Beer Works Withdraws Davis Square Liquor License Application ... For Now

By Chris Orchard

Beer Works, a Boston-area brewpub company that proposed to open a restaurant in Somerville’s Davis Square, has withdrawn it's application for a liquor license, according to Joe Slesar, Beer Works' owner.

Beer Works has presented plans to take over much of the Social Security Building at 240 Elm St., which has been vacant for years. Its liquor-license application was scheduled to go before the Somerville Licensing Commission Monday night.

Slesar said he's still "very interested in the space and being in Somerville," and he feels Beer Works would be "a great fit for the space and for Davis Square," but he expressed frustration about the permitting process in Somerville.

"We have run into some resistance," he said about the proposed Somerville Beer Works.

He said, "We're withdrawing [the liquor license application] at this point because we're not confident it would be approved."

Slesar felt his company had been misrepresented as a big, national chain, when it's actually a small, local chain, he said, adding, "We're not some big bad thing to come in there."

"It's fairly difficult ... to navigate the permitting process in Somerville," he said, adding later, "I am frustrated with how this process plays out."
Slesar said he knows "a lot of communities that would [welcome] with open arms a Beer Works."

He said, "I can't bang my head against the wall ... without light at the end of the tunnel."

The proposed Somerville Beer Works led to a difference of opinion among residents and businesses in the Davis Square area. Some felt Beer Works would be a good tenant in a long-vacant building, particularly since it was planning to renovate much of the the 45,000 square-foot space. Others felt a brewpub wouldn't be a good fit in a neighborhood that's already full of bars and restaurants.

Slesar said he didn't know what the landlord of the building–Michael Agiros–could do to fill it unless a company like Beer Works takes over the space.

He felt he "generated a lot of support" for the Somerville Beer Works proposal and answered concerns in a reasonable way.

At this point, "We're not sure what to do," he said.