Dec. 24–As the new owner of The Antlers in downtown Colorado Springs, local attorney Perry Sanders Jr. has embraced the hotel's storied past — but also is committed to its future.
That's why he and partner John Goede, a Florida attorney, have moved quickly on plans to renovate the 292-room hotel after buying it for $23.2 million in late October.
Sanders and Goede have launched a floor by floor makeover of The Antlers' guest rooms starting with the 12th floor, which will reopen in January. The sixth floor will be finished soon after, and all rooms are expected to be completed by early May, Sanders said.
He and Goede also plan to transform Judge Baldwin's Brewing Co. into an Italian-style restaurant, expand the hotel lobby's bar and add a rooftop pool, among other improvements. Sanders declined to disclose the cost of the upgrades.
"When the renovation is finished, it should be a really nice four-star hotel," Sanders said. "I call it a high-end, four-star hotel."
Springs founder Gen. William Jackson Palmer opened The Antlers in 1883 at Pikes Peak and Cascade avenues in downtown. Fire destroyed it in 1898; it was rebuilt, torn down in the 1960s and rebuilt again. It has gone through several owners and most recently was controlled by a Miami Beach, Fla.-based real estate company, which bought it for $38 million after foreclosing on a Boston ownership group.
Sanders, who has been in the Springs since 2006 and is known for representing Michael Jackson's mother in legal issues after the singer's death, already has a track record downtown.
He and partners transformed the Mining Exchange office building at Pikes Peak and Nevada avenues into a 117-room, upscale hotel after spending about $34 million on renovations. The project included upgrades at the next-door Independence and Freeman Telegraph buildings and the former Colorado Springs Utilities building.
The hotel is now known as The Mining Exchange, A Wyndham Grand Hotel & Spa, which opened in 2012. AAA named the Mining Exchange as a four-diamond property; the work done at the Mining Exchange is helping to provide a blueprint for The Antlers' renovation, Sanders said. His wife, Lorn Lee, also is heavily involved in designing the improvements, he said.
Among changes taking place at The Antlers:
– Guest rooms are getting new mattresses, custom leather bed headboards and leather frames, sheets, towels, linens, carpeting and blackout window shades. Formica window ledges will be made over with custom wood, as part of a wood casing wrapping around the windows; the ledges are wide enough to sit on for guests who want to enjoy a cup of coffee along with city and mountain views.
"It should be the nicest spot in the room, literally," Sanders said.
Another feature, similar to what was done at the Mining Exchange: the addition of a sound barrier to ensure quiet rooms, Sanders said. A custom-made, three-quarter-inch wood accent covering is being placed over a plaster wall in each room, with a half-inch air gap in between — a noise reduction technique that's similar to what's found in a recording studio. Noise coming from a next-door room is one of his biggest complaints whenever he stays in a hotel, Sanders said.
Popcorn ceilings also have been removed, while about four dozen bathrooms will get pocket doors to replace swinging doors that take up too much space.
"We really had the luxury of taking inventory of what people liked and didn't like about the hotel, and we're trying to cure the things that needed curing," Sanders said.
– Judge Baldwin's will be renamed Duca's Neapolitan Pizza Market and will serve pizzas from Duca's Neapolitan Pizza, which has two locations in the Springs. Two wood-burning pizza ovens, which cook pizzas in about 90 seconds, will be installed, and a craft beer brewing operation, which closed three years ago, will be revived.
The restaurant will have a blend of northern and southern Italian dishes; Judge Baldwin's popular hamburger, however, will remain on the menu along with a few other American items.
"We're taking the best of the old restaurant and bringing it up to date with a very distinct theme," he said.
The restaurant will close for remodeling in about a month and reopen within 30 to 60 days. The restaurant will get a new white marble floor, carpeting will be removed, chairs will get cushion leather seats and some booths will be made over.
– The lobby bar will be expanded to 20 seats and will serve 100 beers on tap, 100 wines by the glass and 100 "tapitizers" — appetizer-like foods that can be shared.
– A new second-floor lounge will allow guests to enjoy refreshments while taking in mountain views.
– An outdoor rooftop pool with cabanas will open in June, bringing back an amenity that had been discontinued by previous owners, he said.
