Colorado Real Estate Journal - June 3, 2015
The landmark El Rancho restaurant will come back to life as a dining establishment and as the Evergreen area’s only microbrewery. El Rancho Colorado Restaurant LLC, a group led by brothers Robert and Thomas Vincent and their wives, bought the 67-yearold building for $1.22 million. They plan to update it while keeping its “historic, iconic feel,” said Laurie Vincent, who is married to Robert Vincent. Visible from Interstate 70, at 29260 U.S. Highway 40, El Rancho was a mountain mainstay until the last restaurant operator closed the doors for good in 2012. Property owner El Rancho Investments LLC, led by Doug Antonoff, put the 19,820-squarefoot building on the market for sale, and the Vincents looked at buying it. But then the fire suppression system broke, flooding the first floor and basement. El Rancho was off the market another two years while insurance claims were settled and the damage was remediated. The Vincents returned with an offer last year. They were under contract when the radiators burst, causing more flooding, according to Laurie Vincent. Boulder-based restaurant architect Trapp Associates Ltd., whose work includes the Walnut Brewery, and Oskar Blues, Gorden Biersch and Chophouse brewpubs, now is in the process of designing El Rancho’s updated concept. Evergreen-based Underwood Custom Construction is the contractor. “The Vincent family’s purchase of this historic and iconic Colorado property is a great occurrence for residents and tourists alike. The amount of effort, money and clarity of vision the new owners are dedicating to the building is impressive,” said Esther Kettering, senior vice president of DTZ, who represented the buyers in the transaction. “Preservation of the brand is a major goal of the new owners,” Kettering said. “The new restaurant, bar and brewery features are sure to breathe new life into this as a happening place, preserving nostalgic elements while adding an energetic spin that will appeal to all ages. Reintroduction of El Rancho will be a great day for Colorado and is sure to be a famous success.” Thomas Vincent, a longtime California restaurateur and caterer, will bring his expertise and master butcher skills to the restaurant, fulfilling Robert and Laurie Vincent’s longtime goal of convincing him and his wife to move to Colorado. The Vincents have hired a local brewmaster to oversee brewing. The restaurant will continue to operate as El Rancho (“You can’t change the name,” said Laurie Vincent) and is expected to open in fall. The new owners will have invested “several million dollars by the time it’s all done,” Vincent said. Antonoff of Antonoff & Co. Brokerage Inc. represented himself with Antonoff broker Jeffrey Hirschfeld. El Rancho, which at one time had a post office, has seating in the main dining area for 140 people. A vestibule along the front with seating for 60 will be opened to the interior, and the entrance will be redone. The basement, which will house brewing equipment, can seat 120, and an outdoor patio facing the Continental Divide will be redone as a beer garden with seating for 40 to 60. El Rancho sits along Evergreen Parkway, the main entrance to Evergreen from Interstate 70, next to a Comfort Suites hotel. It is across the highway from a shopping and dining area that includes a Walmart Supercenter and The Home Depot.