The Fertitta family is well-known in professional basketball.
Tilman Fertitta is the owner of the NBA’s Houston Rockets, and in May paid $300 million to the Mohegan Sun tribe earlier this year for the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun. The Sun are wrapping up their final season in New England before being moved to Houston. He is also the US Ambassador to Italy and San Marino.
Once completed, the sale will mark the end of the restaurant’s longtime ownership by Joe Milano, the noted businessman whose family has owned the restaurant since 1970.
“Upon closing of the transaction, the Fertitta family will continue to run Union Oyster House just as it has been operated for more than 200 years, with no changes to its staff or operations,” the spokesperson said.
“The Fertitta family looks forward to carrying its storied traditions forward for generations to come.”
Confirmation of the pending acquisition comes as the city’s licensing board on Wednesday is due to review a license transfer application for the iconic restaurant.
Union Oyster House has applied to transfer its all-alcoholic beverages license to an out-of-state limited liability company, according to filings with the Boston Licensing Board.
The license transfer hearing was previously reported by Universal Hub.
Union Oyster House, which celebrates its 200th anniversary this month, has been owned by North End native Milano for decades. Founded in 1826, the iconic establishment has long been a mainstay of Boston’s culinary scene, frequented by luminaries such as Daniel Webster and President John F. Kennedy.
On Labor Day 2015, then-President Barack Obama stopped at the restaurant and ordered 10 quarts of the restaurant’s famous New England Clam Chowder to take back with him on Air Force One.
In 2001, former president Bill Clinton dined with state and local Democrats at the restaurant before a public speech at Salem State University.
In 1999, the US Ryder Cup Team, which included Tiger Woods and Mark O’Meara, visited the restaurant while competing in the tournament The Country Club in Brookline.
The incoming management group is registered to the same Texas address as Landry’s, a Houston-based hospitality company, according to state filings.
As part of the transfer, the new management group will update the license description to reflect not only the 565-person indoor capacity (split between the first floor, with its oyster bar, and the second floor dining rooms), but also its 36-person seasonal patio (though outdoor seating is nothing new for the restaurant).
Landry’s, operates various steakhouses and seafood chains across the country, including the Chart House on Long Wharf and Morton’s in the Seaport. Its casual dining segment includes restaurants such as Rainforest Cafe and Bubba Gump Shrimp.
Milano, reached by email Tuesday, declined to comment on the upcoming hearing, saying that “if and when there’s news to share. I’ll be the one to share it.”
“Right now my focus is exactly where it has always been — our employees, our guests and taking care of this remarkable restaurant,” he said.
City officials also declined to comment on Tuesday.
In the past, Milano has described himself as “steward” of the restaurant.
“I could not do it without the team,” Milano told Wicked Local earlier this year. “I’m proud to be part of history in a restaurant that has continued on for as many years as it has.”
This story has been updated.
Jeremiah Manion, Kathy McCabe and Keith Perason of the Globe staff contributed to this report.
Emily Sweeney can be reached at emily.sweeney@globe.com. Follow her @emilysweeney and on Instagram @emilysweeney22. Camilo Fonseca can be reached at camilo.fonseca@globe.com. Follow him on X @fonseca_esq and on Instagram @camilo_fonseca.reports.
