Proposals for the restaurant at Rifle Creek Golf Course were due at Rifle City Hall at 2 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 28. Whoever wins gets a three-year lease with two possible one-year renewals, so five years is the most anyone can hold the space. That five-year limit is the most useful fact in the whole solicitation. The building's owner took the property seven months ago and is still carrying a capital repair list estimated at about $5.8 million. A lease that short, from a landlord with that much work ahead, favors the operator who can cover its costs quickly with little money spent on the space.
Five years is the most anyone gets
The City of Rifle's request for proposals asks for someone to lease and run the Rifle Creek Golf Course clubhouse restaurant and two motorized beverage carts. According to the InstantMarkets listing of the solicitation, the first term is three years, with two one-year renewal options after that.
The legal notice that ran in the Rifle Citizen Telegram on Sept. 29, Oct. 6 and Oct. 13 laid out the process. It appears in full on NoticeRegistry:
- The city's Parks and Recreation Department would apply a preference for local contractors when picking a concessionaire.
- A pre-proposal meeting at the golf course at 10 a.m. Oct. 14 was mandatory, and restaurant brokers were allowed to attend on behalf of current or prospective clients.
- Questions were due by noon Oct. 21 to procurement manager Iris Trevisano.
- Proposals had to arrive both electronically and as a sealed paper copy at Rifle City Hall, 202 Railroad Ave., Level 1, Rec Suite, by 2 p.m. Oct. 28. The notice said late proposals would not be considered.
BidNet's listing shows the solicitation was posted Sept. 18. That gave bidders about six weeks from release to deadline.
For anyone who has signed a private restaurant lease, the length is what stands out. Every dollar an operator spends on kitchen equipment, finishes or a reworked bar has to come back within that window. The deal also includes beverage carts, so part of the revenue depends on how many rounds are played, and that depends on the condition of the course.
The landlord has the bigger repair bill
The city officially took ownership of the course on March 31, 2026, the Post Independent reported. That purchase capped a process that began in August 2025. That month, the Rifle Creek Golf Course Board asked the council about the city taking over operations.
A Dec. 9, 2025 memo from Parks and Recreation Director Austin Rickstrew put the expected purchase price at about $1.2 million. That figure included water rights estimated at $969,000, which the memo described as senior in priority. The same memo listed what the property needed:
- About $5.5 million to fully replace an irrigation system serving roughly 78 irrigated acres, including design and pump house upgrades
- About $200,000 for HVAC replacement
- $30,000 for concrete repairs and ADA improvements
- Roof repairs, clubhouse improvements and tee box rebuilds on holes 14 and 16, with no separate price given
The clubhouse problems matter most to a restaurant operator. The building inspection cited in the memo found roofing fastener problems and soft spots, worn siding and flashing, weakened stairs and guardrails, signs of moisture getting in, electrical hazards, and damage to ceilings, walls and interior finishes.
The city has started on the irrigation work. In April 2026 it put out a request for irrigation design proposals covering design documents, cost estimates and bid documents. Bidding support and construction administration were made subject to future funding, and designers were told to keep the course open to the public as much as possible.
In a question-and-answer section of the same document, the city gave the expected construction start as "Tentatively 2027, depending on cost estimates and funding availability." It also calls for both a Phase 1 and a Phase 2 in the design. Any bidder had to price that timing in. A three-year concession awarded this fall would likely overlap the year the city's largest capital project is tentatively set to begin, and the design request does not say how much of the course will stay open during the work. The landlord's biggest expense has a tentative year and no firm date, and the work happens outside the one building the tenant actually leases.
What the interim lease looked like
The new lease will replace a short interim deal. On April 1, the council unanimously approved a commercial lease that moved food and beverage service from the city to The Rough Bar & Grill. The Rough handles restaurant service, beverage carts and event support. The Post Independent reported that The Rough would pay around $17,000 in total rent through the end of December.
