Cast-n-Cage restaurant owner Roland Pena is late paying the March rent for his business on the city-owned Historic Bridge Street Pier in Bradenton Beach.
Bradenton Beach Mayor Bill Shearon said March 2 that the March rent was unpaid. It remained unpaid at 11 a.m. March 3.
He said he would check with city attorney Ricinda Perry as to what actions the city could take in response.
Contacted March 2, Pena said he has five working days after the first of the month to pay rent and he intends to make the payment.
But Shearon clarified that the terms of Pena’s lease changed last year after Pena was late with his rent. It now excludes a grace period, according to the mayor.
Pena’s attorney sent the city a request in February that commissioners reconsider the restaurant rent increase of 3 percent, from $5,500 to $5,665, which began in March. He wants to begin the new terms later in the year.
In addition to his restaurant rent, Pena is scheduled to pay $772.50 monthly for the bait shop and $566.50 for the harbormaster office on the pier, plus $180 per month toward the 2015 property taxes.
The bait shop and a concession stand were expected to re-open in March.
The restaurant has been open more than a year. When Pena was in arrears for a period last year, commissioners allowed him time to catch up while the pier walkway and T-end were closed to fishers for reconstruction. The restaurant remained open and the remainder of the pier reopened in January.
Already differing on when a rent increase is called for in the lease, both sides now differ on what day each month’s rent is due. The lease is expected to be a topic at the March 4 pier team committee meeting and the March 5 commission meeting.
The City is charging way to high for rent to cover the overhead of running a restaurant. How about decreasing the rent charged until they can get an established business and stop collecting 12 percent of the business owners gross receipts. I would not want to conduct business and have to pay a percentage of my gross receipts on top of a premium lease for a building. That provides no incentive for me as a business owner. And they wonder why they have a lack bidders for RFP’s. Any sound businessman would never agree to the terms of the proposals and therefore you get people with bad business acumen, so it’s only a matter of time before the business fails. History proves that to be true.
I agree with Tom Huntington. Give the guy a break. He is trying to make a go of it.
The restaurant owner is obviously struggling, and instead of trying to work with him, the city is taking a hard line. If they were to evict the current restaurant, they shouldn’t expect to ever get another one! First Rotten Ralph’s and now Cast-n-Cage? Give the poor guy a break! Anyone who enters into a contract with that city is an idiot!