Introduction of Ordinance Authorizing the City Manager or His Designee to Execute a 66-Month Lease with One Option to Extend the Term for 60 Months with Park Street Wine Cellars, Inc. for the Premises at 2315 Central Avenue, Suite 122 (Historic Alameda Theatre Building). [Requires Four Affirmative Votes] (Commercial Revitalization 227)
Good evening, mayor and city council members. I'm Ninette Mercado in the Community Development Department. So as described, we are presenting a 66 year lease for 466. No. Just now. That's another 166 month lease. That was so for it in 66 month lease. Are you paying. With an option to extend for another five, four, five years for 23, 15 Central Avenue that is formerly was in wine bar and we're transforming it into a wine retail facility. And it's more than just that. And yesterday, the mayor sent some questions over because she's super detail oriented and about what and what the operations would look like in the wine facility. Her concern was that it was just a run of the mill retail shop and that she wanted really something special in that location. So I thought I would give you a few little bullet points that we sent to 202 mailers out for that. For that space, we received 90 inquiries and that some in response to the mailer and just people driving or walking by. We had 35 showings of the of the building of the space. And we received four offers. Of those offers, two couldn't provide us with adequate financials, and we went forward with negotiating with two. And then we countered both of them with the same offer, and one dropped out. And so we moved forward with the Park Street wine cellars. And actually wine cellars is not going to be your run of the mill retail shop. It's going to be a destination. The people who run the facility have a great history and doing and doing just that, running these facilities or running a wine a wine retail shop. They're going to specialize in primarily European wines from Italy, France and Spain, and they're going to have very high end California wines that the idea of their operations is focused around creating a destination rather than being dependent upon foot traffic. They their program will include educational wine seminars, wine and food pairing seminars and Wine of the Month club. They are going to be hosted in their facility and they're going to allow the patrons the opportunity to taste and explore the latest arrivals that come into the shop. And their staff will discuss the wines and give background on each of the wines that are being offered there, and every wine will be able to be sampled in their facility. They are definitely focusing on having the personal touch. One thing of note is Mr. Massy is he won't be dependent on wholesalers coming in and telling in trying to tell him which wines to buy because he himself is a wholesaler. So he'll be able to be very specific in the types of wines that they offer in that shop. Recently I asked to. Mr.. Mr. Massie, how are you different from the shops that are in your look in in the vicinity. And he said that because he is a wholesaler, he can make sure that his wines are of the highest quality and also the fact that they are really going to be a personalized focus on the client, the clients who come in and offer like different sorts of educational opportunities for people to feel like they are wine experts themselves after they leave. The last thing that I like to talk about, I know first of all, the mayor asked about the operating hours and Mr. Massy is proposing to be closed on Sundays and Monday through Thursday, be open from 10 to 7 and Friday and Saturday, 10 to 9. And then finally, finally, Mr. Massy, their marketing program. And then they are asked because they they do have a wine, a website up already. And there was concern about, you know, putting the cart before the horse. And the masses are really trying to create a social media marketing plan they are dependent on. They want to create a a buzz about their app or their coming and then make people want to come and visit and have that experience of wine learning about wine pairing so different wines from different regions. So they really want to create and they have a history of doing this, a space that people will want to come to. So it we believe that it fits in with what's happening on that street, with that with the theater and then our new burger shop, that it's something where people will want to come and spend time and then meander around Park Street. So we think it's a really good tenant opportunity for us. Thank you. Thank you. And I'll just make a quick comment because it's true. I sent Ms.. McCann, I bet she's used to my lengthy emails with questions. And my primary concern was the staff report was pretty sparse. And I just wanted to know who are these folks and why do they think they can make a go of a wine shop in this area? And going forward, when we're considering a lease, I'd love to know more than the monthly amount of rent and the the length of the lease and the names of the lessees. Because. Not only for my own. Purposes in order to make an informed decision. But in this case, we're considering city owned property, and we need to also inform the