After reaching an agreement with its Fells Point neighbors, an Ernest Hemingway-themed cocktail bar and eatery from Atlas Restaurant Group that’s in the works on Thames Street will be able to serve alcohol in its courtyard when it opens later this month.
Baltimore’s liquor board Thursday approved a request to expand the forthcoming eatery’s license to include the courtyard at 1704 Thames St., after being presented with a “Memorandum of Understanding” between those involved in the venture and the Fell’s Point Residents Association, outlining parameters relating to noise level, access and hours of operation.
Atlas CEO Alex Smith told The Baltimore Sun the new concept will likely open in the next 10 days, and will be named The Undefeated, after a short story by Hemingway.
The win for Atlas comes after a May hearing that drew objections from neighbors.
“It was just obvious that we needed to come to an agreement,” said Denice Ko, an attorney with the Community Law Center representing Fells Point residents, who attended Thursday’s liquor board hearing. “This property abuts residential properties … so there were a lot of special concerns from the residents.”
The Atlas bar will take over the building on Thames Street, as well as the attached courtyard, for a “Key West, Hemingway-style experience” with about 30 indoor seats, as well as outdoor table service, Smith told the board in May.
Smith and his brother Eric Smith, a co-owner of Atlas Restaurant Group, are nephews of Baltimore Sun owner David D. Smith, who is a partner in some Atlas restaurants.
At the May hearing, liquor board chair Albert Matricciani declined to hear testimony from locals concerned about the courtyard space, because the license application — which was ultimately approved — only covered the indoor area. A petition opposing the project collected 55 signatures, Ko said.
Alex Smith, who attended the May hearing, said at the time that he reached out to neighbors with a MOU and defended letters received by several residents from Atlas’ lawyer threatening legal action over their objections to the project.
The building and outdoor courtyard space have since been consolidated, and Ko told the liquor board that it had gained community support within the bounds of the MOU.
The MOU made between Darin Mislan, a part-owner who will be named on the license, Thames Street Venture, LLC and the Fell’s Point Residents Association is in essence the same as what was originally proposed to community members, Smith told The Sun on Thursday.
“We think that our investment down there will obviously better the neighborhood,” Smith said. “Of course we want to be good neighbors.”
The MOU stipulates that the courtyard cannot host live music and must limit the use of outdoor speakers for background music to the hours of 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. each day. The courtyard capacity is not to exceed the lesser of the limit set by the Baltimore City Fire Department, the number of dining seats or 80 people.
There will also be no courtyard access or service from The Waterfront Hotel at 1710 Thames St. for patrons. The courtyard can be open Sunday through Thursday from 12 p.m. to 9 p.m. with gates locked at 10 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 12 p.m. to 10 p.m. with gates locked at 11 p.m.
“This is what happens when owners and the community come together to sit down and work out the details,” said Peter Bodde, a member of the Fell’s Point Residents Association board. “Like everything, this is a compromise. But that’s what gets things done.”