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Discussions with the Kearns Restaurant Group to reach a new concessionaire agreement for the Boathouse Tiki Bar & Grill continue as the deal deadline nears.
City Attorney Aleksandr Boksner said Wednesday discussions for a finalized agreement that would keep the Boathouse Tiki Bar & Grill at the Cape Coral Yacht Club are continuing and that he is cautiously optimistic the parties will meet by the deadline of Sept. 6.
A replacement agreement for the existing lease which has nine years left to run -- the new city-preferred concessionaire contract -- has been in the works with the Kearns Group for a while now.
Cape Coral City Council voted on Aug. 6 to give the city attorney seven days to finalize the lease settlement agreement with the Kearns Group by Aug. 13, and 30 days to finalize the concessionaire agreement, Sept. 6.
After city staff and the Kearns Group, which has a lease with the city for food and other operations at the riverfront city park, failed to settle the existing agreement, the city moved on without it and began the procurement process for demolition of the Boathouse. The restaurant was heavily damaged in Hurricane Ian, rebuilt, and then destroyed in a fire last October shortly after re-opening.
The Kearns Group has said it will not sign a settlement agreement on the lease without a replacement agreement in hand.
The city rejected a compromise offer under which the business would sign the settlement agreement and take down the damaged building if a codicil to reinstate the lease if the parties can't come to terms on the concessionaire agreement was included.