McGlinchey’s Bar is back on the market as Center City’s pub scene continues to shift

Center City’s tavern landscape is shifting again.

The building housing the shuttered McGlinchey’s Bar is back on the market after a planned sale fell through. Chef-restaurateur Townsend “Tod” Wentz wants to sell the Hayes, the American tavern he opened in the former Irish Pub building on Walnut Street near 12th. And Cherry Street Tavern, another historic watering hole whose owners announced plans to sell earlier this year, appears close to finding a buyer.

The biggest surprise may be McGlinchey’s.

In April, Alterra Property Group confirmed that it was under agreement to buy the building at 259 S. 15th St., home to McGlinchey’s for more than 90 years before the dive bar closed in summer 2025. But Leo Addimando, Alterra’s cofounder and managing partner, said Wednesday that the company “decided not to proceed.”

The building is listed by Nadia Bilynsky and Dennis Carlisle of MPN Realty at $2.45 million. The offering includes the liquor license, two bars, a stage, a small kitchen, and a shell-condition third floor. The property, which occupies nearly 5,000 square feet, is being marketed as a turnkey bar-restaurant opportunity or a redevelopment site.

A few blocks east, another familiar address is available.

Wentz has listed the Hayes, his 268-seat American tavern at 1123 Walnut St., through Veronica Blum and Joe Scarpone at MPN with an asking price of $2.93 million. City records show that it sold for $2.3 million in 2019.

Wentz said he intends to keep the restaurant open until a sale.

Wentz said the decision reflects a personal shift after years of expanding his restaurant group with his wife, Gordana Kostovski. “I want to take advantage of the increase in the real estate market,” he said. “I think it’s time to capitalize on some things and put some money to work elsewhere in my private life.”

“I just kept opening restaurants instead of buying a shore house or buying a bigger home,” said Wentz, 58. “I don’t want to go into my 60s with that same mindset.”

The Hayes occupies one of Center City’s best-known tavern addresses.

Richard and Catherine Burke opened the Irish Pub there in 1980, bringing with them the concept they had established in Atlantic City. For nearly four decades, it was a gathering place for lawyers, police officers, theatergoers, and neighborhood regulars, known for its carved wooden back bar, inexpensive food, and walls covered with framed newspapers and playbills.

When longtime operator Mark O’Connor closed it in July 2019, he said he wanted to focus on the second Philadelphia Irish Pub location, at 2007 Walnut St.

Wentz bought 1123 Walnut later that year, briefly opened Pearl Tavern before the pandemic derailed those plans, then renovated the property and reopened it as the Hayes in 2023. He owns Oloroso next door as well as Caribou Café across the street, A Mano in Fairmount, and Oltremare in Rittenhouse. A sixth restaurant, Townsend on East Passyunk, is closed pending repairs from water damage after a fire next door in May.

The listing includes the 6,776-square-foot building, restaurant equipment, liquor license, and outdoor seating. The restaurant occupies the first two floors, while the upper levels contain office and unfinished space. The through-block property extends from Walnut Street to Moravian Street.

The Hayes’ listing is the latest chapter in a broader reshaping of Center City’s pub scene. Over the last two decades, Philadelphia has lost a number of big names: Downey’s at Front and South Streets closed in 2016 after four decades. Finnigan’s Wake, the sprawling multilevel pub at Third and Spring Garden Streets, closed in 2014 and is now GoPuff’s headquarters. In 2020, the pandemic led to numerous shutdowns, such as Manny Brown’s at 512 South St. and the Bards at 2013 Walnut St.

The sister Irish Pub at 2007 Walnut St. also never reopened after the pandemic. Earlier this year, restaurateur Dan Tsao, owner of EMei, purchased the property for a future hospitality project. One of the remaining stalwarts, the Black Sheep at 17th and Latimer Streets, was closed by a fire in May, though owner James Stephens said he hopes to reopen by Christmas.

Meanwhile, Cherry Street Tavern, whose owners announced plans to sell earlier this year, also appears headed toward new ownership. A manager told The Inquirer on Wednesday that a sale is believed to be close, though no agreement has been announced publicly.

Meanwhile, the longtime Bonner’s Irish Pub’s future is secure, said owner Danny Bonner, who opened at 23rd and Sansom Streets in 1994.

Bonner, 71, put the building on the market in 2024, hoping to attract a developer. Instead, he struck a deal with the owner of the property next door to pursue an apartment project that would incorporate a new Bonner’s into its lobby.

Bonner said one preliminary plan calls for a roughly 3,200-square-foot Bonner’s, about 900 to 1,200 square feet larger than the current pub. There is no timetable for the development, whose price tag Bonner estimated at $45 million to $55 million. The existing bar will remain open until construction begins.

“Where I’m located, we’re fortunate,” Bonner said. “We get professionals, union guys, and loyal neighborhood customers.”

Bonner hopes the project will allow the bar to outlast him.

“You have to leave some kind of legacy,” he said. “We’re losing too many mom-and-pop operations. All these big franchises are coming in. Philadelphia is still a city of neighborhoods, and we’re losing that. My customers walk in, and while I don’t know every single one, I probably know 70% of them by their first name.”

Staff writers Mike Newall and Jake Blumgart contributed to this article.