Entrepreneur with plans to reignite Caxton St has been evicted from two venues
An entrepreneur who had plans to reignite an entertainment venue has been locked out of Caxton St venues and another is under an eviction notice.
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AN entrepreneur, who has battled several civil suits, and has allegedly chalked up debts totalling more than $240,000, has been locked out of two high-profile Brisbane venues.
Glenn Gration, who has been named as either a respondent or defendant in more than a dozen civil suits in Queensland’s courts since 2003, has been evicted from Enzo’s & Sons on Caxton St and Los Villanos Mexican Kitchen at The Barracks.
An eviction notice was also recently spotted in the window of Ruby Tramp, of which Mr Gration is the licensee, while his former venue Lefty’s Old Time Music Hall was closed weeks ago.
Mr Gration had said that his plan was to reignite the entertainment precinct.
“I saw an opportunity on Caxton Street and the revitalisation of Brisbane’s music and dining scene is something I really wanted to be a part of,” Mr Gration recently told The Courier-Mail.
Enzo & Sons’ landlord Steve Seung told The Courier-Mail that he tired of sending rental payment demands to Mr Gration before he changed the locks in late November.
He said he was owed more than $48,000 in rent although that was offset by a bond he was holding for $27,500.
“He was my first tenant at Enzo’s. It was a bad first experience,” Mr Seung said.
Mr Gration had previously told T he Courier-Mail that he wanted to stagger the trading hours of each os his venues to avoid them competing with each other for the same consumer dollar.
“I have watched venues on Caxton Street compete with each other and my only goal was to stop them essentially sharing the same customer dollar, because this has not worked,” he said.
A week before Mr Seung changed the locks, The Barracks’ management took similar action to prevent Mr Gration of gaining access to Los Villanos.
The notice in the window of the restaurant stated that the lease held by Urban Entertainment No. 4 had been “terminated” and “the landlord has changed the locks to the premises.”
The Barracks’ management declined to comment.
Mr Gration was contacted for comment over the evictions, the future of Ruby Tramp and the reasons behind Lefty’s Old Time Music Hall being vacated in November.
A new tenant has apparently signed on for Lefty’s.
The evictions came six months after a lawsuit was filed by Tribe Workforce that claimed they were owed more than $160,000 for services provided to Lefty’s, Ruby Tramp and Enzo’s & Sons.
The licensees for the three Caxton St venues are all under different companies but all have Mr Gration as the sole director.
The District Court document alleges that Mr Gration was the guarantor for all three companies and liable for the debts, which total $163,956 plus interest.
“There is an ongoing dispute regarding allegations of overcharging,” Mr Gration told The Courier-Mail in September. “Both parties are in negotiations to resolve the matter.”
Mr Gration filed a defence with the court that he, and the three companies, will defend the case.
Also alleging they are owned money by Mr Gration’s venues are Queensland Private Security ($14,000) and Quickfire Firewood ($1,865).
Lightcore and UPLEC Solutions allege they are collectively owed $13,000 for work performed at Enzo & Sons and Ruby Tramp earlier this year.
Mr Gration claimed earlier this year his businesses suffered a setback when alcohol and cash went missing.
“The management of Enzo’s and Ruby Tramp has paid $2500 towards the outstanding invoices, of which there is an ongoing dispute,” Mr Gration said earlier this year.
In September, Mr Gration told The Courier-Mail that management had spoken with both Queensland Private Security and Quickfire Firewood and payment would begin soon.
Both Queensland Private Security and Quick Firewood have said no payment has been received.
In July, a Sydney Court made a default judgment against Arklow Pty Ltd, of which Mr Gration was the sole director, for $11,200 in favour of Coca-Cola Amatil (Aust) Pty Ltd for ‘goods sold and delivered’.
The court order was settled about a month ago, according to a Coca-Cola Amatil spokesman.
Mr Gration still lists a multimillion-dollar Gold Coast penthouse with ASIC as his address for Arklow Pty Ltd which held the lease for Lefty’s up until November.
The apartment was also the subject of a Brisbane Supreme Court order against a company which Mr Gration was the sole director in September 2014.
The default judgment in favour of the plaintiff, Spa Investments Pty Ltd, ordered that Signature Portfolio Management No. 4 Pty Ltd pay $1.502 million, which included liquidated debt and interest.
It also ordered that plaintiff recover the possession of the property, which has the same address that Mr Gration lists with ASIC, on MacArthur Parade at Main Beach.
“The matter from 2014 has been resolved,” Mr Gration told The Courier-Mail.
It’s not the only palatial Gold Coast property Mr Gration lists as his home address with ASIC.
He has nominated a waterfront property that sold for $2.21 million in 2018 in the exclusive Sovereign Islands gated community, as his address for another company.
Mr Gration, nor his companies, have never been listed as owners of the waterfront property within Sovereign Islands.
As for the future of Enzo & Sons, Mr Seung said he was now looking for a new tenant and they could literally move in tomorrow.
“It will take time to find new tenants, but its set up ready to go,” Mr Seung said.
“If they had a liquor licence they could open up as soon as they wanted.”
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