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Post by news on Nov 23, 2005 8:28:08 GMT -8
Restaurateur gets loan for eatery
AZUSA - City officials approved a $150,000 loan for an Azusa resident who wants to open a new restaurant downtown next spring.
The Italian restaurant, Il Forno, will be in the former Talley building, 621 N. Azusa Ave.
At the end of five years, the loan will be forgiven.
The restaurateur, Seyed S. Zaribaf, will use the money to buy fixtures and equipment, according to a city report.
Zaribaf owned two local restaurants before going into the restaurant supply business as a marketing associate with U.S. Food Services and SYSCO Food Services.
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Post by DavieBoi on Nov 23, 2005 8:38:43 GMT -8
This is awesome, wonderful news!!!
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Post by Strike Three on Dec 4, 2005 19:29:16 GMT -8
"At the end of five years, the loan will be forgiven." Sounds like a sweetheart deal...what exactly does this mean? The person receiving the loan has already operated and closed two local restaurants before going into a related field. Should not this be cause for concern rather than for shelling out $150,000???  |
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Post by a good thing on Dec 4, 2005 22:43:52 GMT -8
It is a good way to get a fine restaurant into the downtown. The sales taxes that that restaurant should generate over the first five years should cover the cost of the loan. Over the long term, the city will be ahead. The city should do what ever it can to get the downtown redeveloped as quickly as possible. I don't care if they have to use redevelopment funds to do so. That is what redevelopment money is for.
It is the people that complain how every little thing is done that are slowing down the progress of the city.
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Post by Strike Three on Dec 5, 2005 16:43:31 GMT -8
a good thing...I suppose it was okay to sell the Blockbuster Video property at a substantial loss to a former city employee, as well? It is one thing to try to spur redevelopment in a way that does not hurt the City, but to give out loans to a restauranteur who has twice failed to keep his previous restaurants open should be closely scrutinized rather than welcomed with open arms. I, for one, would like to know what relationship the restauranteur has had with the current City Councilmembers in the past. Campaign contributor, perhaps?
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Post by Bill on Dec 6, 2005 14:35:25 GMT -8
Dear Strike Three, Is it so unusual that a business owner would have some ventures that fail? What about the other restaurants and businesses this person owns which are successes? I think very few in business expect every deal to be a winner. Frankly, downtown Azusa is still a gamble for investors, so incentives are needed.
The Blockbuster property was not an illegal transaction - this charge was thrown out in court, twice.
One positive way to view our downtown is that we have a mostly clean slate from which to start. We can look around (Monrovia, Brea, Glendora, Old Town, etc.) and see what has worked and what has not worked and go from there. One good example of this is the designation of pre-planned parking structures before starting to build out retail - there are not many cities that could choose this up front.
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Post by Strike Three on Dec 7, 2005 13:09:29 GMT -8
Bill,
Do you have information that affirms that the individual receiving the loan, in fact, has other successful businesses and restaurants? I only have the information from the article and it mentions nothing about this.
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Post by Jim on Dec 8, 2005 6:24:00 GMT -8
Strike Three,
Do you have any information to show that the two previous restaurants failed and were not sold? Why do you automatically assume the worst? The article does not mention anything about previous restaurants failing.
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Post by Strike Three on Dec 8, 2005 8:55:41 GMT -8
Bill,
So you would be okay if the restauranteur opened up the restaurant with the $150,000, sold it, took the money and ran? As they say, a sucker is born every minute.
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Post by Jim on Dec 9, 2005 8:56:02 GMT -8
Bill, So you would be okay if the restauranteur opened up the restaurant with the $150,000, sold it, took the money and ran? As they say, a sucker is born every minute. How do you know he did that? He may have owned those restaurants 10 or 15 years? |
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Post by psychologist on Dec 9, 2005 14:39:12 GMT -8
Hey Jim,
Isn't it funny how the mind can work. It can actually make up something and then get all worked up about it like it actually happened.
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Post by Bill on Dec 14, 2005 15:47:08 GMT -8
Three Strikes, It is common for cities to provide seed money for private, commerical redevelopment. The City of Pasadena does the same except on a much larger scale (millions). No reason for skepticism. It's in the residents best interest to generate new sources of tax revenue and see our downtown bloom. The City does not just write a $150K check with no accountability. Proof of improvements are required. If he sells before 5 years there is no debt relief.
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