Midtown Noshville owner Tom Loventhal, who informed employees earlier this month that he would be closing the Nashville, Tennessee restaurant on Dec. 27, recently told Patient Daily that increased costs due to the Affordable Care Act factored into the decision.
The cost of running a business with 80 to 90 employees under Obamacare was a factor in making the decision to close the location, Loventhal said.
“The added expenses of insurance premiums created unforeseen and unacceptable risks,” Loventhal told Patient Daily.
Noshville’s Green Hills location remains open and currently has 20 to 30 employees, which keeps business profits in a safe zone, Loventhal said.
“The idea [of affordable health care] is good, but I don’t see how a restaurant with 50 to 100 employees is considered a large business,” Loventhal said.
Loventhal further explained that there is not enough profit margin in the restaurant business to be defined as large and to take on added expenses as required by the Affordable Care Act.
“I have great employees, and we have had a lot of fun, as do our customers, but I am not in the business of losing money,” Loventhal said.
While financial pressure due to the Affordable Care Act was partially responsible for the decision to shutter the business, Loventhal accepted an offer from a developer to buy the property.
“The closing was going to happen because of this development anyway," Loventhal said.
The Noshville Midtown location was purchased by Ardavan Afrakhteh of Land Development.com.
Afrakhteh contacted Loventhal about purchasing the property to build condos, apartments, retail space and a hotel.
“They offered to buy the building, and I took the offer,” Loventhal said.
Construction is targeted to start in early 2016.
