The building for Reggie’s, which was shut down Thursday over liquor law violations, will soon become part of an expanded Fred’s Bar & Grill, owner Marc Fraioli said Thursday.
Fraioli owns much of the real estate in the Tigerland area and is leasing the Reggie’s property to the bar’s owners. Fraioli said he wants to have control over the premises after it became a source of intense controversy when 19-year-old LSU student Madison Brooks was raped and killed in January after a night drinking at Reggie’s.
“With that situation honestly, any night, anything can happen anywhere,” Fraioli said. “But I feel to best ensure what’s going to happen on the property is for us to take it over.”
An expansion of Fred’s was already in the works for once Reggie’s lease ended, Fraioli said, but Thursday’s consent agreement between Reggie’s owners and the Louisiana Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control accelerated that timeline.
The agreement, approved by ATC Commissioner Ernest Legier, permanently revoked Reggie’s liquor license under current ownership, effectively closing the business.
After a night at Reggie’s early Jan. 15, Brooks left Reggie’s in a car with three men — two of whom were also under the legal drinking age of 21 — and a 17-year-old, according to an East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office affidavit. The group pulled over after leaving the bar, and the 17-year-old and Kaivon Washington, 18, raped Brooks in the back of the car, the arrest documents say.
Brooks was left in a subdivision and was later fatally hit by a car on Burbank Drive, deputies said.
Reggie’s was charged with 28 violations of state liquor laws, including 24 counts of selling alcohol to a person under the age of 21.
Fraioli, who has operated Fred’s for 41 years, said making Tigerland safer for the LSU students that frequent the area is a priority, but he needs help from the city to address crime and pedestrian safety in the area.
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