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Real Estate - Commercial

Downtown Bar To Serve Its Last Glass Before Next Glass Moves In

By Cece Nunn, posted Oct 17, 2014
Billy Batten, owner of downtown Wilmington bar Charley Brownz, said the bar's last night open will be Oct. 31. (Photo by Cece Nunn)
This year, when Charley Brownz shuts down after the hoopla of Halloween night, it's lights out permanently for the bar at 21 S. Front St. in downtown Wilmington.

The landlord did not want to renew the private club’s lease, bar owner Billy Batten said Thursday.

Even if Charley Brownz, which takes up about 3,200 square feet, had been able to continue leasing the property, Batten said, a shut-down for a certain number of months was invevitable because of planned renovations.

“I don’t begrudge them for doing what they’ve got to do to their building. It will end up being nicer,” Batten said.

Efforts to contact Brian Wallace of York Properties, the realty firm managing the building, to find out more about the work on 21 S. Front St. were unsuccessful, but building owner James Goodnight had said in a previous news release, “We have a bit of experience restoring historic buildings throughout Raleigh, and we’re looking forward to continuing our success in Wilmington.”

The building, which dates back to 1939 and is part of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, will undergo extensive renovations to accomodate the 11,000-square-foot headquarters of Next Glass, a Wilmington-based start-up that is developing an app to create personalized beer and wine recommendations for users. Next Glass will occupy the top two floors and is expected to move in this spring.

Tax credits offered for the rehabilitation of historic properties in North Carolina expire at the end of this year.

Opened in 1997, Charley Brownz was also a restaurant for a time. Batten bought the business in 2007 and found serving food extremely difficult, especially the need to make a certain dollar amount to comply with state rules. For an establishment that serves mixed drinks to stay out of the private club classification, which requires customers getting memberships, its food sales must exceed 30 percent of total food and alcohol sales, according to the N.C. Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission.

“If you’re just a small-time establishment that wants to offer some food, that’s lofty,” Batten said.

Charley Brownz has been operating as a private club and will be open 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays, through Oct. 31.

Batten said he’s been proud of the work he’s done at Charley Brownz. “We bought the business as the economy started to just crumble,” he said. “We managed to survive and come out on top a little bit. That’s what’s really sad about it, too – we’re closing down as a profitable business.”

But Batten, who lives in Wilmington with his wife and two young sons, says he has no hard feelings about the closing and is planning for the near future. He hopes to open another small business downtown and hire back at least four of the 14 part-time Charlie Brownz employees who are losing their jobs.

“Every good ride comes to an end,” Batten said.

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