The space at 8181 Arista Place in Broomfield where the restaurant was planned. It was last home to Mama Lolita’s. (Max Scheinblum/BusinessDen)
The former owner of Boulder’s Fate Brewing and a Broomfield landlord expect to reach a settlement regarding a dispute over payments for a once-planned Mexican restaurant.
Arista Place II LLC, an entity affiliated with Wiens Capital Management, sued Mike Lawinski, whose brewery closed in 2019, in late October. The landlord accused him of misusing over $200,000 meant to fund the buildout of a restaurant in Arista Place at 8181 Arista Place.
The space, on the ground floor of an office building, was once home to Masa Cocina Mexicana, which opened in early 2019 and closed in March 2020, and Mama Lolita’s, another Mexican spot that closed this past February after opening in 2022.
Both sides agree that Lawinski signed an approximately 10-year lease for the space on March 5.
In its Oct. 28 lawsuit filed in Broomfield, Arista said it agreed to pay $100,000 toward Lawinski’s buildout of the space, plus provide an additional line of credit. An expected budget prepared by Lawinski called for a total project cost of $335,000, including $60,000 that Arista would pay to Lawinski for managing the buildout.
Arista said it ultimately advanced more than $200,000 to Lawinski between April and July, in addition to paying the $60,000 fee.
Mike Lawinski
By April, according to the landlord, Lawinski had scrapped the agreed-upon Mexican concept without communication for one focused on “street food.” By July, little progress on the buildout had been made, and the expected cost had ballooned far beyond budget.
“During this timeframe, Lawinski’s behavior also became more erratic, and Arista grew increasingly concerned that Defendants were misusing Arista’s capital funds,” the company’s lawsuit stated.
As a result, according to Arista, the landlord assumed responsibility for paying subcontractors and vendors in late July. One vendor that Lawsinki said he had contracted only provided quotes, Arista said.
On Sept. 11, Arista asked Lawinski to provide all accounting documents related to the money within a week. Lawinski did not give it to Arista by Sept. 18, so it ended the lease and took back over the property.
Lawsinski, however, sees the situation differently.
In a countersuit filed on Dec. 27, Lawinski emphasized the lease agreement “did not specifically mandate terms on requesting, disbursing, treating, allocating, or using funds related to the pre-opening expenses, nor did it impose an accounting mandate.”
“The parties prioritized flexibility,” his countersuit stated, given the unpredictability that comes with opening a new concept.
“Arista led Mr. Lawinski to understand that the funding didn’t need to be particular and that everything could be reconciled after the restaurant was launched,” the countersuit said. “Arista even (stated) that terms for the profit share and line of credit would be worked out later.”
Lawinski emphasized that the space had been recently home to two restaurants that did not thrive. He said Arista originally brought him on as a consultant to try to assist Mama Lolita’s. When it closed, Lawinski, who was hesitant to leave his consulting firm, said Arista “tried to convince” him to open his own restaurant in the space, according to the document.
Lawinski highlighted lower street and foot traffic and the 2023 closing of the 6,500 capacity 1stBankCenter as potential challenges.
“Undeterred, Arista assured Mr. Lawinski that he would have substantial creative control to design and launch a restaurant concept tailored to his vision, and that lease agreement would account for the fluid nature of launching a new restaurant concept,” his countersuit stated.
Though he acknowledged the concept change and construction slowdown, Lawinski attributed the lack of progress to Arista’s chosen general contractor, who his countersuit said waited weeks to provide bids.
In late August, Lawinski said, Arista “unexpectedly stated” it no longer wanted to have a restaurant in the space. A week later, at the Sept. 3 meeting that Arista’s suit referenced, Lawinski claimed Arista cited media coverage about the struggles of prominent restaurants in the Denver area.
At that meeting, Arista verbally terminated the lease, Lawsinki said. His countersuit claims Arista made no mention of Lawinski misusing funds.
The two parties said in a Jan. 6 filing that they believe they had reached a settlement. They had yet to request the case be dismissed as of press time. Lawinski declined to comment. An attorney for Arista did not respond to a request for comment.
Lawinski opened Fate Brewing in 2013. The brewpub filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November 2019. Since 2020, he has worked as a management consultant for the Boulder Italian joint Pasta Jay’s, per his LinkedIn profile. He also works for Restaurant Consulting Services Inc. in Cherry Creek, according to its website.
