|
Entrepreneur wavers on plans for bight project
BY TIMOTHY O'HARA
keysnews.com
KEY WEST -- Plans for
a restaurant and eight affordable apartments for 908 Caroline St. could
be scrapped because the prospective restaurateurs are working on plans
to place an eatery elsewhere.
Local businessman Ed
Swift pitched a plan to build a new restaurant at the location with
eight affordable apartments above, which would cost $1,200 for a
two-bedroom space. He proposed to pay the city $1,000 a month rent and
spend $1.25 million to build the restaurant and apartments. The lease
would run for 20 years and the city would retain ownership of the
property with the improvements.
The proposal has been
stalled for a couple of months, as some in the community argued the
lease payment to the city was too low and the plan didn't provide enough
affordable housing.
Swift planned to
partner with local restaurateurs Pepe Diaz and Fred Salinero, who own El
Meson de Pepe's. He is also a partner in their restaurant at Mallory
Square.
Without a guaranteed
restaurant in place, Swift said he does not feel comfortable moving
forward with the deal with the city.
"I wouldn't do it on
speculation. It's too dangerous," Swift said. "If you build it without a
tenant you could go broke."
Swift would be willing
to move forward with the project, if another restaurant or business
owner was willing to rent the space.
The Key West Bight
Board approved Swift's plan in August and recommended it to the city
commission. The project was slated to go before the city commission in
September, but the item has been postponed several times since then.
The commission held a
workshop last week to discuss other ideas for the property, which
included an all-affordable-housing complex and a park. City
commissioners directed staff to research all options presented at the
meeting and come back to the bight board with a comprehensive analysis.
Commissioner Tom
Oosterhoudt, who represents the area, said he is tired of seeing the
dilapidated building, which was last Plantains restaurant, and wants the
building demolished.
"I hope we will see
something in there soon," Oosterhoudt said. "We have had a lot of grand
proposals, but few offers."
tohara@keysnews.com
This
story published on Thu, Nov 20, 2003
|
