A chain link fence still closes off the end of the Seal Beach Pier. It is there, apparently, to keep vandals away from the empty building that once housed a restaurant.
The Ruby’s Diner on the pier served its last hamburgers, fries and shakes Sunday, Jan. 6, 2013.
On Monday, Jan. 27, 2014, the City Council met in closed session to hold a conference with real property negotiators about 900 Ocean Ave., which is the address of the restaurant space at the end of the pier. There was no reportable action taken at the closed session. However, the agenda for the closed session indicated that Seal Beach is currently negotiating with three business entities.
According to the Jan. 27 closed session agenda, the subjects of the property negotiation were price and terms of payments.
According to Mayor Ellery Deaton, the council will meet in closed session again Monday, Feb. 10, on the same issue.
She said the city was negotiating terms with three business applicants for the pier space.
Jim Basham, director of Community Development for Seal Beach, said he could not say anything about the pier space because the city is still negotiating.
The agenda identified the three businesses as: MDK, Fessel International and blue Water.
Basham said MDK was a limited liability investment company that specializes in the construction of restaurants.
According to Fessel.com, “Fessel International is a consulting company specifically dedicated to the restaurant industry and to the companies and individuals for whom excellent food service is a critical element of their success.”
Bluewater is apparently a reference to Bluewater Grill restaurants, which have locations in Newport Beach, Redondo Beach, Tustin, Catalina Island and Phoenix.
Ruby’s: a brief history
The Ruby Restaurant Group had notified the city on Dec. 10, 2012, that the restaurant was leaving Seal Beach. Assistant City Manager Sean Crumby said that the diner’s 10-year lease ran from October 2002 to October 2012.
Deaton, whose Old Town district includes Ruby’s Diner, said the city had sent a notice of breach of contract to the Ruby Restaurant group the week before.
She said Ruby’s had a 10-year contract with the city that included an option to extend the contract. The chain did not extend the contract.
“We understand that the city has decided to put the lease for the Seal Beach Pier out for RFP (requests for proposals,” wrote Dough Cavanaugh, chairman and CEO of the Ruby Restaurant Group, in the Dec. 10 letter ending the relationship between Seal Beach and Ruby’s.
“At this point due to the RFP process, it appears that there may not be a desire to continue with a Ruby’s on the pier,” Cavanaugh wrote.
In November 2012 , the City Council approved a month-to-month rental agreement with Ruby’s while the city negotiated a new lease.
The city announced that the restaurant chain was leaving its iconic location at the end of the pier on Friday, Jan. 4, 2013.
On Saturday, Jan. 5, Art Haack, general manager of the Seal Beach Ruby’s, confirmed that Sunday, Jan. 6 would be the last day the hospital-white restaurant would be open to the public.
On March 29, Seal Beach filed suit against Ruby’s Diner, Inc., for breach of contract over the maintenance of the restaurant space at the end of the city pier. The lawsuit was the latest twist in the story of Ruby’s versus Seal Beach.
Tad Belshe, a representative of Ruby’s Diner, Inc., said that the company doesn’t usually comment about lawsuits in progress. However, he also rejected Seal Beach claims that Ruby’s did not fulfill its obligations under the lease for the pier space.
In April 2013, a food company proposed bringing a Ruby’s Diner franchise back to the pier, according to Haack.
At the time, Basham said the Christy Food Service (Haack’s Ruby’s franchise) proposal was the only one Seal Beach received.
City officials had originally sought five proposals for the pier space.
In October 2013, two Seal Beach officials have confirmed that the city was negotiating with at least one business to possibly move into the restaurant space. Basham said the city was negotiating with one business. Deaton said the city was negotiating with more than one business.
As for the lawsuit, Seal Beach on Monday, Jan. 27, 2014, made a motion for summary judgment and/or adjudication that would be scheduled for March, according to the Orange County Superior Court website.
Seal Beach filed a withdrawal of the motion on Friday, Jan. 31, the website said.
