The City of Dayton is the worst real estate speculator in the region. They also aren’t very honest about what “they” own (I say “they” because it’s the taxpayers that foot the bill). Recently there was an article about a building at 15 McDonough St. behind Garden Station that they owned and leased part of to Gosiger. [1] I did a FOIA request on when the city purchased the building, for how much- and to see the copy of the lease with Gosiger and got nothing back. They are selling the building for “$10 to Bacon Street Properties LLC, which lists Gosiger’s headquarters at 108 McDonough St. as its mailing address” yet- somehow, “City Properties Group… (also) is involved in the project.” They are the ones from Louisville that have the old Supply One building next to Garden Station.
A long time ago, a local developer managed to get a printout on greenbar computer paper of the entire listing of city owned properties. With one property per line, the folded stack was several inches high. There was, and is, something fishy about that. But, on to other issues.
You may remember when a local entrepreneur tried to lease the old Chin’s, Elbo’s, Sa Bai from the city to have a Food truck kitchen, teaching facility, rental hall. Tonia Fish was paying rent, and then the city decided to kick her group of small businesses to the curb- which was part of a prior article on Esrati.com:
The Great Thanksgiving Day Food Truck Massacre
It started on Tuesday, when Tonia Fish told me that her temporary lease on the old Chin’s/Elbo’s/Sa-Bai space at 200 S. Jefferson St. may not be renewed. A meeting of some sort had been held in City Hall and the decision was coming. Mayor Leitzell had told me that in the executive session last week, where this matter was being discussed, Nan Whaley wasn’t prepared to vote on it and it was tabled. Had they had another illegal meeting of the commission to discuss this lease? There wasn’t an announced session- and since Executive sessions have to be done either as an emergency and announced- or gone into from a regularly scheduled meeting- what had happened?
via Explaining irrational behavior in Dayton, Ohio – Esrati [2].
The building sat vacant for over a year. Zero rent. Of course, no one in City Hall is going after Sa-bai for breaking their lease, or back rent.
Instead, we’re giving the space away, again:
Bethany and Aaron Horn, who own Cheeky Meat Pies, have agreed to a five-year lease with the city of Dayton for 200 S. Jefferson St.
The building will feature a breakfast and lunch establishment called Cheeky Cafe and Bakery, as well as a casual dining joint called Weeds Diner, likely featuring “farm fresh” food and alcohol, including craft beers.
“The cafe side will be more comfort food, and the Weeds side will be more seasonal based,” Bethany Horn said about the 5,786-square-foot South Jefferson Street property, located across from the Dayton Convention Center.
Sai-Bai closed in 2013 after accruing more than $60,000 in unpaid rent and taxes, which resulted in the city starting eviction proceedings….
Horn said the cafe should open around May, and the diner hopefully will open by August….
Under the terms of their contract with the city, Horn Food Enterprises will pay no rent through the end of this year, but will be required to pay $14,518 in rent and parking in 2016 (or $2.25 per square foot).
The Horns will pay $15,965 in rent and parking each year for the remainder of their five-year contract (equal to about $2.50 per square foot). They have a trio of renewal options to extend their lease for an additional five years.
Horn Food Enterprises are not being charged rent for the first nine months because the owners will make considerable improvements and renovations to the space, especially the kitchen, which will become the property of the city of Dayton, city officials said.
“If we wanted to make the space reasonably leasable or rentable, those would be expenses we would have to incur,” said Joe Parlette, Dayton’s director of recreation and youth services.
Parlette said the city in the last two years reviewed probably 15 business plans for the site, but the Horns’ proposal won out partly because they had capital and were ready to move forward.
Parlette said the new agreement means all of the city’s leasable space in that area is occupied. The city also owns property that is rented by ThinkTV, Gilly’s and Drake’s Gym.
“Anytime the city can avoid a vacancy downtown is a win for the city and its neighborhoods,” he said. “It will give citizens another unique option to enjoy downtown.”
via Two restaurants to open in downtown property | www.mydaytondailynews.com [3].
Why the director of Parks and Rec is doing property management is the first question. The second should be is why was the space no longer usable after SaBai left? Maybe because they took everything they put in, including the washroom sinks and left the city with a mess. No one is being held accountable for that.
And, considering Ms. Fish was in, and paying rent of $850 a month for a space that wasn’t “reasonably leasable” – the taxpayers went without 2 years of potential rent and tax revenue because, well, why?
