The Boston Licensing Board voted last week to cancel the liquor license for a still unopened restaurant at the 45 Province luxury high-rise project, as reported by the Universal Hub website.
45 Province spent $225,000 for a liquor license in 2008 in anticipation of finding somebody to operate the three-story restaurant included in the housing development. But the restaurant operator with whom the developers had been negotiating apparently has not gotten financing.
At a hearing last week, the developers asked the board for 90 more days to try to find an operator, saying that with the economy and Downtown Crossing both showing signs of recovery, they were beginning to get more inquiries into the space. They said they were even willing to reduce rents in an attempt to get a restaurant going, in part because condo buyers had been promised private access to the restaurant. Without a liquor license, finding somebody to open a restaurant there would prove even more difficult, they said, Universal Hub reported.
Board member Michael Connolly seemed willing to grant an extension, but members Nicole Murati Ferrer and Suzanne Ianella questioned the fairness of letting 45 Province continue to not use the license when there were other restaurants across the city that could use the license right away.
45 Province can appeal the board’s decision to the state Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission and, after that, file a suit in Suffolk Superior Court, so the board’s vote does not mean the license can actually be offered to another party.