The space at 8181 Arista Place in Broomfield where the restaurant was planned. It was last home to Mama Lolita’s. (Max Scheinblum/BusinessDen)
The former owner of Boulder’s Fate Brewing and a Broomfield landlord expect to reach a settlement regarding a dispute over payments for a once-planned Mexican restaurant.
Arista Place II LLC, an entity affiliated with Wiens Capital Management, sued Mike Lawinski, whose brewery closed in 2019, in late October. The landlord accused him of misusing over $200,000 meant to fund the buildout of a restaurant in Arista Place at 8181 Arista Place.
The space, on the ground floor of an office building, was once home to Masa Cocina Mexicana, which opened in early 2019 and closed in March 2020, and Mama Lolita’s, another Mexican spot that closed this past February after opening in 2022.
Both sides agree that Lawinski signed an approximately 10-year lease for the space on March 5.
In its Oct. 28 lawsuit filed in Broomfield, Arista said it agreed to pay $100,000 toward Lawinski’s buildout of the space, plus provide an additional line of credit. An expected budget prepared by Lawinski called for a total project cost of $335,000, including $60,000 that Arista would pay to Lawinski for managing the buildout.
Arista said it ultimately advanced more than $200,000 to Lawinski between April and July, in addition to paying the $60,000 fee.
Mike Lawinski
By April, according to the landlord, Lawinski had scrapped the agreed-upon Mexican concept without communication for one focused on “street food.” By July, little progress on the buildout had been made, and the expected cost had ballooned far beyond budget.
“During this timeframe, Lawinski’s behavior also became more erratic, and Arista grew increasingly concerned that Defendants were misusing Arista’s capital funds,” the company’s lawsuit stated.
As a result, according to Arista, the landlord assumed responsibility for paying subcontractors and vendors in late July. One vendor that Lawsinki said he had contracted only provided quotes, Arista said.
On Sept. 11, Arista asked Lawinski to provide all accounting documents related to the money within a week. Lawinski did not give it to Arista by Sept. 18, so it ended the lease and took back over the property.
Lawsinski, however, sees the situation differently.
In a countersuit filed on Dec. 27, Lawinski emphasized the lease agreement “did not specifically mandate terms on requesting, disbursing, treating, allocating, or using funds related to the pre-opening expenses, nor did it impose an accounting mandate.”
“The parties prioritized flexibility,” his countersuit stated, given the unpredictability that comes with opening a new concept.
“Arista led Mr. Lawinski to understand that the funding didn’t need to be particular and that everything could be reconciled after the restaurant was launched,” the countersuit said. “Arista even (stated) that terms for the profit share and line of credit would be worked out later.”
Lawinski emphasized that the space had been recently home to two restaurants that did not thrive. He said Arista originally brought him on as a consultant to try to assist Mama Lolita’s. When it closed, Lawinski, who was hesitant to leave his consulting firm, said Arista “tried to convince” him to open his own restaurant in the space, according to the document.
Lawinski highlighted lower street and foot traffic and the 2023 closing of the 6,500 capacity 1stBankCenter as potential challenges.
“Undeterred, Arista assured Mr. Lawinski that he would have substantial creative control to design and launch a restaurant concept tailored to his vision, and that lease agreement would account for the fluid nature of launching a new restaurant concept,” his countersuit stated.
Though he acknowledged the concept change and construction slowdown, Lawinski attributed the lack of progress to Arista’s chosen general contractor, who his countersuit said waited weeks to provide bids.
In late August, Lawinski said, Arista “unexpectedly stated” it no longer wanted to have a restaurant in the space. A week later, at the Sept. 3 meeting that Arista’s suit referenced, Lawinski claimed Arista cited media coverage about the struggles of prominent restaurants in the Denver area.
At that meeting, Arista verbally terminated the lease, Lawsinki said. His countersuit claims Arista made no mention of Lawinski misusing funds.
The two parties said in a Jan. 6 filing that they believe they had reached a settlement. They had yet to request the case be dismissed as of press time. Lawinski declined to comment. An attorney for Arista did not respond to a request for comment.
Lawinski opened Fate Brewing in 2013. The brewpub filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November 2019. Since 2020, he has worked as a management consultant for the Boulder Italian joint Pasta Jay’s, per his LinkedIn profile. He also works for Restaurant Consulting Services Inc. in Cherry Creek, according to its website.
