Recession shutters Osio, Cafe Lumiere in Monterey - Monterey Herald

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MONTEREY — Despite gallant efforts and loyal followers, the Osio Cinema and the attached Cafe Lumiere are shutting down, victims of the recession caused by widespread infection rates in Monterey County.

In an Instagram post over the weekend, Lumiere owner Brandi Lamb said it was closing its Calle Principal location on Nov. 8. No further details were provided. Within hours more than 100 fans expressed their sadness over the news.

“Eleven years ago, December, I moved to Monterey,” wrote one fan who commented on the cafe’s Instagram page and was typical of the scores of other comments. “That first weekend I bought a cappuccino at your counter and saw a movie at the Osio. My heart is just sad … I’ve spent countless lunches, studying sessions, Saturday mornings and coffee breaks at the Lumiere.”

A GoFundMe page has been created to help employees affected by the abrupt closure. To view the GoFundMe please visit: https://gf.me/v/c/r6hd/cafe-lumiere-employee-fund

A call placed to Lumiere was met with a recorded message indicating no messages could be left. And a call placed to Gerard Mattimoe, president of the nonprofit Osio’s board of directors, was not immediately returned Monday.

The café and the theater were a one-two punch, a place where people could order an espresso coffee with a breakfast pastry or order off its lunch menu while waiting for a showtime. Osio was the only theater in Monterey County showing independent films and award-winning documentaries that were not being shown at the chain movie houses.

Rick Johnson, president of the Old Monterey Business Association, on Monday lamented not only the loss of a business but also the loss of a unique environment, with students from the Naval Postgraduate School, the Middlebury Institute of International Studies and the Defense Language Institute often calling Lumiere their daytime home.

“In many ways, Café Lumiere was like a student union,” he said. “There were students there all day writing papers or studying. It was like a little United Nations. It attracted the people who we enjoyed having in our downtown.”

It was the pandemic that put them out of business, he said. Even when there were no movies the café was doing a swift business until it had to close indoor dining under the county’s shelter-in-place order.

“It appealed to a lot of thinking people,” Johnson said.

Even before the pandemic struck, Osio struggled. In 2015 it shut down and last year it was resurrected as a nonprofit. Osio held the lease and subleased an area to Lumiere.

And as recent as last year, leasing issues began to surface, signaling some financial distress. That month Green Valley Corp. doing business as San Jose-based Swenson’s Builders, approached the city of Monterey asking for the city to take over the ground lease. It pitched its request as a great deal for the city.

“The city was going to obtain full rights to this property at the end of the agreed-upon 30 years, but Swenson is expediting this as a benefit to the city,” a written statement provided to the Monterey Herald said. “This is a mature asset for the city to take full control of now as it provides a new stream of income.”

The city thought differently.

Green Valley was also asking the city to forgive its loan balances after not making any loan payments since last summer, said Janna Aldrete, the property manager for the city. The city owns the real estate — the dirt — and Green Valley owns the buildings, entering into a 50-year lease in 1999 with the former Redevelopment Agency.

In a report provided to the Monterey City Council earlier this year, Aldrete said that loan payments that were scheduled to begin July 28, 2019 had not been received from Green Valley.

Green Valley requested the city terminate the ground lease effective May 1 and deed the building to the city with the city forgiving any outstanding loan balance, Aldrete said. No further details were released, as real-estate negotiations are not public information under the state’s open meetings law.

Aldrete said the Osio “turned in its keys to Green Valley and walked away from its lease. Osio did request some rent relief but was not able to agree to terms with its landlord.”

Johnson said there have been some businesses that have shown interest in the space but nothing yet reportable.

“My hope is that whoever comes in can keep that same spirit, that same attraction,” Johnson said. “It was a very unique draw.”

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Recession shutters Osio, Cafe Lumiere in Monterey - Monterey Herald
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