An effort to create a district around Denver’s Broadway to protect its legacy businesses — from its dive bars to music halls to antique shops — got the city’s green light to move forward just as a longtime restaurant announced its closure.

The Denver City Council voted unanimously Monday night to allow the creation of the Broadway General Improvement District to go to a special election.

The measure would allow residents, businesses and property owners in the area to vote in November on whether or not they want to tax themselves to fund neighborhood improvements and private security programs through a quasi-government structure, following in the steps of Ballpark’s new district last year.

Broadway is known as a quirky commercial corridor lined with independent and small businesses, some of which have been around for decades.

But there’s been a wave of longtime businesses leaving the area over the last year, including Mutiny Information Cafe, TRVE Brewing Co., and, in September, Banded Oak Brewing. The area just hosted its last Underground Music Showcase a few weeks ago.

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The latest loss? The Hornet.

The nearly 30-year restaurant announced Monday, just as the City Council was about to meet to vote on the district, that it would close on Saturday.

“While many things have changed and become more complicated over the years at 1st & Broadway, we would prefer to celebrate all of the amazing times that you shared with us,” the restaurant posted on its social media pages.

The Hornet’s owner declined to comment.

The restaurant building, which was once hit three separate times by cars in 2018, was sold in May for $3.3 million to 76 N Broadway LLC, according to property records, and the restaurant space was later listed for lease.

“Hornet has been a neighborhood spot for longer than I’ve lived here,” John Weiss, a Baker resident for almost 10 years, told The Denver Gazette. “It’s a place that my neighbors and I often come and eat here.”

The restaurant has some of the best options for celiacs in Denver, he said, and he goes there to order their gluten-free buffalo chicken wings. 

“It’s really heartbreaking to see them leaving,” Weiss said. 

One of many exits over the year

The closure is a reminder of what’s at stake for many businesses if there isn’t a district to support the neighborhood, Scott Happel, owner of music venue HQ, told councilmembers.

“We’re all small, locally-owned businesses. But as places like the Hornet and other places close, it’s going to be giant, nationally-run corporations that are going to be the only places that can afford to move in,” Happel said. “So, help us out.”

Councilmember Darrell Watson recalled how the Hornet was a special place, noting it was where he and his husband began dating 20 years ago.

“Every year we go back to the Hornet to honor that commitment and honor that amazing space on Broadway,” Watson said.

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Several business owners noted Broadway has been struggling with high crime — from open-air drug abuse, shootings, break-ins and property damages.

It’s led to rising concerns of employee safety, they told councilmembers. And some are taking on unexpected expenses to cover repairs from broken windows or extra safety measures.

“We had to spend $15,000 to put in a couple security gates along our front door to keep our almost entirely female staff safe to come in and out of work,” Happel said.

The area also struggles with trash and drug paraphernalia, Josh Tabler, general manager of the Atomic Cowboy on Broadway, wrote in a letter as public comment.

“The Broadway/Lincoln district is in need of serious improvement from patrolling, maintenance and cleanliness to expanded events to bring people into the area and to attract new businesses to grow the community,” Tabler said in support of the district going to a special election.

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The Broadway district would have an 8.96 mill levy on commercial and residential properties, including those on Lincoln Street, creating an annual budget of nearly $1.2 million. 

Half of the budget is proposed to cover security, a third would finance beautification and the rest would pay for marketing and administrative costs.

“I have seen the videos where people take whatever they can find and bash windows in our small businesses for no reason,” said Councilmember Flor Alvidrez, who represents the Broadway area. “And so, I’m really grateful that we have been able to get to this point. It has been a struggle.”

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What’s causing closures on Broadway? 

When asked by a councilmember why businesses were leaving, Luke Johnson, the head of the Broadway Merchants Association and the leader of the district’s formation, said a range of factors have been affecting shops and restaurants.

Crime is one reason, he said, but not the only.

Sometimes, insurance doesn’t want to cover businesses like his pet shop due to the high crime, Johnson said.

Macroeconomic trends, such as high interest rates, are also affecting businesses, especially when a building that might have been paid off 30 years ago is sold to someone who used a loan to finance the deal.

“Every time a building or a parcel trades hands, and then we have a new building owner, even if that new building owner breaks even on the mortgage, it’s now 7%,” Johnson said.

Denver’s higher tipped minimum wage and wanting better police response times also contributed to drive businesses like Mutiny Information Cafe out to Englewood, he said.

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If voters approved the district, he said, a private security team could help alleviate the crime on the street and direct homeless people or individuals struggling with drug abuse to social services. 

The district would also help fund the street’s famous Halloween Parade, which was almost cancelled last year amid financial struggles. 

“We’re only going to be able to fix some of them,” Johnson told councilmembers. “The other stuff’s up to you guys.”

Meanwhile, City Council President Amanda Sandoval warned the neighborhood of the cost of taxing properties that, she said, could hurt what makes Broadway the fun and funky destination it’s known for.

She said the tax can be put on renters and potentially drive more businesses and artists out, though she still voted in approval of moving the district proposal forward.

“I just hope that you all come together and still continue to make sure that you’re supporting those small local businesses, making sure that you’re supporting the art scene,” she said. “Because I have seen that unintended consequence throughout the city as these have been formed.”