City Foreclosing on Landmark Restaurant

DENVER-In a highly unusual event, the city is foreclosing on a restaurant. And not just any restaurant, but Tosh's Hacienda, a landmark Mexican restaurant in the Five Points area of northeast Denver for almost six decades.

The city does not want to get into the restaurant business, John Huggins, economic development director for the city, tells GlobeSt.com. "We really worked very hard with the owner before taking this drastic measure," Huggins tells GlobeSt.com. "We definitely do not want to be in the restaurant business. If [owner] Ruben Mackintosh throws up his hands and walks away, we might hire an interim operator before we could sell it. We believe it probably has great value as an ongoing operation than as an empty building."

The local office of economic development, along with the city attorney's office, began the process against the owner of record, La Hacienda-Mackintosh Inc. What led to the foreclosure is La Hacienda-Mackintosh's delinquency on almost $182,000 in loans. The group still owes $1.9 million on the $2.2 million it borrowed form the city between 1985 and 2003, according to city records.

Mackintosh borrowed the lion's share of the money in a Section 108 loan in 2002, with hope of opening a wholesale salsa company. Unfortunately, he says, after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 he was unable to get the salsa company going. Also, business fell off at his restaurant. Since then, he has closed a Tosh's Hacienda in the Denver Tech Center and one in Arizona, which had been in business for 10 years and nine years, respectively.

"We were trying to get back to square one," he tells GlobeSt.com. He says he is worried that he may have to close the restaurant that his father opened in 1946. And even if he sells it, he is unsure he will be able to pay the city all of the money he owes. He says it was appraised about a year ago for about $1.8 million, about $100,000 less than he owes the city.