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Bella Luna Gofundme started, but NOT to help it re-open
By adamg on Fri, 06/26/2020 - 2:20pm
The owners of Bella Luna and the Milky Way have launched a Gofundme page to help them retire some $75,000 in debt and to provide some help for employees losing their jobs.
Co-owner Carol Downs explains Bella Luna still owes money from the $1-million loan it took out to move from its prior location in Hyde Square in 2008 and to build out its current location - the final payment was to be next year - and that its sudden closing on March 16 left it owing some $200,000 to suppliers.
This is not how we wanted our story to end. But we are filled with love and gratitude for the many staff, guests, promoters and partners who helped make our ‘hospitality with a purpose’ a vibrant reality for so many years.
Bella Luna announced earlier this month it would not re-open because it didn't see any way in a pandemic to provide the sort of event space it was known for.
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Comments
corporate, not private debt?
None of this debt would be the responsibility of individuals, right? I'm no MBA, maybe someone can explain the mechanics of how this works when a place goes under like this?
Probably privately secured
In my experience, small business loans are usually backed by a personal guarantee by an owner. If this was just business debt, I'd say bankruptcy would be the way to go but if they had to secure the loan with personal guarantees then the owners might end up personally paying out $75k or going bankrupt.
For example the EIDL (the other SBA Covid program that wasn't the payroll one), that loan had to be personally guaranteed in order to apply for it.
Not to mention
Some of those creditors were probably small vendors that Carol does not want to see bear the burden of Bella Luna's closing.
I also wonder if it includes paying back the many individuals who bought gift cards in the hopes that they would one day reopen.
Is Maura Healy's people still
Is Maura Healy's people still taking claimants of bad loans from 2008 predatory lenders class action suit? Who is the mortgage? Can't they do a customary Remodification of Mortgage?