos have a much tougher, steeper hill to climb. Because they want to create a neighborhood, but they also have to build a new stadium at the same time of establishing a sense of place there.”

The organization’s initial infrastructure master plan outlines that the Broncos would complete vertical construction of an “entertainment zone” in time for the stadium’s 2031 opening. The key there is what mix of mixed-use development (housing, office, retail, dining, hospitality) the Broncos will prioritize within that specific zone. Wakefield, who helped design The Battery Atlanta — a gold standard of mixed-use stadium development that the Broncos’ brass toured while identifying stadium-district ideas — emphasized the initial importance of establishing residential units to build an on-site customer base.

Any dreams about the district’s makeup, though, will be clouded by the current Denver market. Ortiz said building hotels would be an initial priority. But hotel-occupancy rates in metro Denver still haven’t rebounded to pre-COVID-19 levels, . RC Myles, a broker with Denver-based Pinnacle Real Estate Advisors, said he anticipates the Burnham district won’t prioritize much office development, as office vacancies in downtown Denver .

“There’s so many missing pieces to this,” said Carrie Makarewicz, chair of CU Denver’s urban and regional planning department. “I mean, they’re moving forward in the typical style of a private developer — you acquire low-cost land in a strategic location, you build the revenue generators first, you tap into as much public funding you can get … and then you work on the immediate surroundings for your project, but you don’t take into consideration the city and regional demand for retail, apartments and entertainment.

“Like, we’re cannibalizing all of our districts around the city.”

Demand for multi-family housing in downtown Denver has steadily ticked up, though, according to . And Myles pointed to Cherry Creek, which has dropped retail vacancy rates below 2%, as an example of a local destination for offices, families and businesses alike. Multiple real-estate experts noted to The Post that there aren’t currently many options for dining or support retail in the extended Burnham area — identifying a potential development focus for the Broncos.

“Colorado needs a big high five right now,” Gruber said. “And I think the Penners are helping do it.”

The Broncos, though, have yet to truly cement their investment in Burnham Yard, let alone a phased approach for an amorphous stadium district. And time is ticking, now a full nine months after their initial preferred-site announcement.

“If they can pull it off — I mean, dude, I guess money talks,” Herman said. “And they got plenty of that.”

Martin, who is from Minnesota, gave brief comments during a news conference at Ball Arena, the only part of the three-day visit open to members of the media. The visit started Tuesday.

“The mayor has been working tirelessly to get this convention here,” he said of Mayor Mike Johnston. “They have rolled out the blue carpet, as I say, and it¶¶Òőap been terrific.”

Denver is the third of five cities that Martin and the DNC team will visit on scouting trips before they decide which will host the 2028 convention. The other contenders are Atlanta, Boston, Philadelphia and Chicago. The winner will host the four-day convention in August 2028, bringing in tens of thousands of visitors and giving the city a national stage to show off its attractions.

Martin hinted that his team may also choose a host city for the 2032 convention.

“While we are here to tour and discuss the various logistical and administrative requirements for hosting the Democratic National Convention, we also seek a city that tells a story, that shares our values and will be a true partner with us,” he said.

Johnston led the press event, which also included comments from Gov. Jared Polis and Colorado Democratic Party Chair Shad Murib.

“This is a state (where) we’re successfully showing not only (that) Democrats win and continue to win, but we’re governing effectively,” Polis said. “We’re happy to share that with our colleagues 
 and many others from across the entire nation to make sure that more of the country can really look west for the future.”

Denver and Colorado officials have focused on highlighting the city’s transportation and logistical advantages during their pitch. They’ve also pointed to Democratic policy wins locally, including free kindergarten and preschool, decreases in street homelessness and improved public safety.

Johnston shared some details of the visit so far, including taking the DNC officials to the Colorado Avalanche’s playoff game Tuesday night — the team beat Martin’s home-state Minnesota Wild 5-2 — and singing karaoke at the Capitol Hill bar Charlie Brown’s.

During what he jokingly called his “closing argument” Wednesday, he called back to the last time Denver hosted the Democrats’ convention. That was in 2008, when then-Sen. Barack Obama accepted his nomination for president.

“This city and the ’08 convention made famous the idea of hope and change,” he said. “As we think about this coming convention, it is true that often hope inspires change. But it is more profoundly true that change drives hope.”

