The Days Are Numbered for the Cornerstone Pub in South Boston

Photo by John A. Keith

The owners of the Cornerstone Pub & Restaurant, located at 14 West Broadway, filed a Letter of Intent with the Boston Redevelopment Authority on Monday informing the agency of its plans to tear down the restaurant and bar and replace it with a mixed-use development with “at least” 47 residential units, commercial space for offices, retail, and a ground-floor restaurant, and what the developer calls 70 “accessory” garage parking spaces.

The Cornerstone is located across from the MBTA’s Broadway Red Line station, near the start of South Boston’s annual St. Patrick’s Day parade. It opened as the Broadway Tunnel Cafe in 1939. Thomas Flaherty, Sr. and John “Dudy” Flaherty renamed it the Cornerstone when they bought it in 1979.

Thomas Flaherty Sr. and his son, manager Tommy Flaherty Jr., made news earlier this year when they announced they would cease serving Sam Adams’ beers over the the Boston Beer Company’s decision to drop its sponsorship of the parade after Club Cafe ceased serving Sam Adams’ beers due to its sponsorship of the parade, claiming the company wasn’t supporting veterans. (Flaherty, Sr. is an Army veteran, and co-owner John “Dudy” Flaherty was in the U.S. Navy, according to South Boston Today.)

Meanwhile, the rest of that stretch of West Broadway is a flurry of activity. Last year, Tim Pappas, developer of South Boston’s Macallen Building and Court Square Press condominiums, proposed a 12-story, 156-room hotel for the parking lot at 6 West Broadway. Meanwhile, there is a six-story, 31-unit apartment building going up at 22-26 West Broadway, next door to the Cornerstone, and the building at 28-30 West Broadway is currently listed for sale.

The Letter of Intent claims the developer has had “positive initial meetings” with the St Vincent/Lower End and West Broadway neighborhood associations. Whether or not the rest of the South Boston neighborhood will be as enthusiastic about losing (another) local watering hole-and to more residential housing, yet again-is an open question.

The next step in the approval process is for the developer to file a Project Notification Form with the BRA, outlining the specifics of its proposal.