Fans of the Station House Cafe were devastated Saturday when the 46-year-old Point Reyes Station restaurant announced it would close at the end of May.
Then they were outraged.
In a Facebook post, Station House Cafe owner Sheryl Cahill said the landlords were threatening to raise the rent by 300% — a cost unsustainable to the small restaurant even if it weren’t already struggling to survive the coronavirus. Community members responded with hundreds of comments, calling the landlords unreasonably callous during a global crisis.
But the landlords told The Chronicle they believe the Facebook post was misleading, and they’ve since faced harassment over the ordeal. Cahill has taken down the initial announcement, not wanting to cause pain for the building owners, who are people she has known for ages.
“It’s only been a couple of days, but it feels like a week,” Cahill said, adding that she loved seeing the outpouring of support but found herself frantically trying to delete threats directed at the landlords. “By Monday morning, I realized we had to take down the announcement because it couldn’t be controlled.”
Cahill bought Station House Cafe in 2005 from Pat Healy, who also owned the building. Healy and Cahill tried renegotiating the lease five years ago but couldn’t come to an agreement. They decided to try again in May. But Healy died in December, leaving the building to her stepsister Melinda Benedict and stepchildren Kirsten Hural and John Hural. Certainly, no one was expecting the coronavirus to further complicate matters.
The current lease was set to expire in June, so the landlords sent Cahill two proposals: extend the lease for one year at $28,000 per month, or adopt a new four-year lease at $21,000 per month. Her current rent is $8,372.
“I was very surprised myself at their perception of an appropriate rent for that space,” Cahill said.
Benedict and the Hurals said Cahill’s 2005 lease allowed her to pay sub-market rent for many years. They “carefully examined the market” to determine fair market rent for the property.
“Each of us has worked at the café and we all deeply appreciate the value and sense of community it brings to Point Reyes Station. Our connection to the town of Point Reyes Station and the café make Sheryl’s mischaracterization of our negotiations and the potential closing of the café profoundly disappointing,” the landlords said in a written statement.
The landlords said the new lease proposal includes provisions that are “standard in Marin County restaurant leases.” But Cahill said it was too restrictive and required her to pay for all building maintenance, insurance and property taxes, estimating that would add $4,000 per month on top of rent.
Cahill said she believes no restaurant could afford the proposed lease in Point Reyes Station.
“While the Station House sees really high volume in the summer months, I have to save up all summer to make it through the winter,” she said.
That’s partially because she keeps all of her employees year-round. Cahill said she wouldn’t compromise on her workplace values, which includes offering fair wages and benefits such as health insurance and a 401(k) retirement plan with a 4% match on contributions.
“They have mortgages, they have lives, they’re not seasonal,” she said of her workers, some of whom have been at the restaurant for more than 30 years. “How do you manage a culture of a business that values the people who work for it, that values fair pricing? A menu can’t accommodate those kinds of rents when you’re serving burgers and breakfast.”
Based on the proposals, Cahill decided to close the Station House Cafe — but the landlords said they wanted to continue negotiating.
They pointed out their offers to reduce the current rent by $2,873 until the end of shelter-in-place as well as a deferral of $2,500 per month that could be paid back in installments. Their proposed lease, due to start Oct. 1, also included an acknowledgment that restaurants might still be restricted, in which case the landlords would work with Cahill for a temporary reduction in rent.
“Throughout our discussions, we have made it clear that we understand the current market realities and are willing to negotiate a long-term agreement. Despite our efforts, Sheryl has rejected our offers and has instead merely proposed increasing the historically submarket rent by all but a modest amount,” the landlords said.
Cahill said she has no ill will toward the landlords.
“This is just a difference of opinion on what a business can handle and what the value is of a lease,” she said.
As the pandemic stretches on, Cahill will focus on her other Point Reyes Station restaurant, Side Street Kitchen. But she said she’s hopeful she can reopen Station House Cafe one day somewhere else.
“I think we can find the right mix of magic,” she said. “I’m just waiting for that opportunity to arise.”
Janelle Bitker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: janelle.bitker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @janellebitker
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May 14, 2020 at 08:30AM
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Point Reyes Station restaurant Station House Cafe prepares to close after rent hike - San Francisco Chronicle
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