Piccadilly Appears Finished
The landlords for the Piccadilly Pub restaurant chain have acquired its bank obligations and are seeking new tenants for the properties it occupied in Massachusetts, the landlords' attorney wrote in a letter to Auburn officials.
Mark Donahue, an attorney with Fletcher Tilton representing property owners William Martin and Jon Klaucke, said his clients are looking for new restaurants to lease the spaces of the now shuttered pubs in nine Massachusetts communities, including five in Central Massachusetts.
"It's more likely it'll be some other concept," Donahue said today in a telephone interview.
Martin and Klaucke founded Piccadilly Pub in 1981, growing the chain to as many as 15 restaurants. The two sold the chain to Repechage Investments Ltd. in 2008. There were nine restaurants remaining when the chain closed last month,
"Obviously, this is not the scenario Mr. Klaucke and Mr. Martin envisioned when they sold the businesses that they had dedicated much of their professional life in building," Donahue wrote in a March 8 letter to officials in Auburn, where a Piccadilly was located on Route 12.
Donahue wrote that Piccadilly chain operator Massachusetts Pub Group, a Repechage subsidiary, closed the restaurants on Feb. 5 without notice. But he said his clients have since acquired the MPG's obligations to its primary secured creditor, TD Bank, including a pledge of the alcohol license.
Donahue added that the property owners have spoken with three separate parties interested in some of the sites.
That's good news for Auburn, said Town Manager Julie Jacobsen.
"We're hoping we get a new restaurant operation in there," Jacobsen said. "It's a great location."
The Auburn Piccadilly applied to the state Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission to change the name of the restaurant manager listed on its liquor license, but was denied earlier this year because of back taxes owed to the state, Jacobsen said. The restaurant closed its doors soon after, she said.
MPG owes nearly $460,000 in back meals taxes, according to liens filed with the Worcester County Registry of Deeds.
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