Boulder City Council approves $5.8 million sale of downtown parking lot for 110-room hotel

The Boulder City Council on Aug. 20 approved the sale of the Spruce Street surface parking lot for $5.8 million, clearing a major hurdle for a proposed hotel at Broadway and Spruce Street that councilmembers hope will bring new economic activity downtown.

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The council voted 7-1 to approve the sale. Councilmember Taishya Adams voted no, citing water and energy concerns. 

The buyer, MA-LR Boulder LLC, is a partnership between Midnight Auteur, a Denver-based real estate developer and hotel management group behind The Ramble Hotel, and Landrock, an investment firm. The project still needs city development approvals, a process that could take more than a year. 

The proposed hotel includes 110 rooms, a lobby with a restaurant and bar, private event space and a rooftop that must stay open to the public for at least 20 hours a week under an agreement with the city.

The sale agreement includes several “community benefit” covenants. The developer must set aside at least 2,000 square feet of below-market commercial space for local, independent retail and food and beverage tenants. It must also donate $100,000 to the Boulder Arts Foundation for public art and host at least three rotating exhibitions by local artists per year.

Five years after the sale closes, the developer can buy its way out of many of those requirements by paying the city a fixed amount. The payments would range between $200,000 and $250,000 for each requirement.

The project comes as the city prepares to host the Sundance Film Festival, which is expected to draw tens of thousands of visitors and increase demand for already limited short-term housing. Under an agreement with the city, the developer must make “commercially reasonable efforts” to work with Visit Boulder during the festival to set rates for event space and rooms. 

The sale will remove 59 public parking spaces from downtown. Fox Tuttle Transportation Group, a consultant hired by the city, found that nearby garages have enough capacity to absorb parking demand from the hotel and loss of those spaces. 

The council eliminated citywide parking minimums in 2025, so the developer does not have to replace the spaces or build on-site parking.

Among the critics of the sale was Stephen Tebo, founder of Tebo Properties Inc., a development and property management firm. He had urged the council to reject the sale, citing parking as his primary concern. Tebo is also converting an office building about a block away into a 37-room hotel called Eleven11. 

Under the purchase agreement with the city, the developer is required to preserve alley access for the First Congregational Church for 30 years. The church sits on the same block as the parking lot. Several members of the church spoke during the public hearing on Aug. 20 to urge the council to reject the sale.

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The Rev. Chris Braudaway-Bauman, senior minister at First Congregational Church, said the church shares its space with 40 nonprofits and serves meals to people experiencing homelessness.

“We tend to some of the city’s most vulnerable. In a quiet way, we tend to the soul of the city itself,” she said. “The Spruce Street lot serves to make that work possible. There is not enough parking in downtown Boulder.” 

Ryan Diggins, founder of Midnight Auteur and developer of the Ramble Hotel in Denver, said his projects seek to build in cultural programming, such as art and live music.

“What gets me out of bed in the morning in my career these days is creating spaces for meaningful connection to take place,” he said. “That’s what I’m into. The hotel thing doesn’t really interest me.”

Diggins addressed opponents at the council meeting, inviting them to join him for coffee or a beer at his Denver hotel or to meet with him at First Congregational Church.

Councilmember Nicole Speer, who attends First Congregational Church, spoke directly to church members who had come to oppose the sale. She said many residents are tired of so much change and uncertainty in the city.

“Sometimes a parking lot is a parking lot, and sometimes it feels like a whole lot more,” she said.

Speer argued that hotels help make cities more resilient. She said they can shelter people displaced by disasters and give people seeking connection somewhere to find it. They also attract visitors who might walk into the church, she said. The hotel would generate sales tax revenue benefiting the whole city, she added, while future design and planning reviews would give the public more chances to weigh in. She voted in support of the sale.

“I regret that I’m disappointing my own church community tonight, and I hope that you don’t feel alone in trying to solve these problems,” she said.

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