The building at 119 S. Broadway in early 2023. (BusinessDen file)
The owner of Archetype Distillery, which moved from Denver to Eagle County in 2023, has initiated the foreclosure process for the business’s former space on South Broadway.
Wade Murphy sold the former theater building at 119 S. Broadway in Denver for nearly $6 million in late 2022, but gave a $5.4 million loan to the buyer through his company, Archetype Holdings LLC.
The approximately 12,000-square-foot building was purchased by 119 South Broadway LLC, an entity formed by Washington, D.C., businessman Yimaj “Steve” Kalifa.
In foreclosure documents filed earlier this month, Murphy said Kalifa repeatedly failed across 2023 and 2024 to make on-time payments on the loan. He said Kalifa still owed $4.68 million in principal on the loan.
Murphy told BusinessDen that the loan was set to mature in December of this year and that Kalifa has been largely unresponsive to both him and his lawyer.
Wade Murphy
Kalifa didn’t respond to requests for comment from BusinessDen.
The South Broadway building, which dates to the 1910s, was originally known as The Webber Theater. It later became Kitty’s South, offering up pornographic fare until it closed in 2007.
Murphy bought the building in 2015, renovated it and opened Archetype Distillery there in 2018. In 2023, after leasing the building back from Kalifa for a short time, he shifted production to Gypsum in Eagle County, later adding a tasting room in Vail.
Kalifa has turned 119 S. Broadway into an event and music venue called The Dahlia.
In early 2023, shortly after the property’s sale, local real estate broker Pete Foster spoke to BusinessDen about the venue and said he would have a minority stake in the business. Reached earlier this month, Foster said he was no longer involved with The Dahlia or downtown’s Orchid Denver jazz club, another venue launched by Kalifa. Foster attributed the split to a difference in business philosophies.
Kalifa also ran into loan trouble at Orchid Denver, which operates at 1448 Market St.
Kalifa purchased that building in August 2023 for $4.18 million, financing the deal with a $3 million loan from Oklahoma-based BOK Financial. Six months later, BOK sued, saying Kalifa failed to make payments. That lawsuit was dismissed in February of this year. Court records state Kalifa was able to refinance, and BOK was repaid in full.
Murphy, meanwhile, said moving to the high country — a decision prompted by a desire to expand — has turned out well. He expects to produce 20,000 bottles this year, up from 12,000 when he was in Denver. The business is adding a second still, and the Vail tasting room has better exposed the brand to an international audience.
“It’s actually been phenomenal,” he said. “Outside of this foreclosure piece, we really have never looked back.”
Asked how he expected the foreclosure process to work out, Murphy responded: “Your guess is as good as mine.” But he noted that an adjacent undeveloped corner lot at 101 S. Broadway, currently owned by a third party, is listed at $1.5 million, and wondered aloud what a hypothetical new owner of 119 S. Broadway might do with both sites.
The building at 119 S. Broadway in early 2023. (BusinessDen file)
The owner of Archetype Distillery, which moved from Denver to Eagle County in 2023, has initiated the foreclosure process for the business’s former space on South Broadway.
Wade Murphy sold the former theater building at 119 S. Broadway in Denver for nearly $6 million in late 2022, but gave a $5.4 million loan to the buyer through his company, Archetype Holdings LLC.
The approximately 12,000-square-foot building was purchased by 119 South Broadway LLC, an entity formed by Washington, D.C., businessman Yimaj “Steve” Kalifa.
In foreclosure documents filed earlier this month, Murphy said Kalifa repeatedly failed across 2023 and 2024 to make on-time payments on the loan. He said Kalifa still owed $4.68 million in principal on the loan.
Murphy told BusinessDen that the loan was set to mature in December of this year and that Kalifa has been largely unresponsive to both him and his lawyer.
Wade Murphy
Kalifa didn’t respond to requests for comment from BusinessDen.
The South Broadway building, which dates to the 1910s, was originally known as The Webber Theater. It later became Kitty’s South, offering up pornographic fare until it closed in 2007.
Murphy bought the building in 2015, renovated it and opened Archetype Distillery there in 2018. In 2023, after leasing the building back from Kalifa for a short time, he shifted production to Gypsum in Eagle County, later adding a tasting room in Vail.
Kalifa has turned 119 S. Broadway into an event and music venue called The Dahlia.
In early 2023, shortly after the property’s sale, local real estate broker Pete Foster spoke to BusinessDen about the venue and said he would have a minority stake in the business. Reached earlier this month, Foster said he was no longer involved with The Dahlia or downtown’s Orchid Denver jazz club, another venue launched by Kalifa. Foster attributed the split to a difference in business philosophies.
Kalifa also ran into loan trouble at Orchid Denver, which operates at 1448 Market St.
Kalifa purchased that building in August 2023 for $4.18 million, financing the deal with a $3 million loan from Oklahoma-based BOK Financial. Six months later, BOK sued, saying Kalifa failed to make payments. That lawsuit was dismissed in February of this year. Court records state Kalifa was able to refinance, and BOK was repaid in full.
Murphy, meanwhile, said moving to the high country — a decision prompted by a desire to expand — has turned out well. He expects to produce 20,000 bottles this year, up from 12,000 when he was in Denver. The business is adding a second still, and the Vail tasting room has better exposed the brand to an international audience.
“It’s actually been phenomenal,” he said. “Outside of this foreclosure piece, we really have never looked back.”
Asked how he expected the foreclosure process to work out, Murphy responded: “Your guess is as good as mine.” But he noted that an adjacent undeveloped corner lot at 101 S. Broadway, currently owned by a third party, is listed at $1.5 million, and wondered aloud what a hypothetical new owner of 119 S. Broadway might do with both sites.
