Waterfront brewery repair costs jump again

 

BY PRU SOWERS

KONK LIFE STAFF WRITER

 

 

The city’s attempt to get the former aquarium building on William Street back into shape for a planned brewery and restaurant is costing more than anticipated, again.

 

 

Key West City Commissioners on April 7 approved without discussion a$29,000 emergency purchase to fix several areas of significant spalling, or concrete cracking, at a tie-beam and a column. The emergency purchase was on top of another $35,000 the city, through its Key West Bight Board, spent earlier on unexpected repairs, bringing the total cost of unanticipated fixes to the building to approximately $64,000.

 

 

The Key West Bight Enterprise Fund has already paid out $250,000 to replace windows and doors and make other concrete spalling repairs in 2012. However, the tie-beam and column were behind a wall during the 2012 structural examination and the spalling was not discovered.

 

 

The most recent spalling problem came to light as the new tenant, Waterfront Brewery, LLC, was in the process of installing a large overhead door in the building. Karen Olson, Key West Deputy Port and Marine Services Director, said in memo that the Brewery was on a “tight timeline” that would be significantly delayed if the city had to go through a formal bidding process, as would normally be required for repair work on a city-owned building. The $29,043 emergency contract went to Barracuda Builders, the contractor already on-site doing renovation work. The Bight Board approved the emergency purchase at its March 11 meeting.

 

 

“Barracuda Builders is familiar with the structural components of the building and could have the repairs completed within two weeks, keeping on schedule with the Brewery’s overhead door installation. Formally bidding the project, in addition to Bight Board and CRA approvals, could set back the Waterfront Brewery’s opening up to an additional sixty days,” Olson wrote.

 

 

The project is already approximately four to five months behind schedule, according to Port and Marine Services Director Doug Bradshaw. Waterfront Brewery began making lease payments to the Bight Board about five months ago; when it hoped it would be pouring its first beer for customers. The annual lease for the building, located at 201 William St., is $613,879.

 

 

Because the building had been in disrepair for years, the city agreed to loan Waterfront Brewery up to $2 million to make improvements to the 18,942 square foot structure. In addition, the city agreed to reimburse the Brewery up to $600,000 to make “landlord improvements,” which included a level floor, fire suppression system and a new electrical system.

 

 

The $29,000 unanticipated repair cost should be the last, Bradshaw said.

 

 

“I think we have uncovered everything. There’s not much left covering the walls,” he said, adding, “For this big a building, it [$64,000 in unforeseen project costs] is not out of the ordinary.”

 

 

Bradshaw estimated that the building renovation is about three to four months away from completion, although he said contractors working on the project said they would be finished by early June.

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