The restaurant that once “boogified” the Aspen core real estate landscape and served affordable dining to locals as well as celebrities such as Bill Clinton and Donald Trump has now closed its doors for good. Leonard “Boogie” Weinglass, owner of the Merry-Go-Round clothing retailer opened Boogies restaurant in 1987. Opening during the end of the Reagan era, Boogie’s Restaurant featured a 1950s-style diner complete with a clothing and memorabilia store on the main floor, along with a handful of complaints. Several Aspen locals disapproved of the atrium that towers the corner and felt as if the “boogification” had gone too far. In 2012, Weinglass handed Boogie’s over to new ownership and in May 2015, he handed over the keys to the building as well. Despite the last stitch effort in ownership, Weinglass sold the building and closed Boogie’s for good at $27.5 million. The restaurant that long outlasted others in Aspen such as Hard Rock Café and Planet Hollywood has served its last dish.
The future of Boogie’s will transform the second floor classic-style diner into a luxury condo. Although the building of a third story penthouse was approved in 2013, it is anticipated that the change in ownership will prompt the erection of the third story. The 12,499 square foot space at 534 East Cooper captures the luxury of living in Aspen core real estate with its breathtaking atrium, priceless location in the heart of Aspen and its personal niche in the City’s rich history. With the closing on May 21, 2015 following an exhaustive lawsuit over whether a real estate commission was owed to a broker, followed the closing of the longest-running restaurants in recent Aspen history. Although the new building will have ground floor commercial, the new extravagant second and third story penthouse will be a stark change to the vibrant Boogie corner on Cooper Avenue in downtown Aspen.