Troy Guard to open restaurant at 1900 Lawrence

Troy Guard got an offer he couldn t refuse The restaurateur will debut a totally new concept at Lawrence the -story downtown office tower where he lately signed a lease The ground-floor spot will be Guard s first Colorado opening since he moved to Houston over a year ago I really didn t plan to do it but it s a good deal and a great opportunity he noted And the opportunities to open in Denver are going to be sparse and far between because it s not my favorite place to do business right now Guard who got his start in Denver s scene with TAG in declined to share details about the name or menu but explained he s targeting a spring opening The space is square feet including a -square-foot patio Guard noted he talked to Chicago-based Riverside Expenditure Partners which completed Lawrence in on and off about the space for a couple years Riverside is also emerging a building in Charlotte North Carolina where Guard will open another location of his steakhouse Guard and Grace I don t like to be negative and I don t want to throw things out there It is what it is We re all having challenges here Guard stated of Denver s restaurant state And if the landlord didn t really work with us on Lawrence then there d be no opportunity to open at all It will be Guard s sixth spot downtown Guard and Grace occupies square feet at California St His breakfast spot HashTAG has square feet at th St in Upper Downtown He also has a wine bar in Republic Plaza and two locations of Bubu his customizable-bowl lunch spot Guard also has restaurants elsewhere in the metro area Guard explained he has no other plans to open more restaurants in Denver unless something changes with the city s tipped minimum wage which countless restaurateurs consider too high Further changes could be coming to Guard s local footprint Big Wave Taco his Mexican concept that replaced Los Chingones in Central Park over the summer closed about two months ago And he mentioned four of his other spots in the area have leases ending within the next two years He s still deciding whether to renew or close While Guard lives in Houston his TAG Restaurant Group is still headquartered in Denver he disclosed He travels here several times a month We re inevitably open to conversations with city leaders and partners about how to make Denver even more welcoming for small- and midsized businesses Guard noted We want to be part of the key Related Articles The history of Potter Highlands described through a blond brick building Owner of shuttered Littleton golf curriculum weighs what to do with final fairways State taps modular developer to build apartments near Governor s Mansion LoDo landlords look to sweeten downtown with Museum of Ice Cream Skoolie fabricator split by owner s theft accusations against other owner The Lawrence tower is leased according to CoStar Earlier this year Riverside s million loan on the building which had been set to mature this month was extended through mid- Read more from our partner BusinessDen Get more business news by signing up for our Business sector Now newsletter