Arizona-based Upward Projects plans to bring its popular Postino WineCafe concept to Denver’s Lower Highland neighborhood next month.
The restaurant, Upward Projects’ fifth Postino and first venture into Denver, will be housed in the historic Denver Book Binding Co. building on the corner of 17th and Erie streets.
Postino LoHi will occupy more than 3,000 square feet of the building. The restored interior will feature dark woods and reclaimed materials, with an indoor/outdoor bar and fireplace. Postino’s trademark roll-up garage doors replaced a few small windows and will open up to an 800-square-foot patio that overlooks downtown Denver.
Postino LoHi’s menu features bruschettas, soups, panini sandwiches, wine and craft beer. The restaurant plans to source ingredients from several local businesses, including City Bakery, Infinite Monkey Theorem winery and brewers such as Great Divide, Oskar Blues, Elevation, Odell and Avery Crooked Stave.
Construction on the restaurant’s interior began in April with opening expected by the end of August.
Upward Projects co-founders Craig DeMarco and Lauren Bailey said Snooze breakfast eatery CEO David Birzon, who is a friend and operates a restaurant next door to a Postino in Tempe, Ariz., encouraged them to bring their concept to Denver.
“This town is awesome, we really loved the Colorado spirit,” Bailey said. “The people out here are like the people that frequent our restaurants. We can do totally different things (with the restaurant here) than in Phoenix.”
The search for Postino LoHi’s location began two to three years ago with help from Birzon’s real estate agent, who showed Bailey and DeMarco several potential sites around Denver.
“We chose LoHi based on the views and it was an up-and-coming area,” DeMarco said.
Bailey said during the search for a location, they thought it was going to be difficult to find “a diamond in the rough” until they saw the book bindery building.
The 53-year-old building, a warehouse for the Denver Book Binding Co. until 2013, is also historically relevant — which matters to Upward Projects.
Upward Projects, founded by DeMarco and Bailey and their spouses, Kris DeMarco and Wyatt Bailey, has a a long track record of adapting historic buildings in metro Phoenix for restaurant use. The first Postino WineCafe opened 14 years ago in a old post office in Phoenix’s swank Arcadia neighborhood, and then expanded into a reclaimed school house in Tempe and a building in Gilbert’s historic downtown.
The company has also added new restaurant concepts, such as Joyride Taco House, Churn Ice Cream, Windsor and Federal Pizza.
“We looked at a lot of buildings, but this one we loved right away,” Bailey said. “It had really cool history and we loved the proximity to Linger and other really great spots.”
Denver restaurant consultant John Imbergamo said a decade ago, the LoHi neighborhood was heavily residential, but massive re-gentrification of the neighborhood, along with the move in of adaptive reuse projects, Linger and Lola, transformed it into a restaurant hub.
“The neighborhood excels at adaptive reuse,” Imbergamo said. “There is some new construction, but a lot of adaptive reuse. Repurposing of old buildings (in LoHi) is a big deal.”
Amy Edelen: 303-954-1440, aedelen@denverpost.com or twitter.com/amyedelen