The last laugh may be on the city, when it turns out the real business plan according to confidential sources is that the “Weeds Diner” is planning on selling marijuana edibles as soon as the laws allow it. That should just go over fantastically with the fine folks of Dayton. We already saw how fast Moraine backpedaled on their land lease to potential pot growers.
What we really have is questionable business practices by a government that can’t figure out how to plow snow, sweep streets, or get a cop to a Family Dollar while an assault is taking place in less than 10 minutes [4]. Why our city is so focused on other people’s business instead of running their own is a major question.
When you realize these people at city hall spent at least $4 million to get a Kroger to Wayne Avenue and failed. They also tore down the Schwind, the Dayton Daily News and part of the historic back- for student housing that’s not coming thanks to a HUD deed restriction that they should have known about. The list goes on. Who in City Hall is qualified to review “15 business plans” and make this decision? The same one who spent $450K on 601 E. Third St? [5]
Maybe it’s time to divest the city of all its real estate holdings that aren’t directly used for providing taxpayer services? Or maybe, it’s time for the rest of us to start eating pot brownies so we can be just as high as the fools we have managing our real estate holdings.
UPDATE
5 April 2015. As if I needed more evidence to prove to you that the city is an incompetent property manager, this was in the morning paper.
DAYTON —Hundreds of thousands of dollars in infrastructure and equipment was removed from a vacant industrial building owned by the city of Dayton.
The security officer at the McCall Building, 2333 McCall St., filed a report Friday night on a breaking and entering, according to the Dayton police report.
Wiring, electrical equipment, copper pipes and generator equipment was listed as missing, an estimated $500,000 loss, according to the report.
The building is listed on cityfeet.com, a website that markets available commercial space.
The 348,000 square-foot building, valued at $1.5 million and available for rent at $58,000 per month, is listed as one of Dayton’s economic development sites.
via Thieves strip $500K in material from city-owned building | www.daytondailynews.com [6].
Another half million that could have been spent providing government services wasted.
It is far past the time to have them held accountable for their misdeeds and general incompetence. Esrati, print out your relevant blog pieces, add as much supporting documentation as you have in your records and send it off to the State of Ohio’s Inspector General’s Office. It’s a starting point and a formidable one at that. The local Dems will never back you for any office, much to all our losses, so you have nothing to loose at this point. Make them feel your “Beast Mode.” This crap can’t keep going on!
How about we look at the highest bond and note holders(if it can be found) might give us clues to economical development or redevelopment funding and who holds the purse strings. Of course getting open transparency disclosure for information might be like pulling teeth. Executive sessions and sunshine laws or abuse of is more likely with the public left in total darkness except for few there will be light after the lighting assessment we all are paying for along with a permanent tax increase for at least 20 years and look what we all are getting? Our quality of life and standard of living is decreasing while taxes go up without accountability. We live in 2015 there should be every reason for a perfectly running city with full disclosure but you guessed right the few will run things they way they see fit.
It will certainly be worth contacting the state of Ohio like you say Bismark to look into so many inconsistencies involving money, contracts and big players. As long as the flow of funds is going into these questionable places and individuals this machine will keep running unless stopped. Perhaps one day there will be a full independent audit into the accounting and financial bookkeeping can we find what is going on here to create checks and balances in a fair and balanced system in the first place.
This is a sure tail sign and tells us one, there are too many numerous empty buildings all sitting vacant and deteriorating(Oh, I forgot we have a $60 million dollar demolition fund if the buildings go into severe disrepair we can raze it.) The city cannot handle protecting these investments and the cost for security is insufficient does not work or lacking, two, It is suspicious and disturbing that robbers could have have taken there time to steal over $500,000 dollars and it did not happen overnight, but over time and nobody knew anything?
All these buildings should be occupied but with all the bureaucracy tenants, business entrepreneurs, and others will not rent and go elsewhere, folded up and went out of business or (remember Molars ice cream and so many others) went to the suburbs, another municipality, or completely move out of state like NCR did; it was an icon here in Dayton and really hurt us leaving a vacuum in ways we will never recover. We were sadly at one time the gem city.