The DNC visit coincided with a heavy spring snowstorm that left several inches of snow over the city. The storm didn’t majorly impact the planned tour, though. City officials did have to pivot away from their plan to bring Martin and the rest of the team to a concert at Red Rocks Amphitheatre, a spokesman said.

One of the key factors in the decision will be whether Denver bid leaders are able to sufficiently fundraise for the event. Johnston said the city has built out a “detailed financial plan” to raise the resources but that the process wouldn’t fully kick off until the city is actually named as the host.

The mayor also said the city hasn’t used any of its own resources in trying to bring the convention to the city. Instead, bid leaders have worked with a nonprofit that serves as the city’s tourism sales and marketing agency. It receives both private dollars and some tax dollars from the city’s lodging tax.

During the three-day site visit, which begins Tuesday, Denver bid leaders will showcase the city’s best features as they attempt to persuade the party officials to choose the city for the 2028 event, Mayor Mike Johnston’s office confirmed.

The city is facing off against Atlanta, Boston, Chicago and Philadelphia. Democratic National Committee leaders have begun visits to each of the cities to evaluate their logistical capabilities, including hotels and transportation infrastructure.

“The goal is to make sure that (DNC Chair) Ken Martin and the rest of the great team at the DNC — from landing to visiting sites to engaging with our community — can feel the energy and excitement that a delegate might feel in 2028,” said Shad Murib, the chair of the Colorado Democratic Party.

Murib added that local leaders will also try to convey their confidence in the city’s ability to host thousands of people.

In a news release in March, the DNC said its leadership, like Martin, and representatives from the party’s Technical Advisory Group would attend the site visits.

The party said those officials would consider factors such as the importance of “forging a strong partnership between the DNC and the host city,” the city’s shared Democratic values and the city’s ability to address challenges that could arise from the event.

Denver hosted the Democrats’ convention in 2008, when then-candidate Barack Obama accepted his presidential nomination in front of tens of thousands of people at Empower Field at Mile High, then called Invesco Field.

Last week, the . According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens and Georgia Democratic Party Chair Charlie Bailey described their city as the “ultimate battleground” for winning back faith and trust from voters. They pointed to major downtown upgrades made ahead of the FIFA World Cup games that will be played there later this year.

Dickens also took shots at other finalists, including Denver, saying: “Boston is history. Philadelphia is played out. Denver is nostalgia. Atlanta is now,”

On Wednesday, the national Democrats .

The Denver Post reported in January that the city was making a bid for the event. In March, the DNC announced that Denver was among the five . Earlier this month, Johnston and U.S. Rep. Jason Crow were among Colorado Democrats who attended the DNC’s spring meeting in New Orleans to pitch the city’s credentials.

During the upcoming site visit, Denver leaders will likely try to demonstrate that the city is accessible, safe and vibrant.

The city earlier this year as part of the bid that touts Red Rocks Amphitheatre as well as the city’s professional sports teams, museums, outdoor access, breweries and restaurants. The video, narrated by Johnston, also highlights some of the city and state’s policy accomplishments, including decreases in street homelessness and crime, expanded affordable housing, universal preschool and abortion access.

Presidential nominating conventions, which happen every four years, are where Democratic and Republican party delegates formally select their presidential and vice presidential candidates. The event could bring a major economic boost to the city, which saw major budget cuts last year amid stagnating sales tax revenue.

The other cities have also hosted the event before, with Chicago doing so 12 times. The DNC was in Philadelphia in 2016, Boston in 2004 and Atlanta in 1988.

The national committee hasn’t said when it will announce its city selection, but the 2024 location was announced about a year and a half before the convention. The next Democratic convention is set for Aug. 7-10, 2028.

The 68-page report, released last week in collaboration with Denver’s office, draws on survey responses and direct feedback from scores of restaurant owners and real-estate brokers.

The survey and report, commissioned last year by the city, tourism board and Austin-based restaurant financier , were the product of a months-long study led by industry professionals Dana Query and Adam Schlegel. The report refers to the local food scene as being at a “critical inflection point” with costs rising faster than revenue.

Many of those surveyed said homelessness, loitering, drug use and public nuisances, along with protracted and intensive municipal construction projects, deter customers from visiting establishments. Restaurants have resorted to reducing the number of days they’re open for lunch or winding down earlier at night, according to the report.

The report’s findings also addressed the costs of labor due to the rising minimum wage, and called for the city to match the state’s base wage for tipped workers — a conversation now underway at Denver City Hall.

