A Brewers Hill tavern owned by former Atlanta Hawks guard Malcolm Delaney is headed to a foreclosure auction on September 25 at 11 a.m., putting the future of his So Baltimore Sports Bar & Lounge in question. The two-story corner building at 3734 Fleet St., built in 1920, has drawn neighborhood complaints over noise and overcrowding in recent years, and now faces a foreclosure sale following a filing.
According to The Baltimore Sun, a foreclosure filing was made on the property in February, per court records cited by the paper. Delaney bought the 2,170-square-foot building through his LLC for $500,000 in 2021, backed by a $350,000 loan from BayVanguard, the same outlet reports. Baltimore City tax records list an assessment for the property, according to a LoopNet listing.
Delaney is a Baltimore native who signed a two-year, $5 million contract with the Hawks in 2016 after going undrafted in the 2011 NBA Draft. He played high school ball at both McDonogh School and Towson Catholic High School before a four-year career at Virginia Tech, per the seed report. He also played for several European teams, earning All-EuroLeague First Team honors in 2016 and winning titles with Milan, according to BasketNews, before retiring in 2022.
From Gnocco's Cocktail Bar to a Sports Bar Under Scrutiny
The Fleet Street corner has a longer local history than Delaney's ownership. Before he acquired the building in 2021, the space was home to Gnocco, a popular Mediterranean restaurant and cocktail bar that opened there in 2016, according to Baltimore Magazine. Hoodline itself once named Gnocco a top cocktail bar and later featured it in a roundup of the Brewers Hill neighborhood's top spots, back when the corner was still known for craft cocktails rather than game-day crowds.
Delaney and co-applicant Anthony Fitzgerald were named in connection with an August 2022 hearing concerning the Class BD7 liquor license for So Baltimore, LLC at the address. So Baltimore Sports Bar & Lounge opened that year, housed in the two-story corner tavern. But the business was fined twice for unauthorized live entertainment, per 2025 Baltimore liquor board hearing records, and dozens of residents protested the bar's liquor license renewal, citing noise from live entertainment and overcapacity crowds outside the property.
Neighbors' Formal Protest and a Contested License
That neighborhood pushback was formalized on the city docket: the protest against So Baltimore's liquor license renewal was slated for a hearing before the Baltimore City Board of Liquor License Commissioners on April 17, 2025. The dispute reflects broader friction in Brewers Hill, a Southeast Baltimore neighborhood that takes its name from the historic industrial brewery operations of the former National Brewery and Gunther Brewery complexes, according to Keller Williams Capital Properties, a once-industrial pocket of the city that has since drawn new bars, restaurants and residents.
Brewers Hill is an eastern Baltimore neighborhood.
The property was also listed as a commercial turn-key sports bar, according to Nestfully.
What's Included in the September 25 Sale
The legal sale is being directed by a substitute trustee, according to an AuctionZip listing for the auction. Bidders must post a $35,000 deposit to participate, per the A.J. Billig & Co. listing cited by the Baltimore Sun. The sale is scheduled for 11 a.m. on September 25.
The auction listing provides details about the sale. So Baltimore Sports Bar & Lounge's operating status after the sale remains uncertain.
A separate liquor-license matter is also referenced.
It is not yet clear how the foreclosure sale might affect Delaney's broader business interests.
