Longtime Santa Monica Pier eatery closed to make way for corporate chain
A 50-year-old bastion of the Santa Monica Pier was shuttered Monday morning when city officials locked Boathouse owner Naia Sheffield out of the restaurant her grandfather founded.
As part of a court-ordered eviction levied by the city, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies changed the locks on Sheffield’s family restaurant early Monday. Sheffield was allowed into the restaurant to take whatever items she needed before the city took possession permanently.
“All of her possessions and the commercial equipment belongs to the Boathouse and she will be able to remove it,” said deputy city attorney Tony Serritella.
A shell-shocked Sheffield stood in her office on the beach level of the restaurant Monday, fighting back tears and trying to decide what she should take with her immediately before the city locked the building again.
She’ll have to make an appointment in the next 15 days with the city’s pier leasing agent, Elana Buegoff, to remove all items from the building her grandfather, Ben DeSimone, built more than four decades ago.
Behind the restaurant, Buegoff told Sheffield while she was loading up her pick-up truck that the city attorney’s office wanted to make the transition “as smooth and as easy” as possible for her.
City officials spent the morning in the restaurant taking inventory of its contents by taking photographs and filming video footage.
The city ended its month-to-month lease with the Boathouse last July to make way for movie-themed chain restaurant, Bubba Gump Shrimp.
But Sheffield refused to leave. She claimed the Pier Restoration Corporation, which oversees the pier, offered the Boathouse a long-term lease more than three years ago, then reneged on the deal.
Sheffield is still pursuing her lawsuit against the city in U.S. District Court, claiming breach of contract, violation of her right to due process and unlawful takings. She also claims the PRC violated the state’s open meeting laws and that the city intentionally misrepresented the lease agreement.
“I have to still believe in what is right and I would love to bring this in front of a jury,” said Kelly Bixby, the Boathouse’s attorney.
Santa Monica Superior Court Judge Diana Wheatley ruled in the city’s favor last month, evicting the Boathouse so Bubba Gump can begin renovating the building, which is expected to cost $3 million.
Bubba Gump’s 25-year lease with the city was supposed to begin on Oct. 1, 2001. Officials say the city has been harmed financially because Bubba Gump’s plans to open in the spring of 2003 have been delayed.
However, the city should be able to recoup its losses quickly because Bubba Gump’s rent will be almost double what the Boathouse paid.
Bubba Gump is expected to pay $10,417 a month, plus $1,889 annually for common maintenance and 2.5 percent of the restaurant’s food, beverage and retail gross sales. The Boathouse paid $5,429 a month, as well as $168 for annual promotional fees and 8 percent of its gross revenues in excess of $688,088 in annualized sales.
When Sheffield’s long-term lease ended, the PRC solicited bids from other restaurants — a process she claims she was unfairly left out of. In an attempt to be part of the selection process, Sheffield provided a proposal that included a $2 million renovation to the restaurant which would have had a theme of the famous Route 66 transnational highway, which used to end at the pier.
But the PRC frowned upon aspects of Sheffield’s theme — specifically the historical perspective of the American Indian motorcycle, similar to what is on display at the Guggenhiem Museum today.
PRC Chairman Michael Klein said the city commission wanted a “family oriented” restaurant and the motorcycle theme could attract an undesirable clientele.
Klein said Sheffield was treated fairly, but her proposal wasn’t as good as the others.
“I think it would have been great that the best proposal came from Naia and that she inherited the best restaurant genes and was a good operator,” Klein said. “I would have loved to have seen it. But we did the best we could when faced with the decision.
“We are not heartless and we are not jerks. There is no great joy in this and we aren’t gloating. We think Bubba Gump will be good for the community.”
The PRC has been long criticized by many, including Mayor Mike Feinstein, for engaging in behind-the-scenes political maneuvering.
Several members were on the board since the 1980s, until they were finally replaced last summer. But they were kept on long enough by some elected officials to ink the Bubba Gump deal and give the Boathouse the boot.
“It is a very sad situation,” said City Councilman Kevin McKeown. “I argued along with Mike (Feinstein) to keep the restaurant there.
“People appointed to the (PRC) in the 1980s shouldn’t be making 21st Century decisions. The PRC now would not have voted that way.”
And while McKeown doesn’t support corporate chains replacing longtime businesses in Santa Monica, it’s become a reality.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 16, 2002. Read the original PDF.