Denver’s minimum wage is $19.29 an hour, or $16.27 if that employee is tipped. Colorado’s minimum wage — if no local minimum applies — is $15.16 an hour, or $12.14 with tips.

Hourly labor costs in Denver increased by 50% to 55% between 2019 and 2024, the survey found. The report attributed that increase to the local minimum wage rising during that period and outpacing the state’s minimum wage, as well as state credit given to restaurants with tipping that has remained the same.

The survey found a 23% increase in the median commercial rental rate since 2019. The cost of goods, insurance and utilities rose by about a fifth, according to the report. Restaurant owners reported their earnings dropping by approximately the same amount in that period.

“The data make clear that Denver’s restaurants are facing an environment in which overhead and labor costs, demand, employment and operating conditions are misaligned in ways that cannot self-correct without intervention,” the report’s conclusion says.

The report gives a small audit of each department involved in the process of opening a restaurant in Denver. The city’s excise and public health departments were well-rated for their professionalism, communication and turnaround times.

Other parts of the process, including acquiring permits for zoning and from the fire department, were critiqued for their inconsistent turnaround times. A majority of survey respondents said Community Planning and Development had a poor plan review process. Operators also had mixed opinions on the overarching enforcement of inspectors at Public Health and Environment.

The city’s Department of Transportation and Infrastructure, or DOTI, was seen as most deficient among operators and brokers. The report’s authors described the department as lacking in consistency. They mentioned procedures to receive right-of-way, sewer use and drainage permits as being the most difficult to grasp.

National brands interested in opening in Denver walked away from projects because of the long permitting period, according to brokers surveyed for the report. The report does not identify the brokers and restaurant operators, nor their businesses.

The report’s authors presented their findings to several agencies last month, Schlegel said.

“Nobody necessarily likes to be called out,” he said of local regulatory officials. “This is a group of people who see the opportunity, who see that there are ways there can be improvement and… equally want to be heard.”

The transportation and infrastructure office accepted the report’s comments Monday.

“This report provides clear-eyed feedback to ensure we’re meeting the needs of local businesses, and we have already gotten to work launching many of the improvements called for here,” DOTI spokesperson Nancy Kuhn said in a statement. “The report also provides a fair assessment of the challenges being experienced by the restaurant industry today and how we, as a city and a department, can support.

“It¶¶Òőap clear there is more to be done to ensure support for our restaurants, and we’ll continue to work on the recommendations the report contains.”

Restaurant operators acknowledged their own faults for lengthening the permit process, including by providing incorrect or incomplete information, according to the report. “Many explained that the complexity of starting a business or navigating construction requirements exceeds their expertise, making mistakes inevitable,” it says.

The report commends the steps that Mayor Mike Johnston and the city have taken to reduce homelessness and bolster tourism downtown.

“It’s a really good nod from the mayor’s office that they were willing to do this,” Schlegel said of the survey. “It’s really good that they wanted to actually bring people with true restaurant experience to have these discussions.”

Restaurant associations in Denver reaffirmed the concerns shared in the report last week.

“We’re grateful for everything the city is already doing to make it easier for restaurants to successfully navigate the permitting process, but there’s a lot more work to be done,” Sonia Riggs, president and CEO of the , said in a statement. “There are simply too many regulations and too much red tape in Colorado for businesses to thrive, and we’d like to collaborate with city leaders to help streamline agency processes wherever possible.”

Representatives for about 160 restaurants were surveyed for the report, according to its executive summary. About the same number participated in roundtable discussions. Query and Schlegel held 50 interviews as part of their study.

One comment resonated with Schlegel from one of his first interviews for the project. The operator, he said, referred to Denver as the “city of ‘No.'”

“Do we want to be and can we be a city of ‘Yes?'” Schlegel asked.

It¶¶Òőap an early sign that one of the most contentious fights in recent Colorado politics is likely coming to Denver soon, as the industry lays the groundwork for a potential change in the tipped wage.

Last year, state lawmakers debated changes in the minimum wage law that sets how much of a tipped worker’s minimum income should come from the owner of a restaurant, versus from the tips they collect. Restaurants are already allowed to pay a rate that’s a few dollars less than the general minimum wage.

Restaurateurs said the tipped-wage policy needed to change for them to be able to afford to keep operating full-service businesses. But labor unions vehemently opposed the idea because it would effectively cut workers’ take-home pay.

