DENVER — On Friday, the city of Denver issued an Order of Summary Suspension for Nativ Hotel & Gatsby Social's (located on Wazee Street in Denver) liquor, food, and cabaret licenses following an investigation that uncovered new alleged violations of rules and regulations.
The popular nightclub isn't unfamiliar with such actions by the city. In April, the business was shut down, and its licenses were suspended for almost two months after hundreds of fire code violations and an alleged assault.
Eric Escudero, Spokesperson for Denver's Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection, told Denver7's Tyler Melito Sunday that having a repeat offender like Nativ Hotel is not uncommon, but still surprising.
See the full story in the video below
"When you see repeat offenders, it's surprising because the city has worked with them closely and tried to get them on the right track, and they still refuse, and that's when you see the most extreme licensing discipline actions take place, oftentimes with the city," Escudero outlined.
While Escudero could not go into specifics of this case regarding Nativ Hotel, the seven-page order outlined several incidents that ultimately resulted in the licenses getting suspended.
Two examples:
- On June 28, 2026, an employee of the [nearby] Oxford Hotel was assisting an older couple with an Uber when she heard approximately eight to ten gunshots in the vicinity, prompting all three to run back inside for safety. [A Denver Police] investigation revealed the shooting occurred because of a gang related argument between a number of [Nativ Hotel's] patrons after leaving the licensed premises. The shooting resulted in a woman being shot in the leg. Officers recovered 39 spent shell casings at the scene of multiple calibers, indicating that there were several shooters. That same night, the hotel received noise complaints related to loud music and loud crowds dispersing from the licensed premises.
- Neighboring businesses and property owners reported that on August 30, 2026, a violent altercation occurred between one of [Nativ Hotel's] security guards and one of [Nativ Hotel's] patrons. A crowd of approximately 40 people gathered to watch and follow the fight, which took place at or near the sidewalk adjacent to the Oxford Hotel, which is less than a block away from the [Nativ Hotel's] licensed premises. At one point, employees noticed an individual associated with the commotion was holding a firearm in his waistband. Because of the scale of the incident, its proximity to the hotel, and the presence of weapons, the Oxford Hotel was required to initiate a full lockdown of its premises to ensure the safety of guests and employees. Additionally, over that same weekend, [Nativ Hotel's] patrons were driving away after leaving the licensed premises, made a left turn onto 17th Street, and collided with parked vehicles before hitting a tree in front of the Vintage Label Store. The driver and the group of individuals riding in the vehicle fled the scene.
Escudero said safety is a top priority for the city and they do not tolerate such recklessness.
"There's consequences if you're a business and you're violating rules that protect safety because that's one of the most important things we do as your government agency," Escudero said.
Dominican Waynewood was at Nativ the night of the August 30 incident and saw the fight that took place. While he did not see what led up to the altercation between the Nativ security guard and customer, he says things intensified relatively quickly.
"As soon as the club let everybody out, I just seen folks just running down the street gathering, I knew it wasn't for no prayer meeting or nothing, so I just went over there," Waynewood recalled. "I just seen folks just teeing off on each other."
The order from the city outlined that Nativ hired an "unlicensed security guard company and unlicensed security guards."
Born and raised in the Denver metro, Waynewood told Melito that fights are not uncommon for Denver's nightlife scene.
"Given its previous history, just downtown in general, at that time of night, especially if there's alcohol involved, folks is just gonna start conflict when there's nothing there," Waynewood explained.
The order detailed for the specific incident on August 30, "At one point, employees noticed an individual associated with the commotion was holding a firearm in his waistband. Because of the scale of the incident, its proximity to the hotel, and the presence of weapons, the Oxford Hotel was required to initiate a full lockdown of its premises to ensure the safety of guests and employees."
Waynewood shared Nativ may not entirely be to blame for that person having a weapon, citing that there was a lot happening at the time.
"I mean, they pat me down when I went inside the club," Waynewood detailed. "So I don't know if that particular individual was inside the club with the firearm. He could have had it outside, or as soon as the club let everybody out. That's when he could have grabbed the weapon. I wouldn't entirely blame everything on Nativ, but I mean, plus it happened far from Nativ. It happened like just a couple blocks down from Nativ."
Escudero says the city is taking steps to make nightlife safer as they hope to be a top destination for nightlife in the United States, sharing new rules are coming in April 2027.
"We're going to force businesses like nightclubs to actually have safety and security plans to make sure there's proper video footage," Escudero explained. "We're in the process of finalizing those rules, and we're working closely with stakeholders, people in the community, nightclubs, and also people in neighborhoods. So we have rules that are modernized, and so hopefully there are less instances where you hear about the city having to shut down the business."
Denver7 reached out to Nativ Hotel's owner Thierry Rignol and attorney Robert Runco for comment. Rignol got back to Denver7 and sent the following statement:
At 2:55pm on Friday, the start of Labor Day weekend, the Denver Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection suspended our licenses again, without notice and without a hearing. Good Hotels Denver, our hotel at 1612 Wazee, is open. Nothing in the order touches the hotel or its guests; we’ve welcomed guests all weekend, and we’re open. Gatsby Social, our venue, is closed for now, and the people who work those nights are out of work again. This is the third different set of reasons the city has given us since the first summary suspension in April. First, it was a fire department stop-work order, which the fire department itself lifted the next business day. Then it was paperwork about manager registrations. Now it’s what happens on the streets and parking lots around us, in a neighborhood with dozens of bars. There were never 800 fire code violations. By March 26, the fire department’s own inspection report had four items left: three were permits waiting on the city’s own review, and the fourth was the stop-work itself. What the most recent order leaves out is that since June, every Friday and Saturday, we’ve hired and paid uniformed Denver police officers, through the police department’s own program, to stand at our door until 2:30am. We chose to hire police officers because we care about this block, and we’ve worked side by side with those officers all summer. The order even faults us for not reporting incidents to the police. The police were at our door. We hired them. The city calls us a repeat offender. The city has never held a hearing on a single one of its allegations. In April it closed us, then withdrew its own order and dismissed its own case without a hearing. On Friday it closed us again, pending a hearing. We’ll be at the upcoming hearing, and we’ll answer every false allegation with evidence. When we brought this 100-year-old building back to life three years ago, as a hotel a few blocks from Union Station and Coors Field to offer rooms at rates real people can afford, we committed to doing things the right way. We’ve kept that commitment through every inspection and every order, and we’ll keep it through this one. To our more than 30 employees, most of whom live in the neighborhoods around us: we’re sorry you’re going through this again, and we’ll get you back to work. To our guests and neighbors who’ve stood by us: thank you. The hotel is open, and we’ll see you soon.
Escudero added they will have the ability to plead their case to the city for why they should not have their licenses suspended. While a specific date has not been announced, Escudero said it would most likely happen in mid-September.
Escudero did mention that, as a second-time offender, it may be harder for Nativ to reopen.
"When we see repeat offenders who are violating liquor license laws, laws that regulate nightclubs, oftentimes those businesses aren't allowed to operate much longer in Denver," Escudero said.
While other licenses have been suspended for Nativ, the business's hotel license is still valid.
You can read the full Suspension Order below:
