The village of North Palm Beach, Fla. has struck out on a second deal to find an F&B operator for the new clubhouse it is building for the North Palm Beach Country Club. Construction has begun on the $18 million, 37,000-sq. ft. facility that will complement the city’s redesigned Jack Nicklaus Signature Course. The city may now use a restaurant broker to find an operator in time for next summer’s opening of the new building.
The search for a restaurant operator for the new country club being built by the city of North Palm Beach, Fla. (http://clubandresortbusiness.com/2018/09/north-palm-beach-fla-cc-clubhouse-construction-underway/) has had to start anew, the Palm Beach (Fla.) Post reported.
Andrew Lukasik, the village of North Palm Beach’s manager, confirmed to the Post that a deal to bring the operator of The Bistro in Jupiter, Fla. to the clubhouse has fallen apart, a year after a plan to bring the Carl Von Luger Steak & Seafood restaurant of Scranton, Pa. to the site also died.
The latest arrangement with Declan Hoctor, operator of The Bistro, fell apart when Hoctor wanted changes to the clubhouse, including enclosing an outdoor seating area so it could be air-conditioned, Lukasik told the Post. But the village had already changed the club’s design once to cut costs, and making additional changes was not going to happen, Lukasik said, “So we had to part ways.”
The 2017 deal to bring Carl Von Luger to the clubhouse collapsed when the famous Peter Luger Steak House of New York sued Carl Von Luger in federal court for trademark infringement, the Post reported. Carl Von Luger operator Robert Dickert, who said he is a Luger kin, had wowed village officials with his Luger-esque food offerings, including dry-aged meat.
But with North Palm Beach now 0-for-2 on restaurants, a clubhouse food operator is once again being sought, the Post reported. The village is already talking to a couple of restaurants who are familiar with its wishes, Lukasik said, and failing that, the village also is talking about bringing a restaurant broker aboard to help it make a match.
Construction on the new, $18 million, 37,000-sq.-ft. facility began in August, the Post reported, and the new clubhouse is expected to be completed by August 2019. It will overlook the Jack Nicklaus Signature golf course that was redesigned at the property in 2006. The par-71 course was closed earlier this year to install sod, but will reopen in December.
Lukasik hopes to have a new restaurant selected by April or May, the Post reported, so the operator can set up the kitchen space and be ready in plenty of time for the late summer club opening.
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