The reason Kevin Delk wants to sell his Cap Hill real estate is simple.
“I’m getting older and I would like to see my wife more,” he said, noting she works and spends most of her time in New York City.
The man who opened the vegan Caribbean spot Bang Up to the Elephant in 2018 is asking $3 million for the restaurant’s real estate. But Bang Up has no plans to leave 1310 N. Pearl St. In fact, it’s adding to its offerings in the 6,250-square-foot space.
This fall, Delk will debut a brunch menu, as well as a cocktail bar in the back called Sea Maiden.
“We have zero interest in closing the restaurant,” Delk said. “We’re looking to lighten, my wife and I, what we’re responsible for in life. Owning property here isn’t our priority.”
Delk went through a similar process in 2022 when he looked to shed Bang Up and French concept Beatrice & Woodsley. He was successful on the latter — the 38 S. Broadway space is now home to La Forêt after Delk sold his lease — but not on the former.
“Coming out of the pandemic, there were a lot of opportunists. So some of the things that were being floated in front of us were a little odd and we had no interest,” Delk said. “Now we’re seeing people that are legitimate.”
Delk is hoping for an investor to come in this time and take over his landlord responsibilities. He thinks having an established tenant is an attractive selling point.
Even if a sale doesn’t come through, Delk still plans to relocate to New York.
He said he lived there pre-pandemic, coming back to Denver once a month to check up on his concepts. At the time, the list also included Two Fisted Mario’s Pizza and Double Daughters Salotto, which each closed in COVID’s aftermath. He started spending more time in Denver because the pandemic made traveling to and from New York difficult.
“If I retain the property, I would probably focus on the actual real estate and just be a managing consultant for staff and restaurant operations,” he said. In that case, he would eventually turn over Bang Up to his employees, likely giving them shares with dividends. He only has sketches of how that set-up could shake out.
“If the staff came to me and said ‘Hey, Kev, we wanna turn this into a rock n’ roll venue,’ I’d wanna see the plans for sure,” he said. “But I wouldn’t necessarily be opposed to it. I’d be behind anything that was thoughtful and ideally original.”
Along with increasing the amount of face time with his wife, Delk also wants to explore other creative pursuits. Puppetry is one he’s interested in, and he has ideas for horror and thriller novels. He’ll still be semi-involved in the restaurant world, too, with consulting clients across the East Coast and Midwest.
“We’ve had a couple of tours and a lot of people asking a whole lot of questions,” he said of the listing process so far. “The location is pretty hard to beat. (Cap Hill) is literally the densest residential neighborhood until you get to Chicago.”