After a so-called “death by a thousand amendments,” House Bill 1208 left the decision to a few major cities — and Gov. Jared Polis pressured them to act.

Now, it¶¶Òőap Denver’s turn to take it on.

City Councilman Darrell Watson confirmed to The Denver Post that he plans to propose a change to the city’s tipped-wage policy to his fellow council members before the end of March. He didn’t provide specifics on what those changes might be.

“I will be leading a process to focus on the tipped credit that¶¶Òőap a balanced approach,” he said.

Denver businesses that employ tipped workers, like coffee shops and restaurants, can now offset those wages by up to $3.02 per hour, meaning the employers must pay their tipped workers at least $16.27 as of January under the city’s inflation-adjusted minimum wage. If those workers don’t earn at least as much as the offset in tips — bringing them to Denver’s full minimum wage of $19.29 per hour — the employer must make up that difference.

That means if officials were to decrease the required tipped wage, those workers would still make at least the minimum wage, but more of that pay would come from the tips they collect. That would ultimately decrease their take-home pay.

New report sets out options for wage changes

released Friday is based on scores of interviews and surveys of local restaurants, plus analysis of financial statements and federal labor statistics. It provides dozens of data points on the industry.

The report delves deeply into three main causes of strain among restaurant owners: labor costs, regulatory barriers and public safety.

The authors, Adam Schlegel and Dana Faulk Query, both restaurateurs, found that labor costs were the “most frequently cited challenge among operators” and “the most destabilizing factor” for full-service restaurants. Last summer, the two were chosen to be the city’s new restaurant liaisons.

According to their analysis of federal labor statistics, Denver had 15% fewer full-service restaurant jobs in 2025 than it did at the beginning of 2020, before the pandemic. During that same period, the industry’s overall workforce declined about 6%.

“The entire industry is shrinking in employment in Denver, but the fact that full-service restaurants are over double in the amount of contraction of the overall amount is incredibly significant,” said Query, the co-owner of Big Red F Restaurant Group.

That¶¶Òőap happening as more and more restaurants reduce their wait staff, cut servers’ hours and introduce kiosk ordering stations.

The city’s commissioned the report in collaboration with Visit Denver, a nonprofit trade group that serves as the city’s tourism sales and marketing agency, and the company inKind.

DEDO executive director Adeeb Khan said he believes there is an appetite among city policymakers for some kind of change to the city’s tipped wage.

“I think about it from a workforce perspective,” he said. “When restaurants are closing down because they can’t afford to stay open, that is detrimental to that workforce.”

The report makes recommendations for how the city could address labor costs. One is to decrease the required tipped minimum wage to the state’s level, which is now $12.14. (That’s $3.02 less than the state’s overall $15.16 minimum wage — and it’s more than $4 less per hour than Denver servers must be paid now under the city’s minimum wage ordinance.)

“We know that is very drastic,” Query said. “We can still provide significant relief to restaurants, even if the City Council doesn’t go that far.”

The second recommendation is to establish a “middle-tier” minimum wage — at 85% of the full city minimum wage, equating to $16.40 currently — for restaurants with whole-house tip-sharing systems. Watson said he liked that suggestion.

“What we really hope 
 is that this report will be taken seriously,” Query said. “We want to make sure that policy makers have our recommendations in front of them, and really it¶¶Òőap up to them to find the best way to respond.”

Policy changes still unclear

It¶¶Òőap unlikely the council would approve a policy based on the first recommendation to lower the tipped wage to the state’s level — Watson said he didn’t think it was the right concept. He said he would be looking for a “more balanced approach.”

“I want to make sure we have a mixture of process that allows for some level of adjustment around our tip credit, (along) with protecting workers’ minimum wages,” he said.

And there may still be political battles ahead.

While Mayor Mike Johnston’s administration supported the initial version of the bill at the state legislature, which originally would have reduced the tipped wage to $11.79, several members of Denver’s council testified against it.

Johnston, for his part, appears to be poised to support a local effort to make changes. When asked about Watson’s proposal, a mayoral spokesman said he looked forward to working with the council on a path forward.

“There is more to be done to ensure restaurants are supported and that workers — whether they staff the front or the back of the house — earn a fair and livable wage,” Jon Ewing said. “We believe a holistic solution exists that can support businesses, keep wages high and prevent costs from being passed onto consumers.”

