The vacant bank building at Public Road and Geneseo Street is now owned by the City of Lafayette. Its most likely next occupant is The Read Queen Bookstore & Cafe, a six-year-old shop from one block over on Harrison Avenue. Neither of those facts was the original goal. The city went after the parking lot next door. The building came as part of the same deal, and what the city has done with it since tells you a lot about how Lafayette is managing Old Town.
The sale is not final. As of this week, City Council is still waiting for a purchase and sale agreement. Here is how the corner got to this point and what is on it this month.
The lot came first
Since 2016, the Lafayette Urban Renewal Authority has leased the surface lot at 108 N. Public Road for public parking. The city's own resolution calls buying that parcel "a longstanding priority" because of its central location. Chase's bank building at 200 N. Public Road had sat empty since 2024. When the two properties came up for sale together, the city and LURA bought both.
City Manager signed the agreement with JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. on August 28, 2025, and Council ratified it on September 2, 2025. The combined price was $2.6 million for both parcels. LURA then paid the city back $1 million for the parking lot. The lot stays a city asset, open to the public and available for events like the Lafayette Farmers Market and seasonal pop-ups.
Take the $1 million reimbursement out of the $2.6 million price and you are left with $1.6 million. That is exactly what the city asked when it offered the bank building for resale. The city was never trying to hold onto a building. It wanted the 35 parking spaces, and it needed someone to take on the bank.
The resolution also spells out what the city wanted from that buyer. The goal was to "attract a sales tax-generating business that complements existing uses" in the new Lafayette Downtown Development Authority District, in line with the Old Town Tomorrow: Action Plan's goals of "promoting pathways to ownership for small businesses." The buyer also needed a use that "avoids long-term vacancy." City staff called it a "strategic purchase" and said the old bank lends itself to "adaptive reuse," possibly with extra parking and a street patio.
Three ideas for one corner
The city ran a competitive request for proposals and got three bids. In June, it posted a short video from each bidder on Lafayette Listens and invited residents to respond through July 3.
| Proposal | Who | What they pitched |
|---|---|---|
| Community restaurant and beer garden | Grant Hopfenspirger, owner of Teocalli Cocina | A gathering-place restaurant with outdoor beer garden |
| Four-use building | The Arts Hub with Urban West Group | A restaurant and bar, two local retail spaces, and an underground black box theater and gallery for The Arts Hub |
| Flagship bookstore | The Read Queen Bookstore & Cafe, owned by Barbra Huntting and Deirdre Appelhans | Expanded retail, community event space, outdoor gathering areas |
All three bidders already had roots in Lafayette. Hopfenspirger opened the first Teocalli Cocina at 103 N. Public Road in 2019, just down the block, and has since added locations in Arvada, Longmont and Denver. The Arts Hub is a fixture of the town's performing arts. It opens its 2026/27 season with Little Shop of Horrors at 420 Courtney Way, running October 9 through 25.
So the choice was never between local and outside businesses. Every option was local. The question was which existing business would gain the most from this particular corner.
Why a bookstore one block off Public won
The survey drew about 1,800 responses, and The Read Queen's proposal got the most support, according to Lafayette Economic Development Director Brigid Keating. Keating told Council the proposal was a chance to reuse an existing building while helping a local business grow. "Small business support and retention is key," she said.
The word "retention" explains the decision. Huntting and Appelhans opened the shop during the COVID-19 pandemic at 129 N. Harrison Ave., and they say they have outgrown it. "We try to hold these events, these gatherings, these book clubs and programming, but we just don't have the space for it right now," Huntting told Council, according to The Daily Camera. "We're bursting at the seams, basically."
A growing business that has run out of room can stay put, move to another town, or move up the street. Appelhans described the Harrison Avenue years plainly. "It took a good two-plus years to really get established because we were off the beaten path," she said. "We weren't on Public, and honestly it's been one of our dreams to be on Public since the day we opened." She added, "We just want to stay in Lafayette. It's our favorite town."
The Read Queen's current landlord, Kurt Munding, also spoke at the meeting in support of the move. "They've been our favorite tenant we've ever had," he said. He added that he was glad to see the business stay in Lafayette, even though its departure would leave "big shoes to fill." In March, the Lafayette Chamber of Commerce gave the shop its Community Impact Award.
This is the "pathways to ownership" goal from the 2025 resolution in practice. The city bought a building it didn't need and is offering it to a tenant that wants to become an owner on Lafayette's main street.
Where the deal stands in October
- August 28, 2025. City Manager signs the purchase agreement with JPMorgan Chase.
- September 2, 2025. Council ratifies the $2.6 million purchase of both parcels.
- June to July 3, 2026. Residents watch the three proposal videos and respond on Lafayette Listens.
- August 4, 2026. Council votes 6–0 to authorize the city to negotiate a sale with The Read Queen.
- "This fall." The city and The Read Queen are expected to bring a purchase and sale agreement back to Council.
Step five hasn't happened yet. No purchase and sale agreement for 200 N. Public Road appears on the September 1 or September 15 Council agendas, or on the October 6 agenda posted ahead of that meeting. In August, Keating said the city expects negotiations to succeed. No closing date, renovation plan or opening date has been made public. Until Council votes on an agreement, the bank stays empty and the bookstore stays on Harrison Avenue.
The corner this month
You can already see much of what the city is betting on in this block of Public Road.
Across from the bank, Remi's Cajun Creole Cafe opened this summer at 211 N. Public Road. It's a 60-seat restaurant owned by Dara Sanchez-Mack, with Colorado native Napoleon Lewis running the kitchen. The menu includes gumbo, jambalaya, crawfish étouffée, po'boys and a catfish Pontchartrain that Axios Boulder singled out. Remi's is open 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Thursday through Monday and closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
Next to Remi's, The Collective Community Arts Center at 201 N. Public Road is showing the city's Día de los Muertos exhibit, Arcos y Portales, through November 8.
The farmers market fills the street between Cleveland and Geneseo, a stretch that ends at the bank's corner. It runs from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. with more than 80 local growers, food producers and prepared-food vendors. Admission is free. The season ends this month.
- Sundays, October 11, 18 and 25: final Lafayette Farmers Market dates of the season, 100 N. Public Road.
- Through November 8: Arcos y Portales at The Collective, 201 N. Public Road.
- October 31, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.: The Read Queen's free Lafayette Fall Harvest Festival with live music and a pop-up market, still at 129 N. Harrison Ave.
If you want to see the business that could fill the bank, the October 31 festival is held at the space it has outgrown.
When a city-owned building on a main street changes hands, it affects what the surrounding blocks are worth and how they feel to live on. That is the kind of local stewardship Marybeth Emerson watches closely. If you own near Old Town Lafayette and want to talk through what the 200 N. Public Road decision could mean for your property, schedule a consultation.
