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10A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2015 Smithart: City, Port West End: Home to several businesses have other recourses Continued from Page 1A “I also thought perhaps this is the time we should be look- ing at the Chinook Building,” Executive Director Jim Knight said at the meeting, cautioning Port commissioners to take a more comprehensive look at the properties around the mari- na. “It’s kind of the twin to the restaurant.” any losses from Smithart, who has said he has little invested Smithart, who still runs in the arcade and has taken a the Arc Arcade in downtown second job to make ends meet. Astoria, owes the city more Smithart has said he is also than $100,000, which he said contemplating litigation, con- he still intends to pay back. He tending he walked away from owes more than $300,000 to his investment in the hotel the Port, which he says didn’t and ultimately suffered bigger allow him to pay the debt back losses than the Port. through a lease transfer. Mul- City Attorney Blair Hen- tiple parties had approached ningsgaard could not immedi- Smithart about buying him out ately be reached for comment. of the hotel and paying some Port Commissioner Ste- or all of his debts. phen Fulton offhandedly The Port Commission mentioned during a Novem- voted in June to allow Smi- ber budget meeting the Port’s thart to transfer his lease to intent to sue Smithart. Execu- the Param Hotel Group. The tive Director Jim Knight said Portland budget hotel compa- he didn’t know where Fulton ny had been trying to buy him got that notion. Knight said the out of the hotel for more than Port is exploring the timeline a year. But the transfer never and costs associated with su- happened, and the Port instead ing Smithart. terminated Smithart’s lease in “I’m hesitant to move for- July and kept him on as an in- ward with that until we get WHULPRSHUDWRUZKLOH¿QGLQJD some resolution about the short-term alternative. In Sep- current operator of the River- tember, the Port Commission walk Inn,” Knight said, add- voted to install Astoria Hos- ing Param’s recent lawsuit pitality Ventures, headed by against the Port, himself, Orr Chester Trabucco and William and Trabucco also throws a Orr, while it creates a request wrench into any potential ac- for proposals for a long-term tion against Smithart. operator. Param alleges the Port Smithart signed an agree- broke the agreement to transfer ment with Hospitality Ventures the lease without any explana- that provided him $20,000 tion and showed bias toward for a smooth transition. The Hospitality Ventures and Orr, agreement also stipulates that who is Fulton’s brother-in-law . if Hospitality Ventures gets a Neither the Port, Orr nor lease of at least seven years on Trabucco have responded to the hotel, it will pay the city 3DUDP¶V ODZVXLW ¿OHG LQ 1R up to $100,000. Trabucco said vember. On Dec. 21, the com- last month the deal still stands. pany’s lawyer, Colin Hunter, ¿OHGDQRWLFHRILQWHQWWRDSSO\ A litigious atmosphere for an order of default against Marquis said the city and the Port and Knight if they did Port have other recourses, not respond to the suit with- such as taking Smithart to civil in 10 days of being served. court. An order of default means a But it’s unclear whether defendant loses a case by not the Port or city could recover participating. Continued from Page 1A Motley crew The Port in 2009 spent $28,000 on a quick face lift for the Chinook Building, which had emptied out because of myr- iad infrastructural issues. Once the building was complete, it attracted a motley collection of RI¿FHV IRU WD[ FRQVXOWDQWV UHDO HVWDWHEURNHUVDQG¿VKLQJFKDU ter companies. Since moving in six years ago, Northwest Wild Products has been a star attraction of the Chinook Building. The seafood market slings fresh, frozen, smoked and fried seafood, along with exotic imported meats, out of a tight corridor facing the docks of the West End Mooring Basin. Amanda Cordero, a co-own- er of the shop with Ron Neva, said they like the ample parking and the view, sentiments shared E\RWKHU¿UVWÀRRURI¿FHWHQDQWV just hoping their status in the building doesn’t change. “In general, we like the Port as landlords,” she said, adding there have been issues with the billing. When the agency was par- ticularly short-staffed before the arrival of Knight, tenants complained of being billed late or for the wrong amount. One long time tenant, Tiki Charters run by Richard Olson, left in part because of the issues. But Cordero said the billing has since started coming out on time and accurately. Kumars: ‘In old days in India, you don’t decide what you’re going to do’ Continued from Page 1A money. If you want to do the business, It’s hard to borrow money.” The couple both came from modest Hindu families in small farming villages in northern In- dia. Both attended government schools and said they based much of their direction in life on the lead of their families. “In old days in India, you don’t decide what you’re going to do,” Lovekesh said. “You fol- low what other people are doing. I wanted to be a businessman all the time, but my cousin was a teacher. Rakesh Kumar; he was my idol, so I followed him.” Lovekesh earned diplomas in business administration and in- ternational business, along with a bachelor’s and master’s in math- HPDWLFV DQG D WHDFKLQJ FHUWL¿ cate. He left for Australia in 1997 to study business administration, falling one semester short of his second master’s degree. “After that, I never stayed (in India) more than six months,” he said. On a visit to India for his sister’s wedding, Lovekesh met $OSDQD IRU WKH ¿UVW WLPH