What Happened to Bourbon Street Fish? Is LeBron James next to develop in Inglewood?

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OUT OF BUSINESS---Inglewood popular seafood restaurant Bourbon Street Fish & Grill will not have its lease renewed after 20-years at 601 S Prairie Ave. Owner Derrick Brown says that he has been unsuccessful in locating a new place in the city and alleges property owners are favoring lucrative corporate tenants over small minority business owners. (Kenneth Miller/Photo)

For the past two decades Bourbon Street Fish & Grill has been a mainstay on Prairie Ave. across the street from newly built SoFi Stadium.

With a vast variety of fish Po-Boy sandwiches on its menu it brought the delicious flavor of New Orleans seafood to the community of Inglewood.

Bourbon Street Fish had also become the hub for local community newspapers as a distribution site, but as Inglewood continues to evolve amid its ongoing renovation and development, the eatery is among the latest small business casualties.

Derrick Anthony Brown, owner of Bourbon Street Fish, confirmed to Inglewood Today this week that his restaurant was not allowed to renew its 20-year lease with owners at the 601 S Prairie Ave. location thus forcing its closure and clouding its future in Inglewood.

Brown, who once served as president of the Inglewood-based non-profit Sportsman Little League, stated that he has attempted to find other locations in Inglewood, but has not been successful. He also accused Inglewood property owners of favoring more lucrative corporate business.

Rumors have been widely circulated about Bourbon Street Fish becoming another small business victim of corporate development that has transformed the city into the sports and entertainment capital of the world.

Chief among the rumors was LeBron James and his business partners purchasing the land that once occupied Bourbon Street Fish, the apartment complex next door and the Lighthouse Memorials & Receptions, McCormick Center funeral home to make room for a new development project.

However, when reached by Inglewood Today, a person at McCormick said they knew nothing of the business being sold and doubted that would be the case for the 40 year family named funeral home.

Neighbors of Bourbon Street Fish told the newspaper they heard that Brown had received $2 million, but that appears to be highly unlikely since Brown did not own the property or have a signed lease agreement.

Sources say that throughout the two decades that Brown and his family had conducted business at the location they did not attempt to purchase the land which is now in a family trust of the current owners.

Brown was delinquent in keeping a scheduled a meeting with Inglewood Today on Aug. 17, and also failed to return phone calls.

Inglewood Today coverage of local news in Los Angeles County is supported by the Ethnic Media Sustainability Initiative, a program created by California Black Media and Ethnic Media Services to support minority-owned-and-operated community newspapers across California.

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