Massive Turnout for Restaurant Meeting ?
From recent reports somewhere in the area of 400 people showed up at the Sun City Anthem restaurant workshop on Monday, February 25, 2018.
...and elsewhere reported as "massive".
If one makes an assumption that of that total, approximately half are from the same household, it appears the word "massive" is in the eyes of the beholder...a beholder who always has, and always will have...an "agenda" based on deception.
To those who know how to count, how about a lesson in 2nd grade math?
200 households divided by 7,144 homes
=
2.8%
of Sun City Anthem homes
But
We'll go a step further, we'll give "Mr. Massive" the benefit of the doubt and assume that all 400 attendees were from separate property owners.
That would mean that ...
400 households divided by 7,144 homes
=
5.6%
of Sun City Anthem homes
That to us means that between 94.4% and 97.2% somehow either don't give a hoot, or have been at a "buy one...get one free" place.
But...according the soothsayer blogger, supposedly somewhere near 80% of the attendees said they would accept a SUBSIDIZED restaurant...
... to the tune of between $68,000 to $85,000 EACH YEAR according to the esteemed Director, "give 'em 40,000 grand of your money" Thomas Nissen.
... to the tune of between $68,000 to $85,000 EACH YEAR according to the esteemed Director, "give 'em 40,000 grand of your money" Thomas Nissen.
Yeah I believe that 80% of unit owners would OK a subsidy, don't you?
After all, apparently the "new favorite", G2G, primarily associated with Denny's Restaurants, has 41 restaurants, with an annual revenue of $70 million...
...must be in dire need of assistance.
They are also demanding FREE utilities and an annual rental fee of $1 with a generous "bonus of 4% of sales in excess of $1.3 million", open ONLY for lunch and dinner, 5 days a week.
Yeah...a restaurant who owns a bunch of Denny's...not open for breakfast !
Let's see, based on that info, in order to recoup that $85,000 subsidy...a.k.a. your dues money", that would mean the restaurant annual revenue would have to be...
$ 3,425,000 annual revenue
opening 260 days each year
generating
$13,173 per day in revenue
(with an average meal costing $12.00)
MEANING
SERVING ONLY
1,098 people
each day
Shall we go a bit further?
Why not !
Referring back to that "massive" 400 in attendance, and supposedly 80% of them (320) stating they wouldn't mind a subsidy...
...to all of you who boldly raised your hand in such support, if 100% of you eat there 3 to 4 times EACH DAY....EVERY DAY...5 DAYS A WEEK...
...on behalf of all of Sun City Anthem, the residents would gladly thank you for PRACTICING WHAT YOU PREACH....
...subsidizing the place to pay the $85,000 subsidy you believe the rest of us should pay !
...subsidizing the place to pay the $85,000 subsidy you believe the rest of us should pay !
Folks, all of this is just another example of...
Got a comment?
Send it to us at:
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From Frank Lewis...to...Anthem Opinions
The board only considered 3 options:
- single operator restaurant (doomed to fail even with subsidiaries)
- convert to meeting rooms at a cost of $750,000 (minimum)
- combination
During last years election campaign, I presented the following concept to two of the successful board candidates, so I know they are aware of it but obviously have no interest in even considering the following.
The layout of the restaurant and the additional kitchen space works in favor of converting the space into a food court. The bar would remain as is and the existing dining booths would be removed and replaced with 3 storefronts that would be leased to small, independent operators. The excess kitchen space would be divided into both exclusive food preparation areas and a common storage area for each operator. The existing seating would be a shared common area and maintained by a common area maintenance fee (CAM). The CAM could also allow for a shared utility cost. Tenants would be selected to provide a different style of food.
These small operators can operate on a much smaller revenue stream as they are self-managed and do not have large corporate overhead or franchise fees. They would compete among themselves to provide the best quality, variety and price point - a real benefit to residents. Restaurants fail and turnover can be expected. However, not all would fail at the same time and therefore, at least 2 would remain open until another tenant is located. By offering a modest rental rate (not free) this should not take much time as there are many persons that believe they can succeed in the restaurant business but have limited financial assets.
Shouldn't this at least be considered an option ? -
I find it rather interesting that one of the proposals, G2G, who owns 41 Denny's Restaurants, has no intention of serving breakfast.
Could this proposal be an intentional decision on G2G's part in order to reduce competition toward that restaurant chain in light of Denny's being known primarily for breakfast entrees?
...thereby reducing revenue to SCA, and making it even more difficult to obtain a break even point?
That decision alone, should end all negotiations with that organization, especially in light of their $70,000,000 revenue, demanding $1 in rent per year and free utilities.
That deck is stacked with greed in my opinion.
Also, it is ludicrous that it would cost $750,000 to re-purpose the area. After discussing that with other individuals in the real estate and construction industries, both estimated the cost at between $300,000 and $400,000.
Are others allowed to bid that job? Were those bids obtained from the usual "favorites" or were another contractors at large allowed to submit bids?
Those "favorites" have always had questionable numbers. -
David Berman Words of Wisdom:
Evidently charging a profit-making firm rent is a death knell to a restaurant !
After reading his comment, it shouldn't be a surprise.
"I believe those who might get excited about the prospect of collecting rent from a tenant might want to stop and ponder the fact that the rent obligation is a good part of what killed off prior operators."
Got news for him...not paying dues or a mortgage might be a good part of getting you kicked out of your home too.
Did it ever dawn on him that if a guy can't afford rent, that person shouldn't be in business?
Of course not, that how bureaucrats think....the world owes them everything...
...that FAILURE is everyone's fault...except their own.
Looks like his knowledge of providing financial planning advice is right on par with his ability to maintain a law license.
Anyone still wonder why we throw money down the drain?