From April through December 2026, that works out to an average of a little under $2,000 a month. That is the only rent figure on the public record for this space under city ownership. The RFP's own rent structure, whether a flat rate, a percentage of sales or something else, has not been made public in the listings.
The interim number is low for a reason. Mayor Clint Hostettler, who served on the golf course board, described the space's history at the September council meeting. "We struggled to get quality … they always started out really strong and then petered out," he said, adding that the board "actually tried to take the operation over ourselves for a few years." He credited the current operator: "We've had somebody up there for two solid years that's done a great job," according to the Post Independent.
By the mayor's account, the space's problem has been keeping an operator going after a strong first stretch.
Why the city put a working tenant out to bid
The Rough has operated at the course since August 2022. In early September the council voted 5–2 to open the space to competitive proposals anyway, with Hostettler and Councilor Michael Clancy voting no.
The case for bidding was about public ownership. "There needs to be an expectation that people should compete and they should have that opportunity to present their case based on competition," Councilor Alicia Gresley said, as reported by the Post Independent. She said the city, as owner, has a responsibility to make the opportunity available to the public. Hostettler's worry was that the city could issue the request and get no proposals. The Rough was free to submit its own proposal to keep operating the restaurant.
City Attorney Jim Neu told the council it would review the request and its terms before release. Both lease decisions this year, the April interim lease and the September decision to bid, went through council votes held in public.
Clancy, arguing against the bid, pointed to the Ute Theater and Events Center and the Brenden Theatre as examples of partnerships between the city and private operators. The Brenden deal is useful to compare against, because it was built very differently.
The Brenden lease is the city's other model
In January 2011, the council approved a ground lease with Brenden Theatre Corporation for a theater on city land. The terms as presented to the council are below. They describe the original 2011 deal. Whether any extension options were later exercised is not part of that record.
| Term | Brenden Theatre, approved 2011 | The Rough, interim, April 2026 | Golf course restaurant RFP, 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial term | 10 years | Through December 2026 | 3 years |
| Options | Two 5-year extensions | None reported | Two 1-year renewals |
| Longest possible run | 20 years | About 9 months | 5 years |
| Rent on record | $5,000 per month, 3% increase if an extension was exercised | About $17,000 total | Not published in the listings |
| Who built or owns the space | Tenant built the theater; building goes to the city when the lease ends | City-owned clubhouse | City-owned clubhouse |
Under the Brenden lease, the tenant also paid its own utilities and a share of common-area costs based on parking needs. The city maintained the common area.
The comparison shows how Rifle structures a deal based on who pays for the building. Brenden put up a building, so it got a term long enough to pay for it, and the city ends up owning the building. At the golf course, the city owns a clubhouse with a documented repair list and a course that needs new irrigation. The short lease keeps the city flexible while that work is planned and funded. For an operator, the low-risk way to bid on this space is one that depends on revenue from day one, not on remodeling the dining room.
Frequently asked questions
Could The Rough Bar & Grill keep the space? Yes. The Post Independent reported that The Rough could submit its own proposal to continue. Its interim lease runs through December 2026.
Does the lease include running the golf course? No. The solicitation covers the clubhouse restaurant and two motorized beverage carts. Rickstrew's December 2025 memo planned for the city to run the course itself, with two full-time employees and about 30 seasonal workers.
What does the local preference mean for an outside operator? The notice says the city will apply a preference for local contractors when selecting a concessionaire. The listings do not define "local" or say how much weight the preference carries. Bidders should get that from the RFP packet itself.
This post is general information about a public solicitation and lease records. It is not legal, tax or financial advice, so any operator weighing a city concession should check the terms with their own attorney and accountant.
If you run a restaurant and are deciding whether a short public lease or a longer private one fits your plans, we're happy to go through the numbers with you. C&E Group works through rent-to-sales and build-out payback with owner-operators across the valley, from Rifle Creek to Main Street. Connect with the C&E Team.