Mr Esrati, I am sure you are familiar with the word libel as you are frequent regurger of your beliefs regardless of facts from what I can determine from this blog. Unlike yourself, I first hand understand the facts as I was part of the negotiations regarding the lease for the 200 South Jefferson building. First of all, I totally agree with you about city mismanagement of properties, especially from our prospective as we sent the city a proposal to lease the building in September 2014 and the lease was not finalized until last week. In the mean time, the building sat empty and we could not start any renovations. However, here are the actual facts concerning this property, which I doubt you will have any interest in, but I will attempt to education you anyway: 1. The Jefferson building is still in very poor condition as crucial equipment such as a hot water heater, hood fans, compressors/motor for coolers, etc are all missing or non-functioning. So, if you had any experience in the food business, you would know that it is impossible to obtain a food license without any of this equipment. This equipment should be part of the building and the property owner should be responsible for repairs as it will stay in the building after the leasee leaves. Tonia Fish did the best that she could to deal with the repairs but she did not get the opportunity to raise the required funds for her non-profit as the city decided to pull her lease prematurely for undisclosed reasons although rumors (which I am sure you are more in tune with as it is apparently obvious you run with rumors rather than facts) indicated that the a certain restaurant in the Oregon District complained about the food truck rallies Tonia organized. I was a huge supporter of Tonia’s project and was very sad to see it quenched like it was. 2. The city refused to make the required repairs, including replacing the divider stalls and sinks in the bathrooms. So, it will be up to us to make… Read more »
Bethany: oh, didn’t you hear? He puts up basketball nets and tries out some tired slang he got from watching ‘Boyz N the Hood’. In short, he does absolutely nothing of note for the city, but he’s the first in line to claim credit or criticize when someone else has a great idea. I hope you sue the sensible slacks off of him; he’s like a rabid dog that’s been allowed to wander for far too long.
Ms. Horn, I stand by my sources. If you are claiming I’ve libeled you by associating your budding business (pun intended) with MaryJane/pot/ganja/bud/canabis/dope/smoke/grass/herb/jolly green/kush/reefer/420… maybe you should have done a little brand research to realize that one of the most popular shows on Showtime was called “Weeds”- about a woman who started selling “weed” to support her family. Most people would not associate “weeds” with micro-greens as you insinuate in your overly pretentious post. To do damage to your business would be to discredit you- which I did not do. In fact, I probably just gave you more publicity that you could generate on your own. The reality is, if marijuana sales become legal in Ohio- you look brilliant for having a brand ready to go. If not- you’re just a strangely named diner. I’ve been doing this blog since 2005. There have been no lawsuits- no libel- no slander. My journalistic chops are proven. However, you are well aware of trashing public entities via social media. Your actions via social media toward Metroparks after you felt you’d been wronged in the deal at Riverscape were so epic that Metroparks tried to get every vendor in the 2nd Street Market to sign some kind of anti-slander rider on their lease. Only one vendor refused to sign- and he’s still there- because limiting freedom of speech isn’t well received in the courts in this country. We seem to agree that your new landlord is clueless. Since that’s the main part of this story- why don’t we just agree to leave it as is. If they come to you and try to modify your lease to ban sales of edibles if if becomes legal in Ohio- you’ll know what everyone else does: 1) Everyone in local government reads esrati.com 2) The city and their legal department aren’t competent to do much of anything. I hope you make millions selling edibles. I think our countries drug laws are insane. I respect you for your forward thinking and planning. But, let’s not go ballistic about something that’s in the future. You’ve got a restaurant… Read more »
Oh come on, no one of any import takes this blog seriously. So far, most of your nonsense has been nothing more than a running joke met with eye rolls and comments about how you take credit for everything. Hell, you’re here taking credit for the Horns’ success. Unfortunately for you, you have to either pony up this supposed source (which I doubt even exists) or face what appears to be an inevitable lawsuit. Long story short: you done goofed on this one and I can’t wait to see how you’ll update your wiki once you lose this case.
Dr. Mr. Esrati.
You think you can say what ever you want with out any recourse from the fine citizens of Dayton, You have went to far for, far too long!!!
To quote you “I’ve been doing this blog since 2005. There have been no lawsuits- no libel- no slander. My journalistic chops are proven”
Now is the time for you to pay!!!
You are a Certified Pot stirrer that does nothing positive for the city of Dayton, all you do is start shit & then try to back your weaselly ass out of it, You are a worthless piece of shit, that stinks up the city of Dayton, PLEASE LEAVE, YOU ARE NOT WELCOME IN DAYTON ANY MORE!!!
