Iconic Indian Village to close by month end

ESTES PARK — The iconic Miller’s Indian Village, located on what arguably may be the most visible retail corner in downtown Estes Park at the intersection of Elkhorn and Moraine avenues, will close soon, perhaps before the end of the month.

The Miller family sold the Indian Village building for $3.6 million, according to Larimer County property records, and a lease to continue retail operations there has not been signed. The property’s new owner, Estes Entrepreneurs Hub Inc., has a “verbal lease” but is uncertain about when the Indian Village will vacate, said Sabir Shrestha, an Estes restaurateur who with his partner closed on the property Aug. 20.

Seller was the legal entity APROPO Inc., a corporation with a Boulder address that formed in 1951 when Charlie and Charlotte Miller bought the property for $19,500. It currently includes the Indian Village, Lonigan’s Saloon and The Old Fashion Candy Store. 

SPONSORED CONTENT

People Powered: Preparing Longmont Businesses for Economic Success

Longmont Chamber and FNBO present People Powered on April 24, 2024, aiming to inform business owners about workforce development, housing, and transportation issues.

The property sellers included the current operator of the Indian Village, Toni Miller; her brother Bob Miller, who is president of APROPO; and the children of their late sister.

The Miller’s started business in 1935 but didn’t buy that location until 1951. The family also operates Miller Curio Co. in Tucson, Arizona, where they spend the winter.

Shrestha, who owns Lonigan’s along with two other restaurants in the community, has no plans for the corner location. “I want to save the heritage, the culture,” he told BizWest. He said the building will require some maintenance and repairs. It was built in 1901 and is 15,441 square feet, according to county property records.

The opportunity to buy the building came somewhat by chance, Shrestha said. “I started my journey from the bottom,” he said in explaining how it came about. He worked entry-level jobs in the restaurant business in Estes Park before getting an opportunity to be a chef and later owner of establishments. He described Lonigan’s as “a dive bar” before he and his partner bought it and converted it to a family pub. 

“Last year, we had four years left on our lease for Lonigan’s, and we wanted to add five more,” he said. So they approached Bob Miller. He would not extend or renew the Lonigan’s lease because the building was going to be sold, he said. “What about you guys buy it?” Shrestha quoted Miller as saying.

The price at $3.6 million was more than they thought they could handle, but their bankers thought that it could be accomplished with revenue from their restaurants and rent from tenants.

“We invested our life savings,” Shrestha said.

He said the new owners want to charge fair market rent for spaces in the building. The Indian Village, as the former property owner, was not paying market rent. 

“I can’t afford to have her [Toni Miller] pay her current rent. She decided to move. I don’t know when or where.”

Toni Miller said she was offered a three-month lease, and “I saw no point in that. I would have liked a two-year or three-year lease. I decided that if I have to cut the cord, I might as well do it now.”

She said some of the Native American inventory will be moved to Tucson.

She said she would like to relocate the store elsewhere in Estes Park, but properties are hard to find. Until the closure by the end of the month, she said, the store will continue to sell merchandise. 

“Whatever we can do in the meantime, we’ll do.” 

© 2021 BizWest Media LLC