JP Morgan sues Luisa Hanson for $9.78 million

So now we know more about Ms. Hanson's reasons for filing for bankruptcy: JP Morgan Chase Bank has filed six different lawsuits against her, with claims totaling a cool $9,780,900. Plus interest and late fees.

The six suits correspond to six different properties that Ms. Hanson owns in the city; each of the properties has been placed under receivership pending further legal proceedings.

The complete list (click for court filings):

In four of the cases, several additional defendants are also included; these are Ms. Hanson's co-investors for these properties.

As far we can tell, Ms. Hanson refinanced much of her business in mid-2007; the loans for all these properties were issued around that time by Washington Mutual Bank. The assets were then taken over by JP Morgan in late 2008 when they purchased the sad remains of WaMu. Ms. Hanson apparently defaulted on all the six loans in February or March of this year.

This is of course not the whole story—as we reported yesterday, Ms. Hanson also faces claims from a long list of other creditors. We boldly predict that this will end badly.

Luisa Hanson files for bankruptcy

On May 22, 2009, Ms. Luisa Hanson filed for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11. She is filing as an individual, stating that her liabilities are in the range $10,000,000 to $50,000,000 and that there will not be any funds available to cover unsecured creditors. Given that she has less than $50,000 in assets, that makes mathematical sense.

In her filing, she states that she has up to 100 creditors; the not-yet-complete list includes:

American Express
Bank of America
Californa State Board of Equalization
Franchise Tax Board
IRS, Department of the Treasury
JP Morgan Chase Bank
San Francisco Tax Collector
Wachovia
Washington Mutual
Her home owners association

The full filing is available here.

We'll be back with more when we have fully digested this snippet of information, and as more facts become available.

When It Rains

Photo: Eater SF

Changes certainly are afoot in the Hanson Empire. ~~Days after she put “For Lease” signs up at the The Front Room and The John Barleycorn spaces, the Front Room switches status to “For Sale.”~~ Scratch that. The Front Room is back to “For Lease” status. Oh well.

What's more, Ms. Hanson is now also selling Mama Mia Pizzeria (above), the ill-fated wine bar concept she once fought so hard to open. That was then; as reported by Eater SF, her alcohol license is now being revoked for non-payment.

Readers with long memories and sharp eyes will notice one interesting twist: The real estate agent listed on the poster above is the very same man who handled the transaction when Luisa first moved in at 1785 Union: “The best possible spin you can put on it is that she was unethical.”

Finally, there are also rumors surrounding her acquisition on Lombard Street, the location of the much-loved Cafe Maritime. We'll keep you posted.

Two Obituaries

It appears we can celebrate the timely demises of two horribly ill-conceived business ventures. The “For Lease” signs have gone up on both 1500 California and 1415 Larkin, aka the old Front Room and John Barleycorn spaces.

In other words: Ms. Hanson has given up on establishing her own businesses in those two spaces. It's taken a while to arrive at this long overdue insight: The Barleycorn closed in October 2007, and the Front Room was evicted in March the same year. Untold sums have gone into not-always-legal construction work, and the loss of revenue must have hurt.

At this point, it's still an open question whether or not the property actually remains on the same hands. But a boy can dream, no?

Here We Go Again

Mama Mia Pizzeria, formerly La Vinoteca, has finally opened its doors to the unsuspecting public. Whether or not patrons can actually order the advertised salmon pizza is unclear, though; the posted menu is accompanied by a “Pizza Cook Needed” sign.

Bonus: Ms. Hanson also posted a photo of herself and Guy Fieri, TV personality and head of the Knuckle Sandwich Kulinary Krew.

Not being experts, we're going to assume that this actually is a valuable endorsement.

Steady As She Goes

Things seem to be moving at a leisurely pace on Union Street these days. Ms. Hanson closed La Vinoteca in January and promised to reopen as La Piñata Rica, Movida Mexican Grill, Mamma Mia Pizzeria really, really soon.

But it looks terribly quiet over there, despite the previously-announced March 5 grand (re)opening. As expected, there is no Fictitious Business Name registered for 1785 Union, although Ms. Hanson does have Mamma Mia Pizzeria registered at 1009 Guerrero St., the location of her other stuck-in-neutral venture, La Vinoteca II.

All is quiet on the Eastern Front (a.k.a. the old John Barleycorn and Front Room spaces) as well. Guess all those protests against her liquor license applications were not according to plan. Whatever the plan may be.

Oh, the humanity

Imagine our surprise: Luisa Hanson's brilliantly conceived wine bar concept on Union St, La Vinoteca, has closed. Less than three quarterly reports after its grand opening, Ms. Hanson has thrown in the napkin and is promising a “new beginning”; 1785 Union St. will soon be known as the Gourmet Mexican restaurant La Piñata Rica. The resurrection is apparently scheduled for Feb. 5.

As those of you with long memories will recall, Ms. Hanson fought long, hard, and—reportedly—dirty for this venture. Business never was very brisk, however; whether that's a sign of the times or a result of Ms. Hanson's declining prestige in the City and County is left as an exercise for the reader.

It'll be interesting to see what this means for the sibling venture on Guerrero St., La Vinoteca 2. Apparently stuck in neutral after numerous tiffs with the city, it does still have a pending application for an alcohol license.

At this point in history, the only thing that would surprise us is success.

Call for Immediate Action

It took a year, but Luisa Hanson doesn't give up quickly. Nor does she take business advice. Under the corporate name “Torre Del Grego,” Luisa is applying for a beer and wine license “1500,” the old Front Room, and a full license at “Duffy's,” the now-legendary Barleycorn.

True to Hanson-form, even the application is, uh, well, sort of strange. On the California Secretary of State's website, Torre Del Grego's status is shown as “suspended.” From the glossary of terms: “Suspended: The California corporation has lost all rights and powers for failure to meet statutory filing requirements of either the Secretary of State's office or the Franchise Tax Board.“

Regardless, Ms. Hanson must perform a notification mailing to residents within 500 ft. of her building, for each application, for the licensing process to proceed—the ABC confirmed that today. As far we know, only one person has received such a notification.

The ABC also does a notification mailing of its own, to residents within 100 ft. They did several of these mailings, some to residents further than 100 ft., on several dates. Each of the ABC mailings has a different deadline for responses.

That's why we're calling for protests now. By Wednesday, Jan. 14th.

If you live within 500 ft. of the property and have not received a notification from Ms. Hanson, you should also complain. Please contact Joan Bernandino, ABC Licensing Representative: (415) 356-6500 for information on how to proceed.

The good news is that the Barleycorn Coalition has already been in touch with the Lower and Middle Polk neighborhood associations and with Supervisor David Chiu, and they are firmly opposed to the licenses.

Here's the e-mail we sent to the Barleycorn Survivors mailing list. If you would like to protest and need a form, please visit the Links section on this site. Or you could search for ABC Form 510A on the Sec'y of State's website.

Slipping?

Remember last December, when Ms. Hanson so convincingly flunked her health inspection at her flagship Luisa's? Remember the hilariously low score of 64? After some hurried “remodeling,” she received a passing grade of 86—good, not great—on the second inspection.

This year's inspection reveals a trend in the wrong direction. Ms. Hanson knocks off a couple of points to finish at 84; in itself not a dramatic drop, perhaps, but the details may be of interest to anyone considering Luisa's for a night out:

Lack of Food safety knowledge: no food safety certification
Facility does not have a food safety certified person; food workers unknowledgeable of food safety and practices relative to their duties.
Improper hot/cold holding temperatures
Potentially hazardous food shall be held at or below 41/45°F or at or above 135°F.
Floors, Walls, Ceilings Improperly constructed, in disrepair, not clean
Improper construction and materials; in need or repair or cleaning; improper floor coving for floor-wall juncture.
Thermometers Required
An accurate easily readable metal probe thermometer suitable for measuring temperature of food shall be available to the food handler.
Improper Storage/Identification/Use of toxic substances
All poisonous substances, detergents, bleaches, and cleaning compounds shall be stored separate from food, utensils, packing material and food-contact surfaces.

Buon appetito.

Those That Remember

In commemoration of the one-year anniversary of the close of the John Barleycorn, three men went to the site and posted a note with a very clear message: “We take a stand to not set a single toe inside the building we once held dear.”

Click here for a larger photo.

The full text:

27 Oct.-2008
On this, the anniversary of the Barleycorn's demise, we the concerned residents of this fine neighborhood and former patrons of that establisment of whiskys, ales and such, wish to commemorate a bygone era. Neighbors, friends + visitors, it is our great honor to remind you all of the good times fueled by friendly banter and consumption of the many libations our kindly proprietor would supply us. It is also a caution we wish to impart; beware of the claims absentee landlord's make upon your wallet. Those that wish to take our solicitousness as a given will find themselves sadly without as we take a stand to set not a single toe inside the building we once held dear. Our hard earned dollars will be exchanged for punch and other such beverages at various locations throughout our fair city, but never again at 1415 Larkin Street. We ask all that chance to read our humble note to sit with us as we cheer that man, John Barleycorn, at whatever OTHER haunt we see fit.

If Ms. Luisa Hanson nurses any hope that time will heal all wounds, it appears she will have wait a little longer. Make that a lot longer.

Italian Combo

Two recent reports on All Things Luisa form an interesting duet: Luisa Confidential recently reported that she doesn't have a Ficitious Business Name for La Vinoteca on Union, whereas Eater SF reports that things may not be going so well over there in Cow Hollow.

What's a Hanson Fan to do? We humbly suggest that you first call or email the County Clerk's office (415.554.4950 / county.clerk@sfgov.org) and complain about the blatant violation of rules and regs; then head over to Union Street and watch failure in progress.

Plan B?

Well, this is odd. Luisa has removed the alcohol license application notice from the window at 1500 California. While it's too early to declare victory, her plans for the old Front Room decidely have switched to the slow lane. To wit:

She is required to send a mailing to everyone within a 500-foot distance of the establishment. Which she hasn't done.

She is required to publish a notification in a newspaper of general circulation. Which she hasn't done.

