Longboat restaurant owner hopes for April opening

The first vision of The Shore anyone saw was an artist's rendering depicting a sleek building with an elegant, hip sign, patrons walking toward the door and a 1950s vintage Corvette pulling in to the parking lot. That was 2015.

Today, the exterior view of the restaurant looks like that illustration, just with workers replacing the patrons and work trucks instead of classic sports cars. This is 2019. 

Nearly two years past the original 2017 opening date, Tom Leonard, co-owner of the restaurant and a manager of 800 Broadway LLC, now says he's shooting for an opening in April 2019.

Since its approval by the town in 2015, The Shore, built on the site of Moore's Stone Crab, has plied a road pockmarked by legal and financial  disputes with contractors, the departure of a business partner, a fire, and engineering and construction issues. But the concept hasn't changed:  a 185-seat, 7,000-square-foot restaurant with a menu similar to its St. Armands sibling, featuring stone crab and shellfish.

In recent weeks, the restaurant builder has reached out to town officials seeking a new look for the property in the form of revisions to its previously approved site plan to better accommodate neighbors. That wrinkle continues to play out.

Here's a look at all that's taken place:

A recent wrinkle

In an email to town officials dated Jan. 4, Joe Jannopoulo of general contractor Synergy Building Solutions, asked for a meeting with town officials to discuss potential site plan changes to the Broadway Street rights of way, elimination of a public sidewalk and an increased in green space. 

Leonard said the idea behind the request is to address concerns from neighbors about light escaping from the property into adjoining neighborhoods. But considering the timeline and his goal of opening in April, changes might have to wait, he said.

"The building is already permitted," said Leonard. "After it is

opened, we can make adjustments."

The town, meanwhile, responded that such changes could require formal reviews. 

“Depending on what’s proposed for the Broadway Street (rights of way) your application may also need to be accompanied by a Right-of-Way Discontinuation Request, which would involve consideration by the Planning & Zoning Board and the Town Commission,” Longboat Key’s Planning, Zoning and Building Director. Allen Parsons replied in an email.

The lawsuits

Since construction began, financial disputes and liens have led to at least five lawsuits with Shore owners, contractors and subcontractors dating back to May 2017.

Two of those legal actions have been combined and the others are closed.

Two lawsuits remain active:

• Leonard's 800 Broadway LLC faces a scheduled non-jury trial in April in the 12th Circuit on a lawsuit that alleges nonpayment of an invoice and subpar work. The Shore’s original contractor, KS Contracting Services LLC of Deltona, initially filed the suit in Sarasota County in April 2017 against Leonard’s 800 Broadway LLC, seeking $106,844 it argued it was owed. After the action was moved to Manatee County in July 2017, 800 Broadway countersued KS alleging the project’s subcontractors were not getting paid and work was not being done correctly. The countersuit asks for more than $300,000 in damages. A non-jury trial on KS Contracting Services' action has been scheduled April 8. “KS has breached its contracts with Broadway, both oral and written and Broadway has been damaged in excess of $250,000,” the countersuit said. Lawyers for KS said they would not comment on the litigation. Leonard said the building was initially constructed six inches from where it should have been built, and corrective action had to be taken. He also said KS made a number of mistakes, which cost him $100,000 to fix. 
• The other active suit against 800 Broadway LLC and D&D Site Construction by Florida Dewatering, a Tampa pump company. In it, the Tampa company argues it supplied equipment to D&D on credit to make site improvements and is still owed $48,759.68, plus interest and attorneys’ fees. Court records show $7,946.82 of the lien had been paid with the remainder still owed.

"It's unfortunate, unfortunate problems," he said. "In the big picture, it's no biggie."

The fire

A fire at 10 p.m. Oct. 24 damaged the building and further set back the timeline toward opening. 

According to reports, the project itself was valued at $4 million, while contents inside were worth $100,000. It is estimated that the building sustained $500,000 in losses. There were also $50,000 in damages to its contents, the report said.

The cause of the fire has not yet been determined. Arson is not suspected, said Fire Chief Paul Dezzi. 

“Nothing returned from the fire marshal as of yet,” Dezzi said. “There were more pressing investigations within the state that have taken priority.”

In its official report, Fire Rescue said 50% to 74% of the building sustained damage. Materials contributing the most to the spread of the flames was the interior ceiling covering and sawn wood. No automatic extinguishment system or smoke detectors were present.

Leonard said the building’s ceiling and woodwork were in the process of getting sealed. The sealant that was used was highly combustible and rags were left in garbage cans by the door.

“We were fully covered,” Leonard said. 

Construction issues

Not long after the building got underway, problems surfaced with construction of the foundation 4 feet below the water level of Sarasota Bay. Workers could only dig small sections at a time and backfill. 

Construction of the project was temporarily stopped in February 2017 because of structural and design changes. A mechanical door planned for the building caused a corner of the building to be redesigned, which the town had to approve. Building resumed in July 2017.

In September 2017, the building passed an inspection from Longboat Key, verifying it was  making progress toward completion. Several changes to the building's foundation were approved, and new columns have been placed in the building, which had seen slow progress for months.