REDD SEES RED OVER LICENSING
Blames closing on council
A restaurant owner in Roslindale is blaming the City Council for devaluing his liquor license — prompting him to shutter his business — because of its support for a proposal that would offer liquor licenses at reduced costs.
Charlie Redd, chef and owner of Redd’s in Rozzie, which opened in 2011, wrote in a Facebook post he was closing up shop because of the plan.
“This restaurant is closing because the largest asset of this business, the liquor license, is going to be devalued tremendously by a Boston City Council initiative led by Ayanna Pressley and supported by Roslindale Councilor Tim McCarthy to flood Boston with free liquor licenses,” the post reads.
“Our restaurant is profitable and popular. And I would like to continue to operate it for another 20 years,” Redd told the Herald yesterday. “It is devaluing my license . ... As the sole owner, and the license being sole asset for mortgages I have on the business, I feel I needed to sell it before legislation is voted on for the ordinance.”
Mayor Martin J. Walsh is backing a proposal — which must be approved by the Legislature — that would create 152 new liquor licenses in Boston over the next three years. State law currently limits Boston to 745 liquor licenses.
But McCarthy, who supports the initiative, called Redd’s claim’s “nonsense” and said that city records indicated that he bought the liquor license for $345,000 in a “turn key” deal and he’s selling it for $375,000.
“And that’s just the license. So how is that possibly hurting his license?” McCarthy said. “To blame the city or anyone else for the failure of his business is just nonsense.”
The proposed new licenses would be nontransferable, meaning a restaurant would have to return its license to the city instead of selling it on the open market if it goes out of business. But the new licenses will also cost far less than the sixfigure prices existing licenses go for on the open market, which opponents fear will lead to devaluation of current licenses.
Redd declined to discuss plans to sell his liquor license. He said in February he had a hearing to sell his liquor license and applied for but was denied a nontransferable license. Redd said his Roslindale restaurant will close mid-July. He declined to say if he has plans to open another restaurant.
But he said, “We’re not closing for any reason except this change in licensing. Anybody who is painting a different picture does not have any of the facts.”
Both Walsh and Pressley said in statements the proposal was meant to create equity and give restaurateurs a chance to open in the city’s neighborhoods that currently have fewer liquor licenses.