Questions about The Chart House bidding process

Now that there is movement at The Chart House and Scotty's Landing property, lots of things are being said and coming out of the woodwork.

For one, we have the list of bidders for the Scotty's property, here it is. You'll notice there are five. Out of the five, only one bid on The Chart House property, that is CHLN/Landry's. They apparently bid on both properties.

Now this is where it gets tricky, because it could just be a simple clerical error, but at the bid deadline, on Friday, June 15 at 2 pm, there were no bids on The Chart House property, there were only the five bids for the Scotty's property. Then, like magic, on Monday morning, June 18, CHLN/Landry's appeared as the lone bidder for The Chart House and also Scotty's. What transpired over the weekend and how could this bid come in late?

Now it could easily have been an error and after the closure of bids on Friday and maybe the last bid was found on the floor or something and quickly added to the roster, but it brings up questions because you would assume that it would have been the first bid because on July 8, 2009, at a Waterfront Implementation meeting, there was a discussion of a "public pier," and Jeff Cantwell, the VP of The Chart House at the time, was questioning where parking lots would go and asking about other future plans for the area. He was told that the area would all go up for bid and that parking would be part of the project. He was concerned about parking being closer to the restaurant.

This could be nothing and just coincidental, that the last bid that came in -- after bidding was closed -- was from Cantwell's company, who was asking about it back in 2009 and making plans in 2009. It begs the question: If the Chart House knew in 2009 that the lease was up in 2012 and that the area was going up for bid, why did they wait until the last minute to bid and why was their bid accepted after the closing date for bidding? Things that make you go hmmm. But then again, maybe it was just a clerical error.

The whole process has been rushing through at record pace because they want to get it on November's ballot. In fact, rumblings have been going on about the Expo Center, Burn Notice's home, being knocked down in November.

There are many questions regarding the project because the Waterfront Master Plan does not include garages right next to the water or other changes that may take place on the site, there was to be pier access, too, so some committee members are concerned about changes to the plan that was years in the making.

Also, Center Grove business owners are starting to get concerned about the shift that may take place regarding the business community from Center Grove to the waterfront. There apparently was an annoying police car patrolling the Grove on a quite Saturday night last weekend, for no apparent reason. I was told by business owners that it affected business because the police car was scaring off business. When the officer was asked what he was doing, he said that he was told to patrol the area and circle the Center Grove all night. Add that to the new liquor laws, which many feel inhibits business in the Center Grove and people are asking concerning questions now. (A couple of concerned citizens spoke to Channel 10 today and that will be on the 5:30 pm news).

The bidders list is at the City's Procurement Projects site here (at the very bottom) and all the updated material is there, too.