Avoiding demolition, owners plan to repurpose the existing building for “upscale office, restaurant and retail uses.”
The Landmark Esquire on Downing Street. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)
Capitol Hill’s Esquire Theatre at 590 Downing Street is closing its doors for good this summer, just four years short of its 100th birthday.
The movie theater’s owners plan to repurpose the existing building for upscale office, restaurant and retail use.
“We’ve received great support from the Esquire Theatre ownership team, however, as we evaluate this market and our long-term business strategy, we have decided to close the Landmark Esquire Theatre,” said Kevin Holloway, President of Landmark Theatres in a news release.
Landmark’s Mayan Theatre, Chez Artiste, and The Landmark at Greenwood Village will remain open.
Owners submitted plans to redevelop the property in late 2023. The theatre will close in July 2024.
The building remodel will go through the Adaptive Reuse program, offered by the City and County of Denver, intended to encourage the reuse of older and historic buildings. A tree canopy, landscape island planters for pedestrian safety, and new eight-foot sidewalks will be built in order to help create a “walkable amenity for surrounding neighborhoods.”
Adaptive reuse plans were approved by Denver’s Landmark Preservation Commission.
“The plans we have seen for the adaptive reuse of the Esquire Theatre are terrific,” said Steven Simard, President of the Alamo Placita Neighbors Association in the statement. “The building’s owners and their design teams have proven that creativity can allow an old building to serve a new purpose in a historic neighborhood.”
This will also prevent the demolition of the old building on the corner of 6th and Downing, a topic of interest for those following this week’s news that Monfort Companies plans to demolish El Chapultepec, a legendary jazz club in the Ballpark neighborhood.
“We have entertained the possibility of leasing to another theater tenant,” said Sam Leger of ownership group Franklin 10 LLC in the release. “Unfortunately, we’ve been unable to find a partner for this opportunity. We have been and will continue to work with neighborhood groups as well as the city to create a desirable addition to the neighborhood.”
Denver-based architecture firm Neo Studio will be focused on the rework of the 9,175 square-foot building, and the iconic Esquire signs will be “refurbished and prominently featured” in the new designs.
“As we move forward with our work on the Esquire Theatre site, we’ll continue to work closely with our neighbors and on guidelines set out by the city,” Leger said. “We’re honored to be one the first projects in Denver to work in conjunction with this program.”