You worked with the previous owner of Side Bar to effectively screw over the former employees & Dayton will not forget that.
You pretended to support the 99% that was Occupy Dayton, yet you were on your vacation in Europe… (Yeah there’s pics of you enjoying dinner in Europe while stirring people up to protest at Courthouse Square!)
As a Business person he is horrible, he’s had to hire new staff constantly, because he is an asshole to his staff, & his turnover numbers from the next wave show that.
I could go on, but I have a life unlike Mr. Esrati whose main goal in life is to discredit the hard working people in Dayton.
I also suggest that my Colleagues at The City of Dayton, take a look Deep into the Life & Finances of Mr. Esrati, I’m sure you’ll find what you need…
Signed
a fed up Concerned Citizen
That I leave this unsigned crap up by “me” and “A cooncerned Citizen of Dayton” (sic)
on my own site should tell you that I have more integrity than these haters. If you want to say something- sign your name.
Hahaha! You? Integrity? You’re going to be sued for libel this very week, I suggest you learn what integrity is before claiming that you possess such a thing.
Smoke & Mirrors, Diversion Tactics. The responses are far out of proportion with your blog post. Suspect it hit too close for comfort (and to update it–brilliant move!) and the minions have been told to attack so as to cast shadows and to impugn your credibility. It’s what happens to whistleblowers and those that get too close to the truth. Please take my advice, E.
@Bismark. This isn’t my first rodeo. I’m not worried. And the IP addresses of the haters are both from Cincinnati. Yes- probably just minions harping. My readers will adjust things as they see fit with the bozo meter by the end of tomorrow.
Call me whatever you want; I’m just a Dayton resident that specifically warned you at one time that you were risking a lawsuit the last time you made stuff up. Have fun in court!
Mr. Esrati: Thank you for taking the time to respond to my comment. First it is obvious you are talking to Tonia Fish as she would be a source of this info: ‘However, you are well aware of trashing public entities via social media. Your actions via social media toward Metroparks after you felt you’d been wronged in the deal at Riverscape were so epic that Metroparks tried to get every vendor in the 2nd Street Market to sign some kind of anti-slander rider on their lease. Only one vendor refused to sign- and he’s still there- because limiting freedom of speech isn’t well received in the courts in this country.’ The truth from my perspective is that I simply posted on our Facebook page that ‘Cheeky Meat Pies was not worth a mention’ as MetroParks continued to mention every other food vendor on their Facebook page and yet continued to ignore us even after I talked with their people. After turning the other cheek month after month I finally had enough and posted the above statement. What I thought was no big deal turned into a ridiculous but typical MetroParks reaction. This is precisely why we did not renew our contract with them to operate the concession stands at RiverScape as they can be very difficult and illogical to work with. Unfortunately your ‘source’ is wrong as I will state again that there is no business plan to sell cannabis infused products at the Jefferson location. Reasons being that it is not legal at this time and it is very possible that the city will quickly write their own laws restricting the sale of cannabis products downtown. Your ‘source’ is ASSUMING that we will be selling such products because of the name of the diner. True it is suggestive but that is why we chose the name…. to create a buzz to help stimulate curiosity and visitation the location which is much needed because as we know it does not have the greatest reputation for thriving businesses. We will be building the business on selling food and hopefully alcohol… Read more »
@Bethany Horn- I do know many 2nd St. Market Vendors- having done work for:
The Chef Case
Dayton Urban Garden
The Spice Rack
Rahn’s Artisan Bread
The Olive Tree
I’ve also been around Dayton a long time. Suggesting that Tonia is my source about the MetroParks rule is wrong.
Just as your assumption that it’s libel to suggest that your naming your new place “Weeds Diner” has nothing to do with legal marijuana sales.
Your business will fail or make it just like most others- your ability to deliver something that people want and desire.
If you needed Metroparks to promote your Riverscape venture- it obviously wasn’t going to make it on it’s own.
Do and say what you want, I stand by my sources. They have no reason to make up this part of the story.
Have a cheeky day.
Fair enough, I publicly apologize to Tonia as I was out of line to implicate her in the above post.
However, your ‘source’ is absolute ‘bullshit’ (lack of better terms) as I know nothing about this cannabis business plan that pertains to MY business. The true will come out… I’m not worried.
