Biography | Brian Niccol — The March Morning Denver's Burrito Chain Named Him Chief

Chipotle did not promote from inside the burrito line.

On 13 February 2018 the Denver-based company announced that Brian Niccol would become chief executive and a director on 5 March.

Founder Steve Ells would become executive chairman.

The PR Newswire release carried a Denver dateline.

Chipotle's Form 8-K filed two days later attached the 11 February offer letter and the same start date.

He was 43 in that filing.

The headquarters that issued the release sat at 1401 Wynkoop Street in Lower Downtown, with extra floors at 1515 Wynkoop.

Chipotle had occupied 1401 since late 2007.

In December 2017, before Niccol arrived, the company had signed a 15-year lease for five floors at 1144 Fifteenth, a new tower a few blocks east.

That Denver consolidation never became his story.

On 23 May 2018 Chipotle announced it would close the Denver headquarters and move corporate functions to Newport Beach, California, with shared services in Columbus, Ohio.

BizWest later recorded that Zayo leased the vacated 1401 Wynkoop building.

Nominatim now files the address as apartments.

The pin is the LoDo block that was still headquarters on his first day, not the California office he later chose.

A visitor should not expect a Chipotle museum here.

Photo: portrait from June 2023, Phi Delta Theta, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.