On Thursday, October 8, crews began tearing down the old Dark Horse building at 2922 Baseline Road in Boulder. In a Daily Camera photo gallery, people stood watching and recording on their phones. Every caption ended the same way: the bar closed on March 14 after 51 years and plans to reopen in Louisville, near U.S. 36 and McCaslin Boulevard.
That puts the Dark Horse in line at a corner that has been rebuilding for more than a year. The two largest empty buildings at the McCaslin and Dillon Road interchange were filled first. The former Sam's Club became a food hall with pickleball courts in June 2025, and the former Lowe's site became a King Soopers Marketplace in June 2026. The smaller restaurant buildings along the frontage are moving more slowly. The Dark Horse's planned new home at 988 W. Dillon Road is one of them, and seven months after the Boulder closing it still has no public opening date.
The Hardest Buildings Came Back First
Big-box buildings are known to be the hard part of commercial redevelopment. Carl Koelbel, president and CEO of Koelbel and Company, put it plainly when the King Soopers opened. He told ColoradoBiz that "large-format vacant retail buildings present unique redevelopment challenges." At McCaslin, those buildings moved first anyway.
| Address | What was there | What's there now | Status as of October 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 550 McCaslin Blvd. | Sam's Club | Relish Food Hall // Pickleball | Open since June 20, 2025 |
| 1171 W. Dillon Rd. | Lowe's, vacant since 2019 | King Soopers Marketplace | Open since June 24, 2026 |
| 575 McCaslin Blvd. | Carrabba's, permanently closed | Proposed Bank of America | In city review, no completion date listed |
| 988 W. Dillon Rd. | DJ's Watering Hole, earlier an Outback Steakhouse | Planned Dark Horse | No opening date announced |
The two buildings at the top of that table add up to more than 200,000 square feet. The two at the bottom are single restaurant sites, and they are the ones still in progress.
Relish Turned a Warehouse Store Into an Evening Destination
Relish Food Hall // Pickleball opened on June 20, 2025, inside the former Sam's Club at 550 McCaslin. According to the Daily Camera's opening coverage, the 80,000-square-foot space includes indoor and outdoor courts, food vendors and event space.
The food side is local and mixed. Relish's site lists ArepasCO, Salt and Vinegar, Magic Food Bus, Sabor y Salsa, Soupsmith, and Shari Bowls and Aces, plus a full bar. On the courts, Relish offers games for every skill level and an introductory course for new members who are learning the basics. The events calendar shows the space being used well after dinner. Trivia with Geeks Who Drink is on the schedule for tonight, October 12.
This reuse changed what the corner is for. A Sam's Club is a place you stop on the way somewhere else. A food hall with court reservations is somewhere you plan to spend an evening.
King Soopers Took the Biggest Building and Added Reasons to Linger
A year after Relish, the larger Lowe's property came back. King Soopers Marketplace officially opened on June 24, 2026, at 1171 W. Dillon Road. ColoradoBiz reported that the site had been vacant since 2019. Dillon Companies, a Kroger subsidiary, bought the property for $22.6 million and finished a $23.6 million redevelopment. The building is 122,000 square feet.
A grocery store was not the first plan for this site. Before the sale, Koelbel and Company worked with Vitrian on the Centennial Valley Innovation Center, a proposed campus for biotechnology and advanced manufacturing. That project was not pursued.
The store has an in-store Starbucks, a Murray's Cheese Shop, a sushi department, a drive-thru pharmacy, pickup and delivery, and a fuel center with five pumps and eight electric vehicle charging stations. The chargers fit the pattern Relish started. They give drivers a reason to stay on the property for a while.
With the Lowe's and Sam's Club sites both filled, the two largest buildings at the interchange are in use again. What's left are the smaller sites along the frontage roads, and those depend on individual operators rather than national retailers.
The Restaurant Sites Move One Application at a Time
The former Carrabba's at 575 McCaslin shows how slowly a single site can turn over. The City of Louisville's current developments page lists a planned unit development amendment to convert the closed restaurant into a Bank of America. The work includes the interior buildout plus changes to the site: ADA parking spaces, access and sidewalk upgrades, electric vehicle charging, landscaping and a proposed drive-thru ATM. The listing gives no completion date.
The same city page lists another item for the area: a general development plan amendment in Centennial Valley for future residential development. Its Planning Commission and City Council hearing dates are still marked TBD. Both items are on the city's public calendar. A firm date on either one would show the area's smaller sites are moving forward.
988 West Dillon, Still Waiting on Its Horse
The Dark Horse's plans have been public since April. Here is what has been reported, in order:
- March 14, 2026. The Dark Horse closes at 2922 Baseline Road after 51 years.
- April 14, 2026. A Roller Auction sale of the bar's decor ends. CBS Colorado reported that a vintage hearse sold for $6,250.
- April 15, 2026. BizWest reports that Axios Boulder had cited a hoped-for opening before the fall football season.
- April 16, 2026. General manager Sean James tells CBS Colorado that management has a lease for 988 West Dillon Road in hand but has not signed it yet. Roller Auction says it expects a second auction by the end of summer and that the bar will have reopened by then.
- October 8, 2026. Demolition starts on the Boulder building. The Daily Camera still describes the Louisville reopening as a plan.
Football season has started and summer is over. No public report since April confirms a signed lease, construction, a second auction or an opening date. The Dark Horse website still says "We are CLOSED" and does not say whether that refers only to the Boulder location.
Some details of the move have been reported. Axios Boulder reported that the bar's well-known bathroom doors will go to Louisville. When the Daily Camera asked how much of the memorabilia would carry over, James said "as much as we can." Many other pieces were auctioned. James told the paper the goal was to open "ASAP." No coverage so far confirms whether the Boulder menu will come along.
The building itself has already been through more than one restaurant. CBS Colorado says it was most recently DJ's Watering Hole. The Daily Camera describes it as the former Outback Steakhouse. Both descriptions seem to be accurate for different periods. A building that has housed two restaurants is already set up for a third, and that usually makes a restaurant move simpler than a big-box conversion.
The Paperwork Comes Before the Opening
A bar opening in Louisville needs approvals that become public before the doors open. According to the city's liquor license page, a new liquor license requires approval from Louisville's Local Licensing Authority. As of this week, no Dark Horse application, permit or council item tied to 988 W. Dillon Road appears on the city pages we reviewed. The city's current developments page also says some planning application materials have been temporarily removed from its listings.
That means the first solid sign of an opening will probably be a licensing item on the city calendar or an announcement from the bar itself, not more demolition photos from Baseline Road.
If you own a home near the McCaslin interchange and want to know whether these openings are showing up in what nearby homes sell for, Janet Leap can walk you through what we're seeing in local sales. Request a free home valuation and we'll go over your home's numbers with you.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
