Colorado Real Estate Journal -
Denver is a real cow town. That is, it is a cow town when it comes down to enjoying a good steak dinner in a high-end restaurant. Ruth’s Chris Steak House is returning to downtown Denver after a four-year absence. And the new Ruth’s Chris Steak House, with about 10,000 square feet, will be one of the largest restaurants in downtown. Renovation is taking place in the historic Denver Dry Goods space at the corner of 15th and California streets for the new restaurant. Previously, the space had been occupied by Robert Waxman Video & Camera store and then Wolf Camera. In 1998, Wolf Camera bought Robert Waxman’s camera business, but didn’t want the real estate. Instead, it was purchased by Zev LLC, a company created by NAI Shames Makovsky, headed by real estate and civic leader Evan Makovsky. “Zev is Hebrew for Wolf,” explained Dorit Fischer, who is leasing the space on behalf of Shames Makovsky and is Evan Makovsky’s daughter. “We’re super excited” about the Ruth’s Chris restaurant, she said. “They hope to have it open by the end of the year,” Fischer said. “We’re putting in a valet service,” Fischer said. “A valet will actually drive right into the building and out into the alley,” she said. “Because it is a historic building, the door to the drive-in and out of the garage has to look just like the building. It is pretty cool,” she said. Ken Himel, a broker with David Hicks Lampert, handled the transaction He said Ruth’s Chris was eager to return to Denver. “I think they always thought Denver was a strong enough market to support their brand," Himel said. “Previously, they had a franchisee here who, for whatever reason, couldn’t perform, but they expect to do much better with a corporateowned store.” He said Ruth’s Chris likes the location and the Denver Dry building itself. “They really liked that it is a historically significant building with high ceiling heights,” he said. “They are really going to benefit from its proximity to the Colorado Convention Center and the hotel business, as well as from all of the people who work in downtown offices.” He said he doesn’t know how much the company is spending on the tenant improvements, but it is clear it will not be cutting any corners. “I know they are spending a significant amount of money and it is going to extremely nice,” Himel said. “They are going to have a very nice banquet area. And that indoor valet parking is going to be really neat. It is going to be very upscale and classy.” “Restaurants do extremely well in downtown Denver, especially if they are well designed, have great food and provide excellent service,” said Brian Phetteplace, senior manager for economic development for the Downtown Denver Partnership.Phetteplace said Ruth’s Chris seems well poised to capitalize on the downtown market. “It is my understanding that the build-out of this space is going to be stellar and provide a great anchor to that hard corner on California Street,” Phetteplace said. ”Having a well-designed space will really activate that corner and is sure to attract more visitors, office workers and residents,” he continued. Phetteplace said that Ruth’s Chris investment will help attract others restaurants and retailers. ‘Having Ruth’s Chris invest in downtown like this sends a great message about the overall downtown restaurant industry and how strongly it is performing,” Phetteplace said. “I would expect that the future development on the opposite corners will bring additional, similar high-quality restaurant concepts to that intersection and work toward creating a mini- “restaurant row” along that stretch of California.” He said some of the restaurants with more square feet than the planned Ruth's Chris are Fogo De Chao, Katie Mullen's and Yard House, which have, respectively, 14,000 sf, 11,500 sf and 10,442 sf. Ruth’s Chris, which is owned by Ruth’s Hospitality Group Inc. of Winter Park, Fla., is expected to open an extremely tasteful and handsome restaurant. Some industry experts estimate it could be spending north of $3 million to open the restaurant. The company did not return a call from the Colorado Real Estate Journal. The Denver Dry Goods building traces its roots to 1888 and once boasted it was the largest department store west of Chicago. In its previous incarnation, Ruth’s Chris Steak House was at 1445 Market St. in the Lower Downtown area from 1995 to 2009. “That was a franchise store and this will be a corporate owned store,” Fischer said. Ruth’s Chris not only will be a good fit for the Denver Dry Goods building, but also will help bring more life to the center of downtown, Fischer said. “It’s really going to help energize this part of downtown and the 15th Street corridor,” Fischer said. “It will attract a lot of convention center business and business from hotels, as well as local people who want a great steak dinner,” she said. It’s not just the size of its massive and tender steaks, but the size of the restaurant itself that will be impressive. “It is a pretty big space,” Fischer said. Retail and restaurant expert John Imbergamo of the Imbergamo Group agreed. “At 10,000 square feet, the new Ruth’s Chris will be larger than most independent downtown restaurants, but not much bigger than chain entrants like Katie Mullen’s, the Yard House, Palm and Capital Grille,” said Imbergamo, who noted that he represents rival steakhouse Elway’s. Denver architect Al Colussy of gkk works (formerly klipp) has been working with Shames Makovsky on the building, although Ruth’s Chris hired its own architect for its space in the Denver Dry, Fischer said. Imbergamo said Ruth’s Chris is entering a crowded field in Denver. “Upscale steak is a tough category in Denver with all of the chains, plus Elway’s,” Imbergamo said. “Denver already has Sullivan’s, Cap Grille, Palm, Elway’s at the Ritz, Morton’s and Prime Steakhouse,” Imbergamo said. “About to come are Ruth’s Chris and Troy Guard’s new yet-to-be-named modern steakhouse at 1801 California,” he said. In addition, Del Frisco is opening in Bill Pauls’ new project at First Avenue and St. Paul Street in Cherry Creek North, Imbergamo noted. In its most recent SEC filings, Ruth’s Hospitality reported: • A total of 63 company-owned Ruth’s Chris Steak House restaurants were open at the end of the second quarter, one more than at the end of the second quarter of 2012. • Average weekly sales for Ruth’s Chris Steak House were approximately $92,000 in the second quarter, a 4.3 percent increase from approximately $88,200 in the second quarter of 2012. • Comparable sales at company-owned Ruth’s Chris Steakhouses rose 4.6 percent. That consisted of a 2.1 percent yearover-year increase in traffic and a 2.5 percent increase in the average check size.