Denver Couple Seeks Approval to Revive Historic Yates Theater

After nearly a year of community engagement, the couple's plans for a 200-300 seat movie theater face a key zoning hurdle next week.

Published on Mar. 2, 2026

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Macy Lao and Kyle Hagan, a Denver couple, have been on a nearly year-long journey to get city approval to revamp the old Yates Theater in the city's Berkeley neighborhood, which has sat vacant for decades. The couple originally set out to open a bar in the historic building, but Lao said she was inspired to turn it into a movie theater instead. They are currently working with a local architecture firm to design the project, which would seat 200-300 guests and feature a bar. However, the couple faces a key zoning challenge that limits arts and entertainment venues in the district to 100 seats, requiring them to seek a variance at a hearing next week.

Why it matters

The fate of the Yates Theater has been a long-standing issue in Denver, as the city has lost many historic architectural gems over the years. Lao and Hagan's plans to revive the theater and turn it into a community-focused entertainment space have generated excitement, but the zoning hurdle they face highlights the challenges of preserving and repurposing older buildings in rapidly changing urban areas.

The details

Lao and Hagan have been working with the Denver architecture firm UNUM Collaborative to design their plans for the Yates Theater, which would feature a 200-300 seat movie theater with a bar inside. They want to show classic and fan favorite films, essentially operating a retrospective cinema. However, the couple has faced a major obstacle in the form of a zoning code that limits arts and entertainment venues in the district to 100 seats. To move forward with their plans, Lao and Hagan must seek a variance from the Board of Adjustments at a hearing on March 10th.

  • Lao and Hagan have been on a nearly year-long journey to get city approval for their plans.
  • They originally set out to find a building to open a bar in June 2025.
  • The Board of Adjustments hearing on the variance is scheduled for March 10, 2026.

The players

Macy Lao

A Denver resident who, along with her husband Kyle Hagan, is currently leasing the old Yates Theater property and seeking to revamp it into a 200-300 seat movie theater.

Kyle Hagan

Lao's husband, who is working with her on the plans to revive the Yates Theater.

UNUM Collaborative

The Denver architecture firm working with Lao and Hagan to design the plans for the Yates Theater renovation.

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What they’re saying

“The city lost so much of its great architecture; how on earth did this place manage to slip by?”

— Macy Lao (CBS News Colorado)

“As soon as we, well, at least particularly me, walked into this building, I said, 'I don't want to run a bar. I want to run a theater.'”

— Macy Lao (CBS News Colorado)

“We want to air classics and fan favorites, essentially, the technical word for it would be retrospective, but anything that isn't in first run and has that go back to its original usage as a movie theater.”

— Macy Lao (CBS News Colorado)

What’s next

On Tuesday, March 10, Lao and Hagan's journey to get approved for a variance to increase the seating capacity beyond the 100-seat limit meets its final leg. The Board of Adjustment hearing will determine whether they are granted the variance to move forward with their plans for the Yates Theater.

The takeaway

The fate of the historic Yates Theater highlights the ongoing challenges of preserving and repurposing older buildings in rapidly changing urban areas like Denver. Lao and Hagan's plans to revive the theater into a community-focused entertainment space have generated excitement, but the zoning hurdle they face underscores the need for flexible policies that can accommodate adaptive reuse projects and support the preservation of a city's architectural heritage.