Longtime tenants face uncertain future as new owner raises rent, plans renovations

After being a tenant in Springs Plaza for 19 years and 11 months, Tony Dorta got a call from the leasing agent reminding him his lease was about to run out. Instead of getting it renewed, however, Dorta said he was told his rent would increase by 40 percent and he would be leasing on a month-to-month basis.

“I told her that was unacceptable and it was unfair that they were treating a 20-year-old tenant like this,” he said. “So she told me she would call me back. When she did, she said she had good news.”

His rent would only go up 30 percent but he would still have to go month-to-month on the lease.

Dorta, a State Farm Insurance agent, is one of a handful of business owners at the Bonita Beach Road shopping plaza who have been informed over the last few months that their annual leases wouldn’t be renewed. If they want to stay, they have the option of doing so at a much higher month-to-month rate.

The reason: The owner, Ram Realty Services, is trying to empty many of the small locations in certain parts of the plaza as the company prepares for a major renovation that includes putting in a 30,000-square-foot anchor store. The plaza, which is at the southeast corner of Bonita Beach Road and U.S. 41, is one of the oldest in Bonita Springs.

According to plans submitted to Lee County by the Palm Beach-based company, the anchor, an LA Fitness Center, will be a two-story building just south of Sweetbay. That area currently houses a number of small stores, including Dorta’s business, Ken Feeley’s American Home Security, Act II Consignment and Pet Pals.

Ram purchased the plaza for $15.4 million from Baltimore-based Continental Realty Corp. in June 2004 and is planning a major overhaul of the 169,765-square-foot plaza, said Ivy Greaner, managing partner of the company’s commercial division.

The overhaul also will mean the loss of Jimmy’s Roadhouse. The restaurant will close June 16 because its lease wasn’t renewed, said John Mathieu, who purchased the restaurant in 2004 from founder Jimmy Navarro.

The spot where Jimmy’s now stands is shown as a retention area in the plans, said Benjamin Dickson, development order reviewer for Lee County.

Other site changes include tearing down a 34,000-square-foot building next to Iguana Mia restaurant on the northwest end of the plaza. The building will be replaced with a slightly smaller one to make space for a drive aisle and additional parking, Greaner said.

More parking will be added elsewhere in the plaza where there currently is a courtyard that includes the Old World Café. The plans call for adding 6,000 square feet to the building immediately south of the courtyard, Dickson said.

The company’s total commitment to the project is $8 million-$10 million, Greaner said. He said the changes shouldn’t affect too many tenants.

“Anyone who wants to stay, we have spots they can relocate to. Only two tenants are being displaced and there is only one tenant that we weren’t able to accommodate, Discount Auto,” she said. “And they are building their own building.”

Several of the tenants, including Dorta, dispute that.

“They told me they wanted to do something with that side of the mall and they didn’t want me there anymore,” Dorta said. “I asked if they had anything else available for me. They said they had nothing else available. I knew that was a lie. I drive by empty space all the time.”

Because his lease was up in October, it has cost him $3,500 a month to stay in the plaza while he found a new location and started outfitting it to meet his needs, said Dorta, who said he also spent several thousand dollars getting his new place ready.

“We are going to have space left over for anyone who wants to stay,” Greaner said. “They may not have been interested in taking another space somewhere.”

Tom Firth, co-owner of Hair Trends, said he also was told that he would have to switch to month-to-month renting when his lease ran out. He said the business has been there 19 years.

The rent amount was not increased, but Firth said he was given only one option for moving to another space. He said conditions in that spot were so bad two other companies had already turned it down.

“They are not being nice at all after 19 years,” Firth said. “It’s incredible.”

Firth and his business partner, Paulette Sansouci, are now looking for space to relocate their business and its 15 employees.

Feeley has already relocated his security business and closed the retail end of it. He now runs his business out of a warehouse and his office is in his home.

“I had been there for 14 years,” he said. “How many places are there that have 500- to 800-square-foot rentals around here? Even the smallest ones being built are 1,200-1,500 square feet. As a small business we would love to rent that much space if we could, but we can’t afford it.”

Neither can Mathieu. He is going to close his restaurant. Mathieu said he tried finding a new home for the Roadhouse but couldn’t find anything under $48 per square foot, an amount he said he can’t afford to pay for a seasonal restaurant business.

“That is very disappointing. It is sad, it is the end of an era,” Mathieu said. “My goal in buying it was to do something for the community, to be involved. And it’s like they didn’t want us there at all.”