Danny’s Irish Pub finds favorable results at Ferndale council hearing

FERNDALE — Danny’s Irish Pub lived to see another day.

At a Ferndale City Council meeting on Aug. 26, the council moved to deny the transfer of a Class C liquor license for Miracle Mound LLC to the site of Danny’s Irish Pub, located at 22824 Woodward Ave.

The decision from the council came hours after it heard from residents, business owners and Danny Reedy himself on why the council shouldn’t grant the transfer.

Miracle Mound had been looking to rent the Woodward Avenue space and establish a business called Charlie’s Tavern at the site. According to Danny’s Irish Pub, Reedy was unaware that another business was looking to get a liquor license and trying to take the space.

Keith Malcolmson, Reedy’s son, said that Danny’s Irish Pub isn’t just a business — it’s a family legacy. Malcolmson said the Reedy family has continuously owned a business in Ferndale for more than 75 years.

“Our family and extended family have poured our hearts into creating a place where everyone feels welcome, and it’s been a privilege for us to see generations of patrons come through our doors,” he said.

Malcolmson believed there would be a negative impact in bringing a liquor license from outside the city into the city.

“I look in this room and I see the faces of the businesses that were named in their proposal (as neighboring businesses). These businesses are standing alongside us, not only because Danny’s is a part of the business community, but also for the negative impact it will have directly on their business as well,” he said.

“The devaluation of existing liquor licenses will happen,” he continued. “It will become, ‘Why buy a license in Ferndale … when you can just acquire a cheaper one from another city and move it in?’”

Among many of the other local businesses that spoke in favor of Danny’s, Howe’s Bayou owner Michael Hennes said there are not many places like Danny’s Irish Pub left.

“I’ve been a neighbor of Danny’s for 25 years, and I’ve been a patron before that. … It’s not polished, it’s not stylish, it’s just a good neighborhood bar,” he said. “It’s obvious to all that Danny’s has shown this commitment to keeping the bar running. Obviously, he shows his care for his employees and he’s provided a welcoming place for all the Ferndale community, and it’d be a sad day for Ferndale to lose an institution like Danny’s.”

Mark Karavite came to speak as the representative for the owner of the Woodward Avenue site, his mother Mary Pappas, under the name NMP Properties II LLC.

Karavite said he’s been managing the property for around 26 years, as well as the building that houses Imperial. He stated that for these two buildings, 100% of the rent pays for his mother’s assisted living care.

“We’re looking to secure the financial future for my mother, and I think one thing that’s important is that we’ve had conversations since 2019 about what is the future of Dan’s plans for the building and his business, and I was forced in May to make a decision,” he said. “We marketed the property in 2023. We listed it with a broker for lease with the hopes that possibly a buyer, or at least a prospect for us would also be a purchasing prospect for Danny because the business was for sale. That didn’t work out, but in May of this year, I had multiple proposals in front of me that I, you know, based on the timing of the lease ending in March of next year, it was time to make a decision.

“I didn’t have a proposal from Danny’s at that point,” he continued. “I certainly would have included that in my decision. I didn’t have an option, so I chose the best option that I had in front of me to secure my family’s future. So I think that’s something that’s not being said here. … I’m not on anybody’s side but my mom’s.”

Reedy said he was never notified about this issue and had no opportunity to discuss a proposal with the landlord.

“I don’t want to move out of Ferndale. I love Ferndale,” he said.

Danny’s Woodward site was listed with a broker in May 2023, and Karavite said he received an unofficial proposal from the pub last week.

Karavite stated there was a disconnect with Reedy regarding the broker, as they were under a contractual agreement that all negotiations for the lease were to be handled by the broker.

“In the past … I’ve always done it directly between myself, tenants and our respective attorneys, but when you list with a broker, you have a contract with them that they handle that,” Karavite said. “I think there’s a disconnect that Danny didn’t quite realize. He just said he didn’t realize it until we talked last week, but that was a year after he was notified that we listed with the broker.”

Reedy said last year he considered selling the business after losing some employees, but a conversation with his son led to Reedy wanting to stay at the bar. He said he didn’t realize the landlord had hired a broker to take care of the leasing.

“Once (Karavite) told me that, I submitted right away or at least a sketch of one, and I was still working on the legitimate one,” he said. “Then all of a sudden, I get this letter in the mail saying that there’s a liquor license that wants to go into where we’re at. I feel I was blindsided.”

The council voted 3-1 to deny the license, citing that there was no input from residents and surrounding business owners, including other Class C license holders; the potential impact the establishment would have on surrounding businesses and neighborhoods; the overall benefit of the plan to the city of Ferndale; and whether the applicant is a resident of Ferndale or if they currently operate a business in Ferndale.

Mayor Raylon Leaks-May told the Woodward Talk that, coming into the meeting, her mind leaned toward granting the license. It only was during the meeting and review of the criteria that she changed her mind.

“As the meeting kind of unfolded, information came to the forefront about the criteria and I started paying attention to that,” she said. “With Danny’s having been in the community so long, I thought we owed it to them to review that. … Originally, because I felt that protocol had been followed, there would have not been any reason to deny it. That information coming to the forefront changed my mind at the council table.”

“The fact that there were four (criteria to deny the license) and the fact that, to me, they were pretty significant, and then you add in Danny’s longevity in the community, I just felt it was my due diligence to really review that and think about it, and that’s how I kind of came to my decision,” she continued.

Council member Donnie Johnson was the lone member to vote no. He shared during the meeting his concern that the city was setting a dangerous precedent as a community for business owners.

“We can’t say that we’re going to select and be this selective when people meet the legal criteria because we don’t like the circumstances,” he said. “There are other businesses and there are other businesses who may want to come here and … when we set this precedent and say that we’re going to deny legally valid transfers and licenses, where does it stop, when do we stop saying no? When do we say yes and when do we not?” Johnson continued. “It’s extremely subjective.

“I know this is a very emotive subject and I know Danny’s here and I know this is hard, but what this is, is us doing a neutral thing as neutrally as we can, because if the community were to make the final decision on every decision this council makes, you would not like the state of the community, because we have a lot of different opinions,” he said.

A representative for Miracle Mound could not be reached at press time.

Reedy told the Woodward Talk that he was “very happy” with the council’s decision.

“They were very kind and helped us out here,” he said. “They’re protecting the businesses in Ferndale. That’s what they’re supposed to do, and they did it. We’re very happy with that.”

As Miracle Mound has a lease in place on the building, Karavite said during the meeting that if the license was not granted, it’s the prospect’s choice to proceed or not, but he indicated he would work with them.

Reedy said if Miracle Mound did try to get another liquor license, he would fight them on the matter.

“Where are they going to get it from?” he said. “It’s the same story as what just happened. They tried to get one from outside the city, replace an existing liquor license, and we’ll see how it goes. I heard a rumor that they were thinking about making me an offer on buying the bar, which would be fine. That’s what we were going to try to do in the first place, but we haven’t heard any offer come in yet.”