The historic Rossonian Hotel  — once a renowned jazz hub — is one step closer toward playing its song again. 

On Monday, the Denver City Council unanimously approved the creation of a tax increment financing area around the Rossonian Hotel to help reimburse up to $15.5 million to support redeveloping the building at the heart of the historic Five Points neighborhood.

This project led by Palisade Partners has been a years-long initiative that aims to take the historic hotel at 2650 Welton St. and transform it into a mixed-use development with more than 150 hotel rooms and restaurant, retail and event space.

It’s set to open in 2028, according to the developer’s website.

“Without it, this project does not happen,” Paul Books, founder of Palisade Partners, told council members. “But with it, we are working through the last remaining steps to break ground this summer.” 

The Rossonian Hotel, located at the heart of the star-shaped intersection that inspired the name behind Denver’s historic Five Points neighborhood, was built in 1912 and became one of the most famous jazz venues between St. Louis and Los Angeles during the 1930s to 1950s as Black artists weren’t allowed to stay at the ritzy hotels they performed at during the segregation era. 

The hotel welcomed jazz artists such as Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie and Billie Holiday, who would often perform at the hotel after their scheduled concerts, according to city and national records.

The property fell in disrepair after desegregation and the building has been sitting vacant since the 1990s. There have been several efforts to revive it, including in 2005 by the late developer Carl Bourgeois, who is credited with revitalizing the Five Points neighborhood, but none have been successful thus far. 

Norman Harris, executive director of the Five Points Business Improvement District, said projects like this can catalyze the neighborhood and bring in more investments.

“There’s renewed confidence in Five Points and renewed belief with what this corridor can become,” Harris said. “The Rossonian Hotel has become the opportunity to be the catalyst that takes the momentum to the next level.”

The project is also a “cultural investment” into the historically Black neighborhood, which was dubbed the “Harlem of the West,” he added.

The CEO of Historic Denver John Deffenbaugh said it was one of the most famous buildings in all of Denver and it needs public support through tax-increment financing as the private sector often struggles to finance historic preservation projects. 

Colorado-based developers Palisade Partners acquired the hotel in 2017 for $6 million, according to city property records. In the following years, the company also bought the parcels around it, including the Hooper apartment complex built in 2021 at 2600 Welton St.

The adaptive reuse project plans to restore the three-floor Rossonian Hotel with 18 hotel rooms and a 4,800-square-foot restaurant on the ground floor. Plans also include a brand new 53,000-square-foot building in the parcels between the Rossonian and the Hooper with 72 hotel rooms and a 7,200-square-foot event space. Another 36 hotel rooms will be added to the Hooper, though the 103 apartments at the complex are not included in the project.

Overall, the $101 million project would bring more than 150 hotel rooms.

The extra public financing is through from the Denver Urban Renewal Authority — the economic development organization that has set up development zones to help fund blighted areas in the River North neighborhood, redeveloped the Stapleton airport and is currently helping finance the women’s soccer stadium — to make it work.

The project is eligible for reimbursement through tax-increment financing for up to $15.5 million to be paid back within 25 years.