Microsoft cancels campus pub

Beer and wine won't be flowing at a Microsoft campus bar after all. Just three days before the Spitfire pub was to open there, the company has pulled the plug on the project. The decision has left pub owner Jonathan Sposato mystified.

"I am completely stunned and disappointed by the decision," said Sposato. "I am confused by the sudden change of heart." Earlier today, Sposato broke the news to the restaurant's 22 employees. The Spitfire -- which also operates a pub in Seattle's Belltown neighborhood -- received a letter from Microsoft today terminating the lease. 

Sposato said no explanation was given, but other retail businesses in the Commons area at Microsoft's new West Campus are still going forward.

"They wanted to build a bar -- a pub -- and they felt as we did too that this would be a very important and cool part of their campus life for the day-to-day experience for their employees," he said. But Microsoft has now reversed course. 

Microsoft spokesman Lou Gellos confirmed the decision, saying the company reconsidered the potential impact of having a bar in the middle of the corporate campus.

"The goal was always to create a cool gathering place for employees, but to do so in a manner that’s consistent with a business environment," Gellos said. "We took a second at that, and we were sensitive to the business environment. We decided we should do something more appropriate, and that meant not having a pub."

The company is now looking into alternative ways to make the Commons a place employees want to gather.

Sposato said the timing is especially bad since the restaurant and bar was supposed to open Monday. Beer taps, menus and flatware are all ready to go and employees -- some of whom left other jobs to work in the pub -- were gearing up for their first day. Relationships have been established with beer and food vendors and signs have been hung, said Sposato.

A former Microsoft worker who now runs the Seattle Internet startup Picnik, Sposato declined to say how much he's invested in the restaurant and bar. But he did say that he and his partner have invested "a lot" in terms of capital and sweat equity.

The new pub has been in development for more than a year, with Sposato winning a competitive bidding process against other bars.

It was a much-anticipated addition in the new Entertainment & Devices Division campus being built west of state Route 520.

"There was ample buzz on the part of the employees at Microsoft," said Sposato, when reached on his cell phone at the would-be Redmond pub. "Every so often, I would get an email from someone that's going: 'Wow, I can't wait. I saw the signs up on campus and that's so cool.' "

Asked whether he was contemplating legal action, Sposato said he's hopeful it doesn't come to that.

"I would like to invite the decision makers and the stake holders to engage in a dialogue with us," he said.

Sposato said the space has been built out as a pub, with a giant bar, a fireplace and eight beer taps. Switching to a restaurant without alcohol would not be financially viable, he said. 

Todd Bishop contributed to this report.

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