UPDATED – Doc Howard’s Lounge is losing its Old Town lease at 252 N. Mosley.
That much is clear, but not much else is.
When initially contacted about the situation on March 5, owner Bryan Shapiro said he no longer owns the business and referred calls to the new owner, which he said is his brother, Keith, who couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
Early afternoon on March 6, building owner Dave Burk said the Doc Howard’s lease is expiring at the end of the month and that he chose not to allow the business to renew it.
The bar has been a lightning rod for critics due to violence and other issues in and around it.
It sounds like there’s a chance the business is reopening elsewhere in Old Town, but Bryan Shapiro said he didn’t have any information about it.
Burk said he’s still considering what to do with the 26,000 square feet Doc Howard’s is leaving.
“Well, I can’t tell you for sure what I’m going to do with it. I’ve got some ideas,” he said. “I just know what I’m not going to do with it.”
That means, Burk says, the space “isn’t going to be a large bar with a lot of capacity.”
He says it’s possible the area could be divided.
“It’s something I’m looking at.”
Keith Shapiro called later to say he’s not the owner of the business. He wouldn’t say what his role is.
“I can’t tell you anything other than we have other plans for this building with Dave Burk,” Keith Shapiro said. “We’re reconcepting and doing something different with this whole building itself.”
He further said, “There is nothing happening with the business. We are doing other things.”
In a follow-up call with Bryan Shapiro, he said he forgot that he is the owner of the business.
“I’m just mentally retarded,” he said. “We got a lot going on.”
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