It's listening to buffoons who "tell you how, but never did". -
From Robert Nusser...to...Anthem Opinions
A message to David Berman from Mark Twain:
“It's better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than open it and remove all doubt”
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With 70 million in sales.
41 locations.
That is an average of $1.7 million per location.
How can we even hit the average by opening 5 days a week for limited hours?
Denny’s Restaurants are open 7 days a week 24 hours a day.
How in the world are we going to match that?
That is over twice the hours of operation that they are proposing here.
If we hit that average…..then we get the following:
4% of excess over 1.3 million.
So $400,000 (the excess) times 4% = $16,000.
If they grow the sales to the average of their restaurants (doubtful), then we would grow to a monthly rent of $1,333.
What a deal to be average. We are getting hosed.
Now add free utilities to that?
Bad deal….
So Nissen says we have to put in a guess of $85,000?
We will for sure put in more than that.
Just where do these people come up with this nonsense?
Should have recalled Nissen, Weddle, Burch, and Waterhouse and got rid of Seddon.
This place is going insane with the way they do business.
Dick,
I spoke to a very reliable source about Henderson patrol of this area. They (the police) ride Anthem Parkway at least once every shift.
True they do not go up and down every street, but they do go into neighborhoods here as calls and time permit.
They may make a second run on Anthem Parkway as time and calls permit.
It is true they do not have enough officers and patrol cars.
I spoke with some on my friends in the neighborhood and we are all in agreement that we don't need a restaurant.
I saw this on our Monday SCA Eblast.
Employees of the Month
Please join us in congratulating Karen McDade and Israel Martinez as the February winners for our employee recognition program.
Karen is a Fitness Monitor and has recently stepped up to the plate during the absence of the Lead Monitor. Karen is recognized for being proactive and her willingness to take on additional duties without hesitation.
Israel is a member of our Facilities Maintenance staff and known to be a hard worker, stepping in whenever it is needed. He is recognized by his peers to be knowledgeable and professional.
Great job to both Karen and Israel. Each of them will receive a gross monetary award of $400 with the next payroll.
"Each of them will receive a gross monetary award of $400 with the next payroll".
What ever happened to a special parking spot for the employees of the month? $400 just for doing your job to me is a gross waste of our funds!!!
Dear Anthem Opinions,
After reading through the proposals of what the three restaurants would have to offer, said specifications, potential cost and or additional income to our Association; we find ourselves in agreement with “Opinions” that this would not be a sound investment for our community.
We believe for this to stand alone and be profitable, it would need to provide an atmosphere along with exceptional tasteful food items that have a distinct difference than what any other restaurant offers/provides within a five mile radius.
Plus, with having such an exceptional ethnic background of people living within Sun City, would our taste continue to support such an adventure as this week after week?
If restaurants have failed in the past, what is the belief from our current Board that any one of these or others would succeed?
From my experience if I may add, my family has and continues to be in the business of selling raw food products to restaurants since my grandfather and dad started it back in 1942.
Over the years we have seen many fine restaurants come and go. From those that succeed comes with the commitment of said ownership who work and oversee its daily operation.
We to have witnessed many successful operations that have been sold and watched them fail, downsize, and or go completely out of business.
With that, if the Board does decides to move forward ( with a) “lets” give it one more try with whom ever, shouldn’t our only commitment be to lease this space out per going rate per square foot?
With that, we should only need to provide the necessary fire and general liability to do it being our building.
Said tenet should also be attached onto our insurance as well, along with providing any additional insurance requirements per need.
Said tenet should provide a hold harmless clause and agree to pay for any claims brought against the association caused by said operation.
If the decision is to go with a “Club” type setting for its membership to where we are self managed here, to in my experience I have seen many come and go over the years.
To be successful with this venture, the Board would need to search and hire experienced successful restaurant management personal, plus also really give consideration to charging its members a set yearly amount for food and beverage to be spent to support said “Club” type venture.
Another question, who that Board member be to give of their life to seeing this type of venture succeed day to day, year after year?
To close, we really need to ask ourselves, am I really willing to give of myself to support this and spend a fair amount of my dinning out funds within one of these proposals no matter what?
My wife and I love our community, we are here for the long haul and will do our level best to continue and support our fellow neighbors.
Thank you for you time.
Wishing you all the best.
When it comes to people like you who would bring such amazing practical experience to the table in such dealings, why do these decision makers refuse to seek out such vital advice?
It never ceases to amaze me how much hidden talent and experience goes unnoticed and untapped in Sun City Anthem, allowing those who have little or none make decisions.
Thanks for your input. I think our readers greatly value it.
I was one of those people who was unable to attend the Restaurant meeting last Monday. in the morning for a 70-year old with arthritis just doesn’t work!
I have a hard time believing the majority of people who did attend were most in favor of a “subsidized” restaurant!
Been there.....done that! Hey folks.....that doesn’t work!!!
And they only want to be open five days a week??
Are you kidding???
The Italian restaurant is too limited in its menu, not being able to offer a BLT or grilled cheese sandwich or anything other than Italian food?
I love Italian, but I don’t want to go there more than once every few weeks, and it wouldn’t be someplace I could go for a sandwich or snack.
Village Pub would not be my first choice of a restaurant here, but of the three, I believe it has the best chance of being profitable and serving the the needs of the majority of people residing here in SCA.
It has a varied menu; there would be something on the menu for just about everyone.
The prices are a little higher than I would like to see, but it sure would be convenient for a meal a couple of times a week or a dessert after our card games, swim class, or craft activities! T
That’s where my vote would go, however insignificant my vote is.
Sadly - the typical resident is too uninformed to understand this, and will sit idly by while our HOA fees likely get raised to $500 per quarter over time.