Hundreds packed the shuttered Ashes Cigar Bar Tuesday to bid on anything and everything on the auction block. (Photo by Dustin Racioppi; click to enlarge)
By DUSTIN RACIOPPI
At a public auction for the assets of Ashes Cigar Bar, the owners of Red Bank’s Dublin House bought the defunct nightclub’s liquor license for $395,000 Tuesday.
While that was the biggest ticket item on the block, hundreds of restaurateurs, workout vultures and spectators filled the Broad Street space to place bids on everything from barstools to kitchen equipment to bottles of wine.
Nearly everything was up for auction, including alcohol left over from the club. (Photo by Dustin Racioppi; click to enlarge)
The popular if controversial bar and restaurant was shut down in July by a court-appointed receiver, Red Bank attorney Bunce Atkinson, after the state Alcohol Beverage Control division suspended the license because there were undisclosed parties holding interests in it, a violation of state law.
Since the suspension, Atkinson has agreed to a settlement with the ABC in the amount of $127,000, to clear the license. That settlement must be approved by Superior Court Judge Thomas Cavanagh, likely around January or February, he said.
The proceeds from the sale of the license and other assets sold at the auction will go to Atkinson, who will use the money to pay fines levied by the ABC and a settle a number of lawsuits filed against the club, he said.
It isn’t known yet what Dublin House owners Eugene Devlin and Sean Dunne intend to do with the license once it is cleared. Neither could be reached for comment.
The sale of the license also raises questions as to what will happen at the space Ashes occupied. Building landlord Jack Anderson, who recently purchased Oakbridge Tavern’s liquor license “just in case,” has said several interested tenants have toured the spot, but at the same time, he’s said nothing is a done deal until “five minutes after the contract is signed.”
Anderson wouldn’t comment Tuesday afternoon on any current plans for the space.