Watson said he wasn’t yet sure whether his fellow council members would support his initiative but added that he is preparing meetings with them to discuss.

Kjersten Forseth, a legislative consultant for the Colorado AFL-CIO, said she expects union and labor advocates to come out against any Denver effort to decrease the tipped wage requirement.

She said the data she’s seen doesn’t depict a restaurant industry that¶¶Òőap struggling.

“There just seems to be this inability for people to take a step back and take a look at the actual people working in the restaurant industry, in terms of their ability to afford to live in the city,” she said.

Watson will likely present the concept of his proposal in an upcoming meeting of the council’s Budget and Policy Committee to get feedback. No date has been set yet.

Read the State of Denver Restaurants report:

The reason had to do with which municipalities chose to give money to the state in order to promote the restaurants that are mentioned in the guide. But the exclusion of the rest of the state angered some restaurant owners like Caroline Glover, who owns Annette and Traveling Mercies in Aurora. “I don’t think it¶¶Òőap a great representation of the state since Aurora is one of the most diverse food communities we have, and it¶¶Òőap a big loss for the city and restaurateurs here,” she told The Denver Post at the time.

Three years later, the French tire company is expanding its efforts, and the travel guide’s infamously anonymous dining inspectors will now cover all of the state, the guide’s director said Wednesday.

“Last year, we awarded , and we look forward to continuing to discover and promote dining establishments across the state, going beyond the main urban areas,”ÌęGwendalÌęPoullennec, International Director of the Michelin Guide, said in a statement.

Governor Jared Polis and the heads of state economic development and tourism offices celebrated the move to judge and potentially award restaurants in other bigger Colorado cities, suburbs and lesser-known pockets of Colorado.

“This is great for our culinary scene and our small businesses,” Polis said in a statement. The “Michelin Guide’s expansion to cover the entire state will shine a spotlight on more communities and strengthen the entire restaurant industry.”

Michelin’s growth in Colorado is mirrored elsewhere. Inspectors in Florida, who first focused on Miami, Orlando and Tampa, will also be covering the entire state in 2026, according to the company. It will also launch its first guide to the southwest United States, encompassing Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah.

The chief executive officer of Visit Denver, the nonprofit trade association that promotes the Michelin Guide in Denver, said he welcomed the eligibility of new cities in the state.

“Like any good dinner party, the more, the merrier,” Visit Denver CEO Richard Scharf said in a statement. “We look forward to celebrating with the rest of the state later this year.”

In September, the state Guide gave its first two-star rating to The Wolf’s Tailor, a fine-dining restaurant in Denver. Other Colorado restaurants with Michelin stars include Bruto, Frasca Food & Wine, Kizaki, Alma Fonda Fina and Bosque. More than 40 others have been recommended by the guide.

The city’s tourism arm on Wednesday morning decided to cancel the shows and outdoor holiday market for this evening “due to weather conditions,” as well as cut off access to the 110-foot LED icon known as the Mile High Tree, through which visitors can typically walk and snap selfies.

Denver is forecasted to endure wind gusts of up to 50 mph on Dec. 17, with gusts of up to 75 to 80mph possible in higher elevations. High winds, low humidity and the possibility of wildfire led Xcel Energy to cut power to more than 100,000 Front Range residents by Wednesday morning. Xcel Energy also sponsors the Mile High Tree.

Denver Christkindlmarket is scheduled to run through Dec. 23 at the Auraria Campus.

However, it will look a little different this year.

Due to a major construction project booting Christkindlmarket and the Mile High Tree out of their usual home at Civic Center park, the attractions have moved to the area around the Tivoli Quad on the Auraria Campus, 1000 Larimer St. in Denver.

Organizers have told The Denver Post that the new location not only allows them to keep operating during Civic Center’s disruptions, but also expands visitor capacity in an area with plenty of parking, given its proximity to Ball Arena and LoDo.

The public tree lighting begins after Johnston’s 5 p.m. remarks on Friday, Nov. 21, followed by the 6 p.m. tapping of the keg to open Christindlmarket. Visit Denver leadership, emcee and CBS Colorado anchor Michael Spencer, and the Guerilla Fanfare Brass Band will also be in attendance, according to a statement from Visit Denver, the city’s tourism arm.

