Vacant Hofbräuhaus restaurant in downtown St. Pete sold for $7.1M
By Breanne Williams
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Dec 22, 2021

A group tied to the owner of Washington, D.C.-based Wiseguy Pizza franchise has purchased the Hofbräuhaus German restaurant building in downtown St. Petersburg for $7.1 million.

Public records show the 17,297-square-foot restaurant at 123 Fourth St. S, along with its parking lot, was sold by Woodsgroup Holdings LLC to an entity connected to Nuri Erol, the founder of Wiseguy Pizza.

The Hofbräuhaus St. Pete site was purchased by Joe Matuschka, owner of Hofbräuhaus Chicago, in 2014 from the Tampa Bay Times. The restaurant gained immediate popularity downtown when it opened in 2015, with three-hour waits and lines.

In August 2017, Matuschka sold to Bavarian Partners LLC, led by Keith Sirois, CEO of Big Boy Restaurants International and his sons Kevin Sirois and Tamer Afr.

In 2019, Montana-based WG St. Pete LLC bought the property for $6.8 million and entered a 15-year lease with Bavarian Partners. In 2020, WG St. Pete won a lawsuit against Bavarian Properties after saying the group did not pay rent in August, September or October. They were awarded close to $7.2 million, which covered the entire 15-year term of the lease, according to court documents. The restaurant closed in 2020, according to reports.

Wiseguy Pizza has developed a large following in Washington, D.C., where it has three locations, and Virginia, where it has two locations. Erol traveled the world visiting pizza places before opening Wiseguy in 2012.

Plans for the restaurant space have not yet been announced. Requests for comment from the buyer and the seller's agent were not immediately returned.