Thirsty’s Liquors in Fort Collins buys new space, to reopen on Lemay

FORT COLLINS – Hungry for a new home, Thirsty’s finally has found one.

Thirsty’s Liquors owners Young “Cindy” Lee and her husband closed Thursday on the $665,000 purchase of a building at Lemay Avenue and Elizabeth Street in Fort Collins.

Thirsty’s, which lost its lease last fall after seven years in the Safeway plaza at College and Mulberry avenues, will relocate to the 3,048-square-foot space at 1001 S. Lemay Ave. and is likely to open by late spring after its city liquor license is approved, said Jeongmee “Kim” Choi, the Coldwell Banker broker who represented buyers Cindy and Kyu-Young Lee, acting as KYL Investment Inc.

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The building had been vacant for about a year and a half, since its former occupant, pediatric practice Lincare Inc., moved to 4700 S. College Ave.

Thirsty’s still had two years remaining on its lease of the space next to Safeway when owners Green Courte Partners of Illinois sold the plaza in November for $8.8 million to Loveland Commercial LLC. After negotiations for a month-to-month lease with Loveland Commercial fell through, Thirsty’s leased a space at 1009 S. Lemay that had been the Bookends used bookstore to keep its license active but was also negotiating for the purchase at 1001 S. Lemay, said Randy Marshall of Sperry Van Ness/The Group Commercial LLC. Marshall represented the seller, MFLD LLC, whose manager is Ken Dalton of Fort Collins.

Meanwhile, a new, larger liquor store is set to open at College and Mulberry, incorporating Thirsty’s old space and the former Jerry’s Artarama store to the north, which closed in May.

Chuck Carlson, former general manager of Bullfrog Wine and Spirits, plans to open Mulberry Max Wine and Spirits in the combined space. Carlson’s partners are former state Rep. Donald Marostica and Tracy Holsapple. Marostica and Holsapple’s husband, Eric, are principals in Loveland Commercial, new owners of the Safeway plaza.

Marostica told BizWest on Friday that the partners are shooting for a May 1 opening of Mulberry Max, which he said will include about 8,000 square feet of main-level retail space plus storage on an upper floor.