The real estate under two of the region’s longest-running Irish pubs just hit the market for a combined $8.2 million, though the beer taps aren’t going dry anytime soon. Molly Malone’s locations in Louisville’s Highlands neighborhood and across the river in Covington are being marketed together, with the properties — not the restaurants — up for grabs.
The arrangement is known as a sale-leaseback, according to WLKY, meaning a buyer would purchase the buildings while Molly Malone’s current owners stay on as tenants and keep running the restaurants day to day. Real estate broker Paul Grisanti told the station the two properties are being sold as a package under that structure, with the restaurant operations themselves not included in the deal.
That distinction matters for regulars worried about losing their neighborhood watering hole. Grisanti was direct about it, saying the listing does not mean either restaurant is closing — the current owners intend to continue operating both locations as tenants once a buyer is found, per the same report.
A Highlands Fixture Since 1998
The Louisville location has anchored the Highlands for nearly three decades. Louisville Business First notes the Irish pub has been a neighborhood staple since 1998, long enough to become a fixture for generations of regulars grabbing a pint or watching a game in the heart of the neighborhood’s bar scene…