Brew Pub Scraps Plans For Burlington

BURLINGTON, MA -- Burlington Beer Works cited the departure of Busa Liquors, Roche Brothers and Bauer Hockey as the reason for their decision to abandon plans to open a brew pub in the Crossroads Shopping Plaza. The company received approval for a liquor license in 2016 to take over the space that has been vacant since Outback Steakhouse closed in 2015.

"Burlington Crossroads is in construction disarray," Paul Sporn, an attorney for Slesar Bros. Brewing Company, told selectmen Monday. "If my client had been open in February, as intended, he would have been sandwiched between two large construction sites and I believe he would be out of business right now."

Burlington Beer Works had agreed to open by February after selectmen threatened to revoke its liquor license for the lack of progress on the project. Sporn said the company is working with EDENS, which owns the shopping plaza, to transfer the liquor license to a different operator.

Over Sporn's objections, selectmen voted to have a revocation hearing for the license on September 10. Sporn had wanted the hearing pushed back until October so his client would have enough time to find an operator willing to take over the license.

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Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).