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Latitude 360 in limbo over tax problem

Shutdown of Far-Northside entertainment spot awaits resolution of dispute with the Indiana Department of Revenue.

Gabrielle Ferreira, and Jeff Swiatek
IndyStar
Luxury bowling is a big part of the entertainment experience at Latitude 360, 4016 E. 82nd St., as shown on Jan. 5, 2013.

On Saturday night, the parking lot of Latitude 360 in Castleton was eerily empty. An orange violation notice from the Indiana Department of Revenue was taped to the glass doors.

Another sign underneath the warning said the entertainment venue would reopen on Monday, Nov. 30. On Tuesday, that sign was gone, but the violation notice remained, and the business was still closed.

Some employees were gathered near the front of the building at 4016 E. 82nd St. They refused to give their names but told The Star they expected the establishment to reopen by the coming weekend. They said the difficulty of getting things done on a holiday weekend was a reason the business hasn't reopened sooner.

Amanda Stanley, director of public relations for the Indiana Department of Revenue, said the agency revokes the Indiana Registered Retail Merchant Certificate for a company when it has "exhausted all possible remedies" to collect business taxes.

These notices were posted on the front door of Latitude 360, 4016 E. 82nd St., on Saturday.

The publicly traded company’s stock has crashed in the past year. It has plummeted from a 52-week high of $1.47 on the Nasdaq over-the-counter market to close Tuesday at roughly one-third of a penny, down 23 percent.

The Jacksonville, Fla.-based company lost $12.9 million in the first two quarters of this year on revenue of just $9.9 million.

The losses could grow even larger. Latitude 360 said it will be restating its earnings for the full year of 2014 and the first two quarters of this year, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In the same notice, the company also  said their third quarter report would be delayed. When companies restate their earnings, it's often because their performance was worse than originally stated.

Jacksonville media outlets have previously reported troubling news for Latitude 360. In an Oct. 16 article, the Jacksonville Business Journal reported that Latitude 360's landlord for both the Jacksonville and Indianapolis locations, Missouri-based 30 West Pershing, had filed paperwork to evict the company, saying they owed $3 million in rent. Latitude 360 CEO Brent Brown said in the article the rent was only for the Indianapolis location.

Latitude 360's former chief financial officer, Craig Phillips, filed a lawsuit alleging that paychecks bounced, debt swelled, and the company skipped out on paying contractors while building new locations, according to a Dec. 27, 2014, article on jacksonville.com, the website for the Florida Times-Union.

And that's not to mention the copyright lawsuit brought against Latitude 360 in Indianapolis this summer. In August, the Star reported that the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers said Latitude 360 had refused to sign a licensing agreement for music played in its establishment for the past two years.

Besides Indianapolis, Latitude 360 operates restaurant/entertainment venues in Jacksonville and Pittsburgh, Pa. It recently dropped plans to open locations in Albany, N.Y., and Kingston, Mass., but announced plans to open a site in Syracuse, N.Y.

Brent Brown, CEO of Latitude 360, said in an email Tuesday that he is "actively working with the Indiana Department of Revenue to resolve the issue."

"We plan to be open for business as usual tomorrow.”

Call Star reporter Gabby Ferreira at (317) 444-6283. Follow her on Twitter: @Its_GabbyF.

Latitude 360 faces copyright lawsuit over music played in bar