Upscale Overlook restaurant only part of business plan entrepreneur says can’t fail

LOUISVILLE – Restaurateur Todd Schneider hopes area residents won’t overlook his new $9 million gourmet eatery when it opens next fall.

The aptly-named Overlook received final approval from the Louisville City Council in early September, and Schneider hopes to break ground as early as this spring. Named for position rather than pun, the more than 10,000-square-foot facility will sit on a bluff on the northeast portion of the Colorado Tech Center (CTC) campus, essentially overlooking Front Street between Old Town and Dillon Road.

“It’s going to be an elegant, business-class restaurant,´ said Schneider, who will finance the project through a $500,000 from his own pocket and $8.5 million from bank ventures and private donations. “It’ll be pretty straightforward food – steak and pasta – nothing that people won’t comprehend. But it will be presented very well.”

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The upscale restaurant, however, is only part of a three-part business concept, one that Schneider believes can’t fail. Besides the dining hall, the Overlook also will house a food court and a banquet/conference room with presentation and telecommunication equipment.

“This plan works very well from even Year 1,” he said. “We have (a) built-in audience.”

Schneider, who current owns Todd’s Gourmet Kitchen in Superior, said his facility will cater heavily to the appetite and assembly needs of the CTC, a campus he anticipates to be nearly 7,000 strong when fully staffed.

“I saw a need for an upscale restaurant. I’m also in catering, and I noticed a need for a banquet/conference center for businesses,” he said. “The cafe was a no-brainer because of all the people. I’m the only one zoned for a restaurant in the business park.”

The food court cafe will offer a variety of specialty foods, such as Italian, Chinese and Mexican. The conference/banquet center will offer “all the bells and whistles,” Schneider said, from high-speed color copiers to wireless Internet access to a complete array of audio visual equipment.

Ken Johnstone, principal planner for Louisville, said city planners, planning commissioners and city council members had relatively few objections to the Overlook.

“Overall, the plans were received fairly well with regard to the quality and intent of the project,” he said. “We have fairly limited (business) banquet facilities, and the restaurants should provide more than adequate service for the CTC, which is growing by leaps and bounds. So it should fill a couple of niches.”

While Johnstone said planners initially were concerned about how the Overlook might obstruct the view from Old Town and how the facility was situated on the plot, “the concerns were addressed and met.”

Schneider said he and his designers, from Denver’s RNL Design, paid close attention to not make the Overlook an eyesore.

“I didn’t create the urban sprawl, but it’s here.” he said. “So, we spent thousands of dollars trying to be very aligned with the natural rocks and surroundings. Granted, it’s a large facility, but it’s going to be a beautiful structure.”

While he plans to survive the early, lean years by living off the fat of the CTC, Schneider said he hopes the facility will become a destination for corporate retreats from ” not just Boulder and Louisville, but Denver, south Denver and out of state.” The restaurateur-turned-entrepreneur said he plans to market via the Internet and help attract conventioneers by arranging vacation packages with area hotels and recreation organizations.

Schneider said he eventually hopes to own a legion of Overlooks, from Denver to Carlsbad, Calif.

“This three-in-one format can be duplicated time and time again,” he said. “These similar geographic identities – like CTC and Interlocken (business park) – are popping up everywhere.”

From Johnstone’s perspective, Louisville can’t lose, with what Schneider estimates will be $7 million per year plus 45 full-time jobs and nearly 100 part-time workers added to the Louisville economy.

And, the Overlook may not need to branch out. It may become a landmark, drawing more business to it.

“Certainly from a design standpoint, this will be a first-class operation. It’s a great location. It feels like Old Town, but it’s a little across the street and above it. It should provide for tremendous views,” Johnstone said. “And with the FlatIron (shopping) mall and The Melting Pot coming to Louisville, there is the potential for a dining destination.”

That would suit Eric Dixon of Colacci’s Restaurant, one of Louisville’s few current upscale bistros, just fine.

“More restaurants in this area would be great,” he said. “More restaurants means more diversification. When people don’t know where they want to go, the go to a general dining area. I wouldn’t mind (developing into) that at all.”