public. And so I did a little Googling and I found this website, and I was a little surprised that it was out there. But it was it's very nice and it's very informative. And so I know that for more than ten years, Mr. Massy operated a wine business outside somewhere in the Houston, Texas area. And I believe that in 2011, he and his wife and family came to Alameda. And I think that's great. I just feel like I probably shouldn't have to do quite so much sleuth work. But you know me, I will. I will. And so, I mean, I'm I'm excited about this prospect, but let's hear from other council members. Council questions, comments, motion. Um. I'll make a quick comment. Yeah. So there's a time. I mean, I don't want to micromanage, but there are other parts of the world that produce great wines. South Africa produces great wines Lebanon, South Korea, Australia. So anyway, and I've tried Sugar-Free wines, which are actually quite interesting. So just this just I'm trying to cut back on sugar, but I'm of approval of the item. Oh, okay. So, so we have a second in discussion or. Okay, yeah. I'll, I'll go ahead and second. Okay. And then Councilmember Vela. Yeah, I think to the mayor's point, I think a little background is sometimes helpful. Just to give us context about, you know, one of my concerns is always going to be, you know, how is this going to be viable? Are we going to be back at the table, you know, relatively quickly? Are there going to be issues that come up? And I think having that context is always helpful. I know that staff in the past has offered prospective tenants the ability to write us a letter or something like that. I think those sorts of things can be helpful just so that we have some a little more context because we're not at the bargaining table with you. Right. And I think really what we're looking for is how is this going to kind of envisioning what the what the business is going to be like? And, you know, hopefully that the lease that we're negotiating is something that's going to be successful for everyone. And I see that we have the applicant in the audience and I see his hand is up. Perhaps that means you'd like to increase because. So is that all right? Just before he comes up, I would just say I apologize that that the staff report was not as thorough as it should have been. And now I know that the council really wants a lot more context and details. And so in the future, you're going to get what you ask for it. Yeah. Thank you. Okay. So, Mr. Massie, come on up. Good evening. Evening. My name is Christopher Massey. And I'll just start by saying that I've been in the wine industry for 35 years and I'm a certified Somalia, trained in Burgundy. And that's why the focus on the European wines I trained there in 1989 and 1990, and my focus has always been on European wines. And I do realize, of course, that there are other places in the world and you will see a smattering of just about everything in the store, from South Africa to Lebanese wines to Finger Lakes wines to just about anything you can imagine is going to be in the store. It's only 700 square feet, though, so we've got to have a focus. And my wife and I will run this the same way that we ran our stores in Houston, and that's with great care and attention to detail and with a customer centric focus. And that's why we launched the the website was just to get the information that were coming and it's just kind of a marketing and it's all we're real, we're very marketing oriented sales and marketing kind of oriented. And so that's, that's why we launched. It's just, it's just an informative piece. If you look at it, it's really here's all about Christopher. If you read the website that's yeah. I got that an opening for 2019. No it was, it was very nice again. That is how I learned about it. Yeah. About you and your experience. It's, it was more that than anything else. And so I can assure you that this this endeavor will completely fly. We've been chomping at the bit since we put in our letter of intent and, uh, May 17th this when we put in our letter of intent. So we are ready to go. I think if you feel like you've said enough, I think there's a motion about to be voted on. Excellent. But perhaps the vice mayor has a question. Any questions? I don't have a question. Okay. I just want to say, I've sat through a few of these meetings and I would like to restart and say I'm really I don't drink wine. You probably won't see me in your in your I don't drink at all. So you won't see me in your store likely. And I say just go there with my wife, who does. But I'm excited and I'm wishing you well. Thank you for supporting this. Thank you. I just want to make sure that we we launch out of this vote in a positive way. And thank you. Thank you. You hear nice. Things. Thank you very much. I appreciate it. And I, for one, am excited about a locally owned business. So thank you. And Councilmember Vela made the motion. Someone seconded it. Yeah. Nice to meet you. Me? Okay. All right, so we have a motion. We have a second. All in favor. I All right, that was unanimous. So congratulations. Welcome and good work. Council. Okay, let's see. Where are we? We've got item seven City Manager Communications.