Apr. 26—A restaurant favorite has closed in Colorado Springs after nearly three decades.
The Old Chicago Pizza & Taproom at Academy Boulevard and Austin Bluffs Parkway shut its doors Sunday; three other Old Chicago locations in the Springs remain open.
Old Chicago owner SPB Hospitality of Houston leased the 12,903-square-foot building, which El Paso County land records show was constructed in 1976 and is owned by a real estate company in Washington state.
The building has a long history as a home to restaurants. Old Chicago opened at the site in January 1995, Gazette archives show; before that, the building housed a Ponderosa steakhouse and Coco's, among other uses.
In general, SPB Hospitality restaurant closures "are influenced by everything from real estate, new restaurant decisions and lease-negotiation strategies," Ryan Russell, the company's director of communications and cause marketing, said via email Tuesday.
In a subsequent phone conversation, Russell said the Old Chicago closure in the Springs "really just comes down to lease and real estate. Those are the biggest factors that play into this."
Asked to elaborate on whether that meant the building's rent was being increased or if there were lease-related issues, Russell said he couldn't comment further. He added that he didn't know if the lease was expiring.
"It's just making sure the cost of the lease makes sense for the business," Russell said.
Officials with Legacy Companies of Bellevue, Wash., which county land records show controls a limited liability company that bought the building in 2006, couldn't be reached for comment.
Russell didn't know how many employees worked at the Academy-and-Austin Bluffs Old Chicago, but said workers were offered the chance to move to jobs at the restaurant chain's other locations in the Springs.
Those locations are at 7115 Commerce Center Drive, west of Interstate 25 and Woodmen Road; 3190 New Center Point, east of Powers Boulevard and South Carefree Circle in the First & Main Town Center shopping center; and 1579 E. Cheyenne Mountain Blvd., near the south-side Cinemark Tinseltown movie theater complex.
"We want to assure our customers that our other locations will continue to operate as usual, and we are committed to providing the same high-quality food and service that you have come to expect from us," Russell said in his email.
The Old Chicago closure caught some customers off guard.
A little before 11 a.m. Tuesday, as workers hauled out food, cooking equipment, plates, utensils and other items from the restaurant and loaded them into trucks, Loren Johnson and two friends from the nearby Church on the Ranch showed up in their cars for lunch.