Bethany Horn
I love Cheeky Meat Pies and I often find Esrati.com to be informative and/or entertaining. But when you say, “True it is suggestive but that is why we chose the name…. to create a buzz to help stimulate curiosity and visitation” … well, I’d say that’s what you are getting here. Congratulations. I’m looking forward to your new venture(s). However, in my experience, I have never seen a vendor going on the offensive against comments on social media to come out looking better… FWIW.
Ms. Horn, you stated that “Reasons being that it is not legal at this time and it is very possible that the city will quickly write their own laws restricting the sale of cannabis products downtown. ” You also said that “It would be a very poor business plan to depend on selling an illegal product.” Your tone is very much in the present.
David Esrati said that “confidential sources is that the “Weeds Diner” is planning on selling marijuana edibles as soon as the laws allow it.” This is a future tense statement.
Regardless, all you have to do is say clarify that regardless of whether it is legal or not, you don’t plan on selling cannabis-infused dishes as part of your establishment’s future plan.
By the way, I’m not an Esrati crony, don’t even know the guy. I patron Cheeky Meat Pies and will visit your new place regardless.
Dayton’s own “Ruprecht the monkey boy,” on the rant again. Unfortunately those “black kids” that hit him last summer while he was “simply out riding his bike downtown” didn’t hit him hard enough to knock some sense in him.
Observational comment regarding haters and denigrators of both Mr. Esrati & his Blog: There is a striking disconnect between the haters’ expressions of disgust & name-calling and why they keep visiting a blog they find so offensive. Most individuals would steer their precious time and attention towards similar-minded blogs. Just say’n…I know of no other blog site that permits publication of derogatory & abusive comments about the BlogMeister the way this blog does without being blocked or censored. A lesser BlogMeister would have had these haters blocked.
So making a restaurant “Weeds Diner” means that it’s going to be a marijuana distribution center? By that logic “Pottery Barn” must be Weeds Dinner grower?
I see an awful lot of finger pointing an awful lot of trash talking the city govt with talk of how you think think things need done. Have you run for a position in the city govt that would allow you orchestrate the changes you think the city needs?
Once again- Welcome to Jamie- now Jamie C, since someone else has Jamie as a screen name already.
You are obviously new to this site- I’ve run for City Commission since 1989- off and on- depending on the whims of the graphologists employed by the Board of Elections and Congress 3 times as a Dem – not advancing from the primary.
This blog has been published since 2005- with over 2500 posts and 25,000 comments- mostly discussing how I think things need to be done.
I’ve been a local activist since I moved to Dayton in January of 1986.
You can say trash talking all you want, but, there is no candidate that has run for any office that has put their issues out via social media as voraciously as I have, nor any that has taken the time to video political events- and post to YouTube (despite having to do it via grossly inadequate DSL).
Read more young padwan… read more.
Or how about Budweiser’s campaign of ‘grab some buds’… they are clearly planing on distributing marijuana buds to the masses! Just saying.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Carc5IiSGIY
Ms. Horn, you didn’t answer the question about whether selling marijuana infused products is part of your future plan or not. Just saying no (no pun intended) would put it to rest. Just saying….
This just in: From Dayton Business Journal:
Underground Sports Bar & Grill, at 2331 West Market Street in Troy, is permanently closed, the restaurant said on its Facebook page. This the latest of several Dayton-area restaurants to close down over the summer.
“Due to circumstances out of our control we have to close permanently,” the restaurant said. “We would like to thank the Troy community for supporting this endeavor.”
Bethany Horn, co-owner of Cheeky Meat Pies at 2nd Street Market in Dayton, opened the restaurant earlier this year. The 12,600-square-foot restaurant which features a large patio was formerly the Filling Station Sports Bar, which closed last year. It had also previously operated as a winery.
Horn said earlier this year the restaurant would have about 12 positions. Posts on Facebook indicated last month that the bar was suffering a “chronic” water leak in its roof that had closed it down several days.
http://www.bizjournals.com/dayton/news/2015/08/10/troy-restaurant-closes-down.html
In today’s Dayton Daily News-
Apparently- Dr. Horn has changed her direction a bit-
And now- Dr. Horn closes it down- and has the idea that Tonia Fish originally had planned for the space- but was shut down by the city: