New liquor bill aims to create new opportunities for Boston’s minority-owned communities

Writer: Mirella Franzese

September 2024 — Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healy recently signed off on 225 new liquor licenses for bars and restaurants in the city of Boston, as part of the state’s larger initiative to address disparity in minority neighborhoods and boost the nighttime economy.

The bill also marks a turning point for alcohol regulation and licensure in Massachusetts — which received its latest revision in 2014 with the approval of a further 70 new licenses to the existing cap.

“These new licenses are not just business permits; they’re economic catalysts that will directly empower small businesses, especially in communities that have long been excluded from opportunities,” said Sen. Lydia Edwards, in a statement, just after the bill was passed.

Boston’s ‘antiquated’ liquor license system — born out of the Prohibition era in an effort to “prevent over-saturation of bars and address concerns about public safety” — has been subject to long-standing debate from both residents and policymakers over the last couple of years.

Only 1,400 liquor licenses are permitted in the city of Boston under the current quota, with just 2% of those belonging to Black business owners, according to State Sen. Liz Miranda.

A private market for buying and selling unrestricted licenses exists as a result of the shortage of supply. However, the price for a single license is liable to inflation and can balloon up to $600,000 dollars, which is unattainable for small business owners.

Preliminary reform to the state’s alcohol bill was contemplated as a ballot measure in 2022 before it ultimately failed to obtain approval and was discarded. City Councilor Brian Worrell later proposed a draft version of Governor Healey’s bill, which was abandoned in Aug. 2023. 

“At the end of the day, I hope to see a whole line of mom-and-pop shops with liquor licenses. That’s my vision,” Brian Worrell told the Boston Globe in May of this year. “This is an undeniable opportunity to grow the cultural scene in these neighborhoods and attract tourism dollars like never before.”

In September, the State House finally reached an agreement in recognition of the bias imposed by the present system towards minority-owned eateries and distilleries.  

“There are 60 to 90 license-holding restaurants in Back Bay and Seaport, mostly snatched up by restaurant groups that can afford them. And in Boston’s mostly low-income, BIPOC communities, like Mattapan and Roxbury, there are only a handful of license-holding eateries,” outlined in an article by Boston.com.

With the majority of all dining and drinking activities restricted to a handful of Boston’s neighborhoods, the city’s nighttime economy will continue to suffer, according to state Sen. Miranda.

“Lack of opportunity and access to licenses has stripped some of our neighborhoods from having successful restaurants and nightlife, a core tenet of thriving cities,” said Sen. Miranda in a statement. “Blue Hill Ave. was once a cultural mecca in our city with successful black-owned restaurants and nightlife, and I believe we can be that again.”

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Under Gov. Healey’s new bill, 195 of the total 225 permits will be restricted licenses; non-transferable and strictly designated to the 13 ZIP codes that make up Boston’s most underserved communities and neighborhoods: Roxbury, Dorchester, Mattapan, Jamaica Plain, Roslindale, Charlestown, East Boston, and the South End. An additional 15 licenses will be distributed to community organizations. 

“Neighborhood restaurants play such an essential role in our communities and our economy,” Healey said in a statement. “This bill will lower barriers for Boston restaurants to provide the services that our customers are looking for and help them succeed while also supporting local nonprofits, theaters and outdoor spaces.”

Despite promising to balance out the playing field for Boston’s minority-owned restaurants, there are some concerns that the law will impact the secondary liquor license market — which runs parallel to the current system.

According to Adam Barnosky, chairman of RIW’s Hospitality Practice Group, the new liquor bill could inflate the value of unrestricted licenses, which have historically appreciated in cost after the introduction of new licenses. 

“When the most recent batch of neighborhood restricted licenses were approved (in 2014), the value of unrestricted liquor licenses in Boston… increased between 20-30%…Unrestricted licenses continue to appreciate and retain market value due to their broad applicability and rarity,” said Barnosky.

“In the current situation, the issuance of 225 new neighborhood restricted licenses is expected to follow a similar trend. While these new licenses will increase much needed access, especially in underserved neighborhoods, their geographic limitations will likely preserve the value of unrestricted licenses, with minimal negative impact on the latter’s value over time,” he said.

For more information, please visit:

https://www.mass.gov/