Investor says shuttered RiNo winery’s equipment is ‘held hostage’ by landlord

An investor in a shuttered RiNo winery says he s just going after what s his and that its former landlord s position is just sour grapes Monty Cleworth a longtime executive at funding consulting firm Monticello Associates owned about of Infinite Monkey Theorem the winery that closed at the end of In February he mentioned he acquired its assets in exchange for paying off a loan The assets include inventory a canning line and rights to the brand which he insists are collectively worth But several months later Cleworth says his newly acquired possessions are being held hostage by IMT s former landlord at Larimer St The equipment and inventory belongs to me but the landowner will not allow us access to this equipment Cleworth who filed a lawsuit against building owner Son Power LLC on June informed BusinessDen Cleworth stated despite several attempts to reach Jonathan Palmer the man behind Son Power he has not heard back since mid-March He theorized that Palmer is holding the equipment as a sort of collateral because he s owed money by the winery In a lawsuit filed in November Palmer claimed the business paid rent in full through April then made partial payments through August before paying nothing after that On June a Denver District judge ruled IMT owes Palmer in damages for defaulting on its lease which is set to expire at the end of Palmer declined to speak on Cleworth s lawsuit saying his lawyers are still actively evaluating the states Infinite Monkey Theorem opened in Cleworth announced he made an equity resources in the business years ago which gave him the stake He later co-signed a loan from MidFirst Bank to get IMT a better rate he stated When the winery closed Cleworth declared he felt both financially and morally obligated to repay the debt As part of the deal the bank and IMT s board signed over to him the assets and equipment which were used as collateral for the loan Cleworth reported he left the physical property in the former IMT space because he and Nicki McTague the winery s former CEO were negotiating with a prospective buyer for the business We went to the landlord and stated Look we think we detected a tenant for you and we want to leave the equipment because they want to move in and keep making wine Cleworth announced noting that the landlord also had direct discussions with the feasible buyer We were doing everything in good faith trying to help them out The deal fell through in early March because the buyer couldn t finance it Cleworth commented Weeks later IMT was evicted They had a sheriff and movers on-site and they moved all of the stuff that they yearned to move onto the patio and gave us hours to do something with it McTague explained and smaller things like bar supplies and tables were left outside while inventory and winemaking equipment stayed They left a lot of items inside that were of value which they think they have a legal right to and Monty thinks he has legal right to added McTague the current Attimo Wine chief operating officer She started the position with the Denver winemaker in May We grabbed selected stuff that we could but then they just locked it down and announced You can t take all this equipment because we re upset that you re behind in rent Cleworth mentioned of the day Cleworth announced he has buyers lined up for several items plus the Infinite Monkey Theorem name But he s worried a dragged-out process of getting access to the stuff could scare them off Cleworth is also worried that Palmer could try to sell the materials if a new tenant moves in Related Articles Safeway union ends strike as deal nears on new contract Step aside department stores the doctors want that big box Former lawyer buys The Bookies half-century-old Denver bookstore Distressed Aurora office complex sells at auction for M Colorado among states to count win in funds for electric bus charging If they weren t going to try and sell and benefit from it financially why would they not give us access What s the logic there he solicited They re just going to hold it hostage and not give us anything Court documents show IMT s lease was personally guaranteed by winery founder Ben Parsons who left in He was initially named as a defendant in Palmer s lawsuit that resulted in the default judgement but paid Palmer to settle documents show Parsons argued that he wasn t liable for the full payment because he wasn t a part of IMT when the business renewed its lease at the end of Technically it is the business McTague declared of who s responsible for paying the order But the business folded and we have nothing There s no assets there s literally no money It would have to come from a guarantee It s a shame that we re in this she continued But I don t want to fault anyone for believing they are owed what they think they re owed Subscribe to our new food newsletter Stuffed to get Denver food and drink news sent straight to your inbox Get more business news by signing up for our Business activity Now 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