Tag Archives: Wharf

Wharf Marketplace Closes

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People were not buying the most expensive vegetables in the county. Surprised?

Wharf Marketplace

It was back in December that Rick Antle, president and CEO of Tanimura & Antle, the employee owned family farm company that owns the cafe/coffee house/specialty market, said it was time to sell the space. The property located at 209 Figueroa St. in Monterey includes 3,701 square-feet of retail space. It’s up for sale for $2.09 per square foot plus triple net charges. Antle said that going into the venture, management had expected produce and local sales to be a larger percentage of the profit but instead it became heavily skewed toward the cafe, which isn’t the company’s main focus.

Wharf Marketplace Closes

Gun Stolen In P.G. Found At Wharf

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At Wharf 2, officers spotted Jonathan Marvel Garate with several other people near a vehicle and approached them. They reportedly found Garate with a handgun that had been reported stolen out of Pacific Grove in November.

Their investigation led them to a home in Seaside, where they conducted a probation search, PRVNT agents said. There they found a 17-year-old young man with an unregistered handgun.

Gun Stolen In P.G. Found At Wharf

Custom House Plaza Cracking

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Gods may be angry over the removal of the fountain to make room for more fake events.

Eric Abma, Asilomar superintendent with the Monterey State Historic Park office, said: “We’re investigating the cause but we’re not entirely sure – it’s possible that there’s a water leak under there.”

While the cracks were initially noticed on Sunday when the Monterey History Fest vendors were set up, Abma said they’re not the first crevices to appear there.

“We’ve had other cracks down there,” said Abma. “They’re not entirely new but definitely more significant on Sunday then we’ve seen before.”

Custom House Plaza Cracking

Wharf’s Gateway To Be A Chain Bulk Candy Store

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Now that’s what every visitor to the wharf wants, quantity over quality.

Wilford Brimley Diabeetus
I prefer some hand made treats down at Carousel Candies

Bulk confectionery store Candy Land is taking its barrels of salt water taffy and bins of lollipops to Fisherman’s Wharf. The candy shop has signed a lease with the city of Monterey for the frontage space located at 6 Fisherman’s Wharf where Sam Balesteri’s Wharf Front gift shop and The Coffee House used to reside.

Wharf’s Gateway To Be A Chain Bulk Candy Store

So Long Fisherman’s Wharf, Was Nice To Know Ya

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A visit to the wharf for some KarmelKorn may be in order to see the place before it turns into another tacky tourist trap.

Louie Linguine greeter
Homer

The City of Monterey confirmed Friday it is in talks with San Francisco based firm SFO Forecast Inc. to lease Balesteri’s old spot on Fisherman’s Wharf.

Sam Balesteri owned a gift shop at the location for five decades but failed to negotiate a new lease with the city in 2016. In August Balesteri received an eviction notice and in December vacated the property.

SFO Forecast Inc. already manages two properties in Monterey, Louie Linguini’s and After the Quake, both are on Cannery Row.

So Long Fisherman’s Wharf, Was Nice To Know Ya

Balesteri’s Vacates Fisherman’s Wharf

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City wants more Cannery Row style franchise stores and their sky high rents. Times are changing, catch a part of the Old Fisherman’s Wharf while it’s still there.

Balesteri said the city wanted to double the rent at the location in the new lease, and while he did not give the exact price, he said the proposed rent was in the neighborhood of $9,000 a month.

The space Balesteri’s rented included three business fronts, in addition to the coffee shop and the gift shop the owner of Paluca Trattoria sublet the restaurant space. Paluca will remain open and has worked out a separate deal with the city.

Balesteri’s is the first of two family owned businesses vacating the wharf over lease negotiation problems. Liberty Fish is not re-upping its lease and is expected to leave early in 2017.

Balesteri’s Vacates At Fisherman’s Wharf

Latest Wharf Evictee – Liberty Fish

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Another long time wharf shop to pack up and not come back.

wharf night

Liberty Fish Company, a seafood and fish market that’s

been in operation on Wharf 1 since 1950, will be closing by the end of January, according to both its owner Lucy Ann Higuera and Monterey officials.

Higuera who runs the business with her sisters Mary Liguori and Donna Duvall and her son Nick, said she was caught off guard when she recently received a letter to vacate.

Higuera said the businesses that made the wharf what it is are now steadily disappearing.

“We remodeled our building, we paid for the pilings,” said Higuera, noting that they hope to re-open in a different location. “After I walk off, it will be the last time I come on this wharf.”

Latest Wharf Evictee – Liberty Fish

Monterey Wants More Wharf Money

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Fishermans Wharf

Last year, the city decided to change its policy, after negotiations on rental agreements failed. Those changes caused several businesses to get eviction notices.

“When leases are up we want to get to market rate that doesn’t mean that it has to go from where it is today to market rate tomorrow and we expressed interest and council expressed interest in taking some time and ramping up market rate over a period of years,” said city manager Mike McCarthy.

Last month, Balesteri’s Wharf Front was evicted after being in its location for nearly 40 years. Owner Sam Balesteri said he had been paying $4,000 in rent on a month to month basis for the past two years.

Monterey Wants More Wharf Money

Wharf Lease Program Draws 200 Protesters

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Wharfs 1960s

Is Haffa comparing a residence where the landlord maintains everything to wharf pilings? If the toilet at the Grotto backs up does Haffa call and pay for the plumber?

major issue is that last year the council voted to shorten lease agreements to 10 years. City Manager Mike McCarthy has repeatedly said, however, that they are not strict policies, but guidelines and that the council will negotiate. The city has offered lease terms that exceed that time period if tenants commit to make improvements to the premises on which their business resides. Also at issue is the cost of leases and whether they are fair market value.

“Leaseholder(s) pay $405 or $680 per month rent for waterfront properties,” Councilman Alan Haffa said Tuesday. “How much does a one-bedroom cost per month?”

Wharf Lease Program Draws 200 Protesters

Protest March Over Wharf Leases

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The real soul of Monterey history. Don’t lose it.

wharf night

The protest and review of policies comes on the heels of the eviction of longtime business Balesteri’s Wharf Front gift shop earlier this month. That was after the store, the Paluca Trattoria Italian restaurant and The Coffee House, all located on the wharf and part of property leased by Sam Balesteri, were sent lease termination letters notifying them that their current leases were up at the end of August. Despite that, both the gift shop and coffee shop have remained open pending a lawsuit between Balesteri and the city. Balesteri wants compensation for the many improvements he has made to his building.

In June, Chris Shake, owner of Old Fisherman’s Grotto restaurant, complained about the negotiation process with the city, which led him to request a demolition permit to tear down his building when its lease expires in summer 2021.

Both Shake and Sam Balesteri’s son, Ben, said that they plan to join the march on Tuesday. In fact, Shake is closing his restaurant from 3 to 6 p.m. that day.

“My employees and families — they want to support it and be a part of it,” said Shake, who applauded Barrett for, as he put it, “having the common sense to bring this back for consideration.”

Protest March Over Wharf Leases