Denver’s long-standing diners have seemed especially hard-hit over the last year and a half, and now 40-year-old Annie’s counts itself among the institutions at risk of redevelopment.
Annie’s Cafe and Bar, open since 1981 on Colorado Boulevard and since 2008 on East Colfax Avenue, serves breakfast all day in a time-capsule setting packed with collectibles and memorabilia. The business celebrated its 40-year anniversary over the summer.
While the cafe is still open, the building has been listed for sale at the corner of Colfax and St. Paul Street. Denverite was the first to report the news on Thursday.
But Annie’s owner Peggy Anderson says she hopes to continue the cafe for years to come. She runs it together with her sister, Mary Meggitt. They don’t own the building, however; it’s been in a family trust for as long as Annie’s has operated.
“We had an inclination (that it would go on the market), but we didn’t know for sure,” Anderson told The Denver Post on Thursday. “I think if the right buyer comes along, we would be able to work something out. It would be nice if we could get a workable lease.”
The property has been assessed for as much as $945,300, though the listing doesn’t offer a current price tag. It includes a 5,578-square-foot building and a 19-space parking lot and is available for purchase or lease.
“Dense residential and strong retail make this an outstanding restaurant and bar opportunity or ideal for redevelopment,” reads the listing from Sanborn and Company.
Annie’s is the latest restaurant at risk in a string of pandemic-era losses that includes Tom’s Diner, Denver Diner and Racines.
Tom’s was the first to go, back in 2019, though it’s not at risk of demolition following an agreement with longtime owner Tom Messina and real estate developer GBX Group.
Last week, the shuttered Denver Diner on West Colfax Avenue sold to JP Morgan Chase, which will turn that longtime Denver restaurant location into a bank branch.
And at the end of October, demolition began on the property previously occupied by Racines. That building at East 7th Avenue and Sherman Street sold to a developer in 2020. Racines owners Lee Goodfriend and David Racine happened to be a big part of Annie’s history, too.
In 2008 they passed on their East Colfax restaurant, Goodfriends, to Anderson, who was looking for a new home for her cafe when its first location sold with the intent to build a Marriott Residence Inn — which never came to fruition.
“If we can’t get a good lease, then maybe what we would need to do is try to find a different location, again,” Anderson said Thursday.