BATON ROUGE — The city-parish has seized the property that formerly housed City Bar after its Baton Rouge restauranteur owner failed to repay a nearly $2 million loan from the U.S. Small Business Administration, The Advocate reported Tuesday.

Chad Hughes, the owner of Bengal Tap Room and Var's Pizza, had the property seized by the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office on May 23, the paper reports. The Third Street property was formerly occupied by Boudreaux & Thibodeaux's.

Hughes told The Advocate that the bar was turned over to the bank a year ago and he no longer owns the property.

Even earlier in May, the court ordered that the property be seized and used to pay $1.9 million to Fund-Ex Solutions Group, a non-bank lender to small businesses. The paper reports that this amount includes the $1.8 million loan Hughes took out, as well as legal fees and interest.

Hughes previously faced a potential eviction from the downtown bar Happy's Irish Pub in 2023 when he faced legal issues over noise complaints and rental delinquency. A judge ultimately ruled that the pub could continue operation. 

He was also sued last year by commercial realtor Hank Saurage, who said Hughes failed to pay back a $1.85 million loan and $100,000 advance, The Advocate reports. City Bar and Boudreaux & Thibodeaux's have both since closed.