The West Springfield License Commission voted to allow Pintu Chawla to move his wine and malt license to the space now occupied by the Common Ground.
Restaurateur Pintu Chawla stands in front of Pintu's Indian Palace restaurant at 217 Elm St. in West Springfield.
The Common Ground restaurant in West SpringfieldWEST SPRINGFIELD — The License Commission has cleared the way for Pintu’s Indian Palace to relocate from Elm Street to the Park Avenue space now occupied by the Common Ground eatery.
The commission voted 2-0 Monday to allow Pintu Chawla, owner of the Indian restaurant, to move his wine and malt license to the new location on Park Avenue on the North End Bridge rotary.
The permission is contingent on approval by the state Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission. In addition, the move cannot take place until the owner of Common Ground sells that business’s liquor license. That is because one site may have only one liquor license associated with it, according to Paul M. Maleck, chairman of the License Commission.
“We should be open there very, very soon,” Chawla said Tuesday, declining to be any more specific.
He anticipates doubling his work force of 15 people and nearly tripling his restaurant’s seating capacity from about 60 to about 170.
“It is going to be a nicer, newer place,” Chawla said.
The popular Pintu’s was closed for about two months two years ago following what is believed to have been an electrical fire. Although there was only smoke damage, it cost about $50,000 to repair and refurbish the restaurant’s quarters.
Pintu ChawlaChawla also operates a second restaurant, Q Pint2’s, in the former Boston Billiards building on Riverdale Street.
Michael P. Sullivan, who used to own the former The Cup restaurant, opened Common Ground on Park Avenue about two years ago. Prior to that, the site had been the former Rein’s Deli.
Sullivan named his new business Common Ground as a play on words reflecting the fact the location was long home to a Ground Round restaurant because local people still associated that name with the property.
Sullivan could not be reached for comment on what plans he has for his business.