The first Mile High Holidays Nightly Drone Show of the season begins at 7 p.m. Friday, with more shows running nightly through Dec. 31. Visit for a full schedule of public events, and for more information on the drone shows, which last about 10 to 15 minutes each.

The best viewing spots are at the Tivoli Quad on the Auraria Campus; Sculpture Park at the Denver Performing Arts Complex; 54thirty Rooftop at the Le MĂ©ridien Denver Downtown; and Peaks Lounge at Hyatt Regency Denver at Colorado Convention Center, Visit Denver said.

The Mile High Tree, a 110-foot-tall, 39-foot-diameter, 60,000-LED behemoth, “features nightly free public light shows choreographed to multicultural holiday music and accommodates up to 140 guests at a time for an immersive viewing experience within the tree,” Visit Denver wrote.

This year’s Christkindlmarket attractions also include a new glass ornament workshop and 42-foot diameter Herschell Carousel. The drone shows are being hosted in conjunction with Metropolitan State University of Denver.

The Colorado inclusions in the 2025 version of the Michelin Guide will be revealed at 7:30 a.m. on Sept. 15, according to Visit Denver. Only restaurants in Denver, Boulder, Snowmass, Vail, Aspen and Beaver Creek are eligible, accourding to Michelins rules.

Last year, the Michelin guide awarded one star to Alma Fonda Fina at 2556 15th St., Denver. MAKfam, a Cantonese-American restaurant on 39 W. 1st Ave. in Denver, earned a Bib Gourmand nod for its price and quality.

Two other Denver restaurants — Brasserie Brixton, at 3701 Williams St., and Kawa Ni, at 1900 W. 32nd Ave. — joined the company’s list of recommended restaurants last year. Michelin inspectors have since launching their inaugural guide for the state in 2023, according to the company’s website.

The other Colorado restaurants with Michelin stars are Frasca in Boulder; Bosq in Aspen, and Beckon, Bruto and The Wolf’s Tailor, all in Denver.

Dana Faulk Query, co-owner of Big Red F Restaurant Group, and Adam Schlegel, co-founder of Snooze A.M. Eatery and Chook Chicken, were chosen to serve as liaisons in a partnership between the city, tourism board Visit Denver and restaurant financier inKind, the sponsors announced Tuesday.

As a part of their jobs, Query and Schlegel are tasked with organizing meetings between local restaurant owners and operators, the announcement stated. They will conduct interviews and oversee the results of an online survey that has yet to come out.

The pair is then expected to spotlight key problems and recommend ways city and county agencies can help retain existing businesses.

“While I have seen our restaurant scene grow by leaps and bounds in terms of size, quality and reputation, some of the ways the industry is asked to operate have not kept pace,” Schlegel said in a statement. “We’ve all heard the pain points of permitting delays, workforce struggles and razor-thin margins. Now we have a chance to put real data behind those concerns and push for change.”

Schlegel launched Snooze in 2006 and Chook Chicken in 2018, both in Denver. Snooze has since opened diners across the United States, while Chook has three locations. He’s served on the boards of EatDenver and Visit Denver, according to the statement.

Query’s Big Red F Restaurant Group has a roster including Jax Fish House & Oyster Bar, The Post and West End Tavern. She’s served on the boards of the Colorado Restaurant Association and EatDenver.

In a statement, she touted her experience in the industry, which she said included working in restaurants since she was 8 years old.

“To me, restaurants aren’t just businesses; they’re community anchors, gathering spaces and can represent the surrounding culture,” Query said in a statement. “I’m excited to help strengthen the bridge between operators and City leadership to support and strengthen the health of the Denver restaurant industry.”

The idea of having experts study the restaurant industry in Denver developed after mounting complaints from owners who said the city’s regulatory process was splintered and unconducive for business.

This winter, Query’s husband and Big Red F co-owner Dave Query penned a letter to Mayor Mike Johnston endorsed by other restaurateurs, asking him to institute changes to prevent unnecessary restaurant closures. This summer, Dave Query said he met with Johnston after the letter came out to discuss the liaison role and other potential solutions.

The city’s Economic Development and Opportunity office, Visit Denver and inKind partnered to create and fund the positions.

“Our City systems should be designed to ensure that opening and operating a business in Denver is simple, fast and effective,” said Adeeb Khan, the executive director of the Economic Development and Opportunity office. “This liaison team will play an important role to bring together best practices, and expertise to improve outcomes for our food and beverage industry.”