Fate of Denver's old Yates Theater could soon be decided

One Denver couple's nearly year-long journey for city approval to revamp the old Yates Theater in Denver's Berkeley neighborhood, which has sat vacant for decades, makes its final leg next week. 

"The city lost so much of its great architecture; how on earth did this place manage to slip by?" said Macy Lao, who, along with her husband Kyle Hagan, is currently leasing the property.

Inside, what's left of the old silent film theater built nearly a century ago, spoke to Lao and Hagan, who originally set out to find a building to open up a bar. 

"As soon as we, well, at least particularly me, walked into this building, I said, 'I don't want to run a bar. I want to run a theater,'" said Lao.

Since June, 2025, they've gone through a long process of engaging the community and the city in discussions about their plans for a theater that would seat around 200-300 guests, with a bar inside. They're currently working with the Denver architecture firm, UNUM Collaborative, to design the project and have provided renderings that are currently in progress.

"We want to air classics and fan favorites, essentially, the technical word for it would be retrospective, but anything that isn't in first run and has that go back to its original usage as a movie theater," said Lao.

Up in the old projector room, it's easy to imagine. 

"This is where the projectors got a really great view," said Lao as she showed off the space to our CBS Colorado camera.

However, the time it's taken to put their dreams into motion was something they never imagined. 

"There's a provision of the zoning code that limits arts and entertainment venues in this district-type to 100 seating capacity," explained Hagan. "So, the process to remove that and get this restored to what we want to make is to bring that to the board of adjustments."

On Tuesday, March 10, Lao and Hagan's journey to get approved for a variance meets its final leg. 

"What will come out of Tuesday from the Board of Adjustment hearing is, yes, we grant you the variance on the seating capacity, hopefully, or no, we deny the variance," said Hagan regarding the hearing that will be followed by a Public Comment period.

In the meantime,  the building remains vacant, as it has since the 80s. And the couple remains hopeful they'll be able to make their dream of building and restoring a reality.

" I think all of us have been trying to find the sense of community that hasn't been able to manifest itself in real life," said Lao. "Kind of like a third space, like intentional spaces in the real world, places like your church, your community center, your library, your local barber shop, your bar where you meet. I always thought of having some place that's intentional but flexible enough to kind of meet the needs and evolving needs of a community.

If Lao and Hagan are granted approval, they will work to finalize their plans and begin construction with the goal of opening by Spring of 2027.

The couple is hoping to keep the Yates Theater; however, they have yet to figure out who "Yates" is. The story behind the name remains a mystery.