The Dept. of Alcholic Beverage Control did its own required mailing to residents within 100 feet of 1500 California, and sent a letter to Ms. Hanson advising her of the mailing requirement on her part, as well as alerting her to the fact that there is a “large and well-organized opposition” to her application.

Good luck trying to figure out what The Hanson is thinking, but if she decides to comply with the notification requirements, a brand new 30-day complaint period kicks in. Simply tearing down the public notice from the window does not change that. Which means that said large and, ahem, well-organized, opposition will have another month to present its case.

It's worth noting that this is by no means unique in the Luisa saga. Public records show that Ms. Hanson has applied and withdrawn many liquor license applications, presumably in the face of public opposition.

We'll find out soon enough if this merely is an attempt at avoiding more protests or if it actually represents a change of plan. There is a deplorable shortage of nail salons on that block.

City Slaps Stop Order On La Vinoteca II

Photo: Eater SF

The southward expansion of Ms. Hanson's empire ran into trouble this week when City building inspectors finally had had enough and ordered her to stop all work on La Vinoteca II, the 1007 Guerrero sibling of her recently opened wine bar on Union Street.

After neighbors filed complaints (here and here) about the establishment's new awning, Luisa had the covering removed but left the framework intact. This didn't quite cut it with the Department of Building Inspection:

Obtain a permit with city planning approval for installation of an awning or remove the framework altogether.

The rogue awning may have just been the last straw, however; according to Eater SF (thanks again, guys) there are at least five active violations at the site. Taxing DBI's patience is a questionable strategy at best, especially for someone with Ms. Hanson's track record.

Fun fact: Luisa apparently removed the posted stop order. That's a big no-no, says the San Francisco Building Code:

It shall be unlawful for any person to interfere with the posting of any notice provided for in this code, or to tear down or mutilate any such notice posted by the Department.

This could get interesting.

Get Used To It

Photo: Barleycorn Survivors

The graffiti adorning 1500 California isn't pretty, but you might as well get used to it; Ms. Hanson's application for an alcohol license apparently isn't going anywhere anytime soon, and the same seems to be true of the artistes.

Some of the “artwork” seems to be almost impossible to remove, so she'll most likely have to replace the panes. Ms. Hanson is, however, required to take care of it as quickly as possible: “It shall be unlawful for the owner of any real property within the City and County bearing graffiti to allow the graffiti to remain on the property.”

Unless you think this is the greatest thing since the Sistine Chapel, you may want to follow this link and file a complaint. No personal info is required.

Her Expanding Universe

Photos: Eater SF, The John Barleycorn Coalition

After months of intrigue and suspense, La Vinoteca finally opened last night. As ye faithful will know, this is her new wine bar venture on Union Street, the result of prolonged, um, discussions that led Ms. Hanson's own real estate agent to describe her actions as “unethical at best.”

Celebrations may be premature, however: Eater SF reports that patrons largely ignored this glorious occasion and left Queen Pyrrhus to savor her victory in solitude.

This may not bode well for La Vinoteca II, rumored to be in the works at 1007 Guerrero (right, above), one of her many revolving-door properties around the city. As far as we can tell, this is very much in the early stages—no application has been filed for an alcohol license yet.

However, if you live in the neighborhood, you may need this and this.

Update: Trouble already in the Mission. Neighbors are protesting her new awning, according to Eater SF.

Los Angeles Values

Photo: Robert Durell / Los Angeles Times

Today's LA Times put the plight of the 'Corn on the front page, including a picture of a certain Mr. Ayre. The reporter even got a quote from her:

“We didn't want to throw him out,” she said of Ayre. “I like tradition.”

As do we. Like, say, pizza places that have around since 1959.

Update: At last count, this story had been picked up by the SF Daily, the SF City Star, the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, the Monterey County Herald, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Chicago Tribune, the Orlando Sentinel, the Baltimore Sun, and a Wall Street Journal blog.

“She's a Shark”

Photo: Yelp

It's confirmed: she has bought 2417 Lombard St., home of Café Maritime. As is her wont, she immediately informed the proprietor, Mark Mitcheltree, that his lease would not be renewed. Says Mitcheltree after his first taste of Ms. Luisa Hanson: “She's a shark.”

However, it appears that she may have neglected to read the fine print before signing on the dotted line this time around. According to Mitcheltree, Ms. Hanson was under the impression that the liquor license—of the coveted type 47—belonged to the location and not his just-evicted business. When she discovered that this was not the case, “Luisa was furious.”

Another familiar fact: she overpaid for the building. Again.

“Unethical at Best”

Original photo: Yelp

While the Skipjack Sushi / La Vinoteca deal finally did go through, it didn't happen without some collateral damage to her reputation. Peter Mikacich, the real estate broker who represented her in the transaction, is less than enthusiastic about his experience: “The best possible spin you can put on it is that she was unethical,” Mikacich tells us.

Despite getting a very nice discount on the transaction, she kept coming back to both the previous owners and the real estate agent with new and ever increasing demands. “Frankly, it was a very tough transaction,” says Mikacich. “She extracted her pound of flesh from everyone involved. I don't want to get involved with her again.”

We couldn't agree more.

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