More trouble surrounds a long-troubled West End address.
Just after The Enquirer reported that West End Sports Bar & Grill would open at 1726 Linn St. this summer, city officials revealed that the restaurant’s landlord had terminated its lease.
In response, the restaurant owner said involved parties are working to resolve the dispute and that he would try to buy the Linn Street building.
In the meantime, work on the West End Sports Bar & Grill – a project that has attracted the attention of prominent business and political leaders, along with city funding – is at a standstill.
“The city is going to stand with me on this,” said business owner Nick Johnson.
To that, city spokesperson Mollie Lair said: “Mr. Johnson cannot speak on behalf of the city.”
‘Lease has been canceled,’ letter says
Johnson has been working to renovate the 3,800-square-foot Linn Street site since about 2020.
“We want to bring the West End back to the prominent days,” he told The Enquirer during a March 9 site tour.
Two days later, Johnson received a reminder that building owner Matt King had terminated his lease.
“Because your lease has been canceled, neither you nor any contractors have a legal right to enter the premises,” the March 11 letter from King’s attorney said.
That letter followed two others. On Dec. 10, King told Johnson he owed $34,500 in back rent. On Jan. 7, King put the bill at $37,150 and said he was terminating the lease effective Feb. 28.
Neither King, the owner/operator of Cincy Beerfest, nor his attorney responded to multiple emails and phone calls requesting comment.
Johnson wants to buy building
In his March 11 letter, King offered to sell 1726 Linn to Johnson for an undisclosed price. Johnson remains liable for past due rent, the letter said.
Johnson said he is interested. “They responded to my lawyer, saying that they are willing to negotiate a price to sell the building,” he said.
The building, constructed in 1998 to replace a structure that dated to 1940, was worth about $141,000 in mid-2023, according to the Hamilton County Auditor’s last assessment.
Rent at $5,750 a month was due to start last July 1
Johnson was supposed to start paying rent for the restaurant on July 1, 2025, when it was supposed to open, according to the lease for the property. Rent was $5,750 a month for the first year, the lease said.
Johnson said he didn’t pay because King, who owns the building through Linn & Livingston LLC, did not send an invoice.
The letters demanding rent began arriving after King asked Johnson for a pre-renovation photo of the building, Johnson said. He did not provide it, he said.
Johnson said King wanted the photo – showing a less valuable asset – to use in his current divorce case. Sherri Barber filed to divorce King in February 2025, according to court records.
City paid $66K of $455K pledge
The city of Cincinnati has committed $455,000 to the West End Sports Bar & Grill. Johnson said the overall price tag will be about $800,000.
To date, the city has dispersed $66,397 of that, Lair told The Enquirer. It went to Kaiker Development & Construction for already completed work.
As to the balance, “there are no additional payments currently scheduled,” Lair said.
The city funded the project as a way to boost development in the West End. Next year, the city will begin remaking Linn Street, a project aimed at slowing traffic and enhancing safety on the street.
“Successful neighborhoods have successful business districts,” said Galen Gordon, president of the West End Community Council.
Gordon said he is rooting for the West End Sports Bar & Grill “as long as they have their business affairs in order.”
“Any business that receives city funding should have benchmarks and safeguards in place to protect the city investment,” he added.
Cincinnati City Council member Jeff Cramerding was against city spending for the project.
“I do not support the city injecting money into a private business,” he said.
In this case, “there were red flags,” he said, noting that Johnson originally won $320,000 in city funding, then won additional pledges of $65,000 and $70,000.
Frank’s and Parktown Cafe part of Linn Street history
In the past year, Johnson’s contractors gutted the building at 1726 Linn St. and painted the exterior orange.
In an earlier life, the building housed Frank’s, a meat and grocery store, and was last used for a mattress and furniture store. In between, it was a community gathering spot as Parktown Cafe, but also the site of a fire, a police scandal and a murder.
Johnson confirmed on March 26 that work on the building was “pausing during negotiations.”
King, his attorney, and former Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley, who is Johnson’s lawyer, are talking, Johnson said. Cranley’s office declined comment.
Asked about possible negotiations, the city also declined comment, through Lair.
“The city wouldn’t have information related to … what conversations might be occurring between these two parties,” she said.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Work on city-backed West End project paused over lease dispute
Reporting by Patricia Gallagher Newberry, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
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