Published by former Mayor George Gardner July 12 2014
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George Gardner 57 Fullerwood Drive St. Augustine FL 32084
Sweet deal?
Mayors' St. George Street investment paying off
A lease agreement executed back in quieter days on St. George Street is paying handsome dividends to a former and current mayor.
Weeks and Boles
Weeks and Boles
In 1989 contractor Len Weeks, attorney Joe Boles and restaurateur Chris Way approached the city to lease a vacant lot at 81 St. George Street, promising to build and maintain public restrooms as part of their development.
Weeks would later serve as mayor from 1995 to 2000 and Boles is current mayor. The developed property today is sublet to Florida Cracker Café and Savannah Sweets.
Against some protest to the lease at the time, then Mayor Kenny Beeson said, "They came up with the idea, so it's theirs."
The agreement was for 20 years with rent of $100 a month for the first ten years and $750 for the second ten, with inflation adjustments.
A 1994 addendum provided options to renew for three successive five year terms beyond the original twenty, with monthly rent to increase by $250 during the first five-year period, $500 during the second and $750 in the third.
Way dropped out of the leasehold at that time and Weeks and Boles have since sold the café business to Travis Graft.
The second of those renewals begins July 25. City Attorney Ron Brown says, "According to its terms, the lease renews automatically unless the tenants provide written notice of their intent not to renew. The City has not received such notice."
With rents on St. George Street at $40 to $80 a square foot today, the 2,500 square foot Weeks/Boles building on the city-owned leased land can be yielding $100,000 to $200,000 annually.
Sweet deal.
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