Moving of restaurant subject of redevelopment meeting
A proposal for relocation recently presented by Maria’s Buena Cucina to the Highland Redevelopment Commission will be discussed Monday during a special meeting.
Mark Schocke, attorney for restaurant owners Maria and Ignacio Curiel, told the Redevelopment Commission on July 16 the Curiels would like to move the restaurant to the vacant 800-square-foot retail space adjacent to the Highland Convenience Store at 3404 Ridge Road, at the corner of Ridge and Grace Street.
“It is our very high hopes to stay in Highland,” Schocke said.
The restaurant, at 8620 Kennedy St., is immediately south of where the Town Theatre once stood. The theater was razed in January.
The property at Ridge and Grace is owned by Scott Filler, of Highland-based Apex Construction, and will be rented to the couple for $800 a month. As part of the arrangement, Filler has agreed to allow the restau- rant to operate rent free for six months and pay half — $400 — for an additional year.
He said the proposal would be a public-private partnership that would help to keep the business in town. The couple are seeking a $25,000 loan from the RDC to complete the buildout of the space necessary to convert it from a former cellphone store to a restaurant, Schocke said. The loan funds would be paid directly to contractors performing the work.
Total cost of the project is expected to be about $57,550, based on the lowest bids received for the proposed work, he said.
Kathy DiGuilio-Fox, the town’s redevelopment director, asked whether other sites were available in town.
“None that we can afford,” Maria Curiel said. Affordable spaces are not equipped for restaurant use; fully equipped spaces are too expensive, she said.
After weighing the couple’s options, Schocke said this was the proposal they had come up with in order to keep the business in Highland.
“We understand you are not a bank. We are trying to move forward to save this business,” Schocke said.
Councilman Dan Vassar said the plans for the Town Theatre area along Kennedy all along have called for tearing down the building, regardless if the theater project were to come to fruition. He questioned why owners were not ready for the costs associated with relocation.
“Maria was preparing for the move,” Schocke said. The couple have saved more than $27,000 toward their relocation costs, a shortfall of about $25,000.
“We came here with a bit of desperation,” Schocke said.
RDC members said they would like time to consider the proposal and questioned whether a shorter term might be possible. DiGuilioFox said she encouraged the special meeting so the town could move the matter forward because the lease for the Kennedy Avenue site is set to expire and no resolution has been reached.
Carrie Napoleon is a freelance reporter.