A two-story space on Fisherman’s Wharf that most recently was home to Scales, a restaurant owned by Chris and JR Shake that closed July 31 last year, remains vacant. And the massive building is completely gutted.
It’s not just kitchen equipment and furniture that’s been removed, it’s nearly everything except the building itself: the bar, the flooring, lighting fixtures and even several toilets – all gone. It’s a surreal site given it was a well-appointed restaurant just six months ago, and is the result of Monterey’s former practice of approving leases that allowed tenants to remove any and all building improvements over the water, including the building itself.
In the 90 days after the lease expired, the city became aware that even the HVAC infrastructure was removed, leaving exposed holes in the roof. Subsequently, in late October, the city entered into a legal settlement with the Shakes that required the restaurateurs to cap the holes in the roof.
This came after Tony Lombardo, the Shakes’ attorney, sent a letter to the city July 16 indicating the Shakes were pulling out of negotiations to continue leasing the spot due to “uncertainties in future labor availability and rising operating costs.” That took the city by surprise.
Janna Aldrete, Monterey’s property manager, says the city will hopefully be putting out a request for proposals to lease the space by Feb. 18. She is curious what kind of response it will bring – perhaps a restaurant isn’t the best use for the massive space, and instead it could be something more akin to the Ferry Building in San Francisco, which features local artisans and food stalls.
There’s another legal drama on the wharf: On Nov. 30 of last year, Monterey County Superior Court Judge Thomas Wills ruled in the city’s favor in its lawsuit with Discovery Charters Inc., a whale watching company that sued the city in 2019 for not allowing it to dock a 91-foot boat it purchased in 2018 in the space the company leased at the wharf. On Jan. 21, Wills ordered Discovery to pay Monterey over $250,000 in attorneys’ fees for the case.
In the decision, Wills noted that the lease with the city – which dates back to 1992 – “is ambiguous as to the linear dimensions” of the space, but that past leasing practices on the wharf demonstrated an understanding that the space was only 75 feet long. He also added that the evidence showed the city had never approved berthing a boat of more than 75 feet at the concession. Discovery appealed Wills’ decision Feb. 2.
Discovery co-owner John Mayer is frustrated by Will’s ruling, in particular because when his company entered into an agreement to buy the boat for $1.2 million, he felt certain it was in compliance with the lease. (The boat has since been sold to someone else.)
“Obviously I’m very upset about it,” Mayer says, adding that he still has no idea how much water space exactly he now has under his lease. “Words cannot describe how confused I am by [the judge’s] ignorance of the facts in the case.”