CLEVELAND — The developer of the Flats East Bank project said it has terminated the lease for Play Bar & Grill following multiple incidents, including a Sunday shooting that happened near the business.
Flats East Development LLC said it warned the bar's owners in July that gun-related activity and violence violated the terms of the company's lease. In a written statement, the landlord cited "a number of incidents" that took place "at or near" the bar this summer.
The developer sent a second violation notice to Play Bar & Grill in August, after another incident. That's according to a statement issued by George Kimson, the president of Flats East Development LLC.
After Sunday's shooting in the area, the City of Cleveland boarded up the bar.
Police said there were multiple guns involved. Six people were injured. One of them was a man who was arrested in connection with the shooting.
Cleveland's law director explained the decision to close the bar at a press conference on Monday:
Now the landlord has cut the bar's lease short and taken back the corner retail space at West 10th Street and Front Avenue. On Thursday morning, a News 5 crew saw workers removing boards from the windows and doors.
"We have always worked with the City of Cleveland in order to provide a place where people can live, work and play without fear of danger," Kimson wrote in his statement.
Flats East Development LLC, which started out as a joint venture between the Wolstein Group and another local developer, built the 23-acre riverfront neighborhood and entertainment district.
Wolstein Group CEO Scott Wolstein died in 2022, at age 69. Now the ownership at the Flats East Bank is fragmented.
The Play Bar & Grill space is located in the first phase of the project, on a block that also includes the Aloft Cleveland Downtown hotel, the Oswald Tower office building, a gym and a few restaurants.
"Together with other property owners and numerous hospitality venues on the east bank, we look forward to continuing to work closely with the City of Cleveland and its safety services to address traffic and crowd concerns, and to ensure the best possible experience for the City, its residents, business owners, staff and visitors to the Flats," Kimson wrote on Thursday.
In addition to serving as president of Flats East Development, Kimson is the chief operating officer of Heritage Development Company, a real estate firm led by Iris Wolstein, Scott Wolstein's mother.
Play Bar and Grill owner's response to city
David Hill, one of Play Bar & Grill’s co-owners, said earlier this week that he was frustrated with the city’s decision to board up the bar. He acknowledged that the business called the fire department for help with overcrowding, but he said the shooting had nothing to do with them.
"I've never seen anything like this in the history of Cleveland, where you can just board up a place publicly, embarrass and lie on the business," Hill told anchor Damon Maloney.
RELATED: Play Bar and Grill co-owner pushes back after city boards it up
Hill said the shooters were not patrons of Play Bar & Grill.
“At no point were they in here,” Hill said.
Emily Ramirez, a bartender, said she was inside the bar when the shooting happened.
"People ran back into Play because it was somewhere safe," she said.
Ramirez said she is unaware of any incidents happening inside the bar. She she she has worked at the bar since it opened this spring.
She believes both the city's decision to shut down the bar and the landlord's decision to terminate their lease is racially motivated.
"In the flats, there is no other bar that is black-owned, at all," she said. "They are fabricating things. At this point, they cannot back it up at all."
News 5 Investigators requested police reports related to other incidents at the bar and more information about the shooting.
It has yet to receive the reports.
On Wednesday afternoon, a City Hall spokesperson pointed to language in the city's charter and its nuisance laws as grounds for taking swift action to board up the business.
"While unfortunate, this was necessary to uphold the community's safety and well-being - a decision made based on safety and safety alone, nothing else," the city representative wrote in an email.
