What makes a business click? Mark Enoch calls it “the beach model.”
Enoch’s company, United Park Services, has four concessions: the Coquina Beach Cafe in Bradenton Beach, Anna Maria Island Beach Cafe at Manatee Beach in Holmes Beach, plus facilities in Fort DeSoto Park and Madeira Beach, both in Pinellas County.
“We like beachfront,” Enoch said. “We like the traffic built in. People are coming to the location for a few hours and most people are going to eat or drink something.”
Is the Historic Bridge Street Pier a good example of “the beach model?” The city of Bradenton Beach thinks so. The city is looking for qualified persons or companies to lease and manage the restaurant, bait shop and one other structure on the pier.
Advertisements promoting a request for proposals by potential concessionaires have been running in some local publications. The ads call for sealed bids to be delivered to the office of city clerk Terri Sanclemente at city hall, 107 Gulf Drive N., Bradenton Beach.
Enoch said Bridge Street is a dining destination, with nice restaurants that all do a good job. But his company won’t be submitting a proposal to lease the pier. His plate is full. Likewise, island restaurateur Ed Chiles said he’s not interested. But Enoch would have been if he did not already have four concessions.
Enoch said the pier restaurant on Bridge Street has “a nice location on the water. Parking is definitely an issue there.”
The main pier structure, at approximately 1,900 square feet, is the indoor/outdoor restaurant. The second 214-square-foot structure, has a pass-through window and a live bait well. The third structure, at 160 square feet, also has a pass-through window and has served as a snack bar in the past.
All are located over water on the pier at the east end of Bridge Street.
The city has scheduled a pre-proposal conference for 10:30 a.m.-noon Thursday, June 25, at the pier. Those attending will be able to view, inspect the property and ask questions of city staff.
The minimum rent for the restaurant is set at $2,500 per month plus a percentage of gross sales, to be negotiated. Rent for the bait shop is $750, while rent for the third property, commonly known as the harbormaster office, is $550.
Enoch’s lease with Manatee County for the Coquina Beach Cafe in Bradenton Beach calls for monthly rent of $2,500 plus 10 percent of revenue. It goes up to 11 percent after revenue reaches $250,000 for the year.
Enoch said he likes leases with profit-sharing because both sides are protected. If red tide or a hurricane affects tourism on Anna Maria Island, his rent would be low. If business is good, the county shares in the higher revenue.
The ad and 14-page RFP explain how to submit proposals, which are due no later than 2 p.m. Thursday, July 9. Sanclemente will open the proposals at a public meeting at 2 p.m. Friday, July 10.
According to Sanclemente, the city had no proposals at close of business June 16.
The city’s pier team committee will review and rank the RFPs based on combined qualifications and the most favorable proposed lease terms. The committee then plans to present its findings to the city commission at a meeting beginning at noon Thursday, July 23.
Commissioners may accept or reject any or all of the proposals at that meeting or a decision may be continued to a later date. They are expected to interview the applicants.
The winning proposal for each structure or the combined structures will then enter into negotiations with the city for a lease.
Dave Russell ran Rotten Ralph’s restaurant on the pier from 2007-13. He was the concessionaire in 2012 when Tropical Storm Debby damaged the pier. He said running a restaurant is difficult enough. Running one on the pier is even tougher.
“People tend to think Bridge Street ends at the circle and don’t realize there is something up beyond the Bridge Tender (restaurant) and the Drift Inn,” he said. “Then you’ve got your parking issues. And dealing with the city you’ve got all kinds of crazy things, like if you want to shut down for two days and throw paint up” it requires permission from the city commission.
John Monetti, general manager of the Columbia Restaurant on St. Armands Circle in Sarasota and a former Holmes Beach commissioner, likes the idea of the Bradenton Beach pier being a venue for water taxis, boat rentals and other tourist attractions, in addition to a restaurant site, as one potential concessionaire has suggested.
Monetti says the city should do business with people who have expertise in each of the proposed areas.
“I don’t think one person would have enough strength of background in the various components of that to try to take it all on themselves,” he said. “I surely know how to run a restaurant, but what do I know about bait-shop sales. That doesn’t mean I could not be overseeing it and hiring experienced people.”
In this instance, it will be up to the city commission to decide what “clicks” — who can best do the job and which vendor offers the best deal for the city and its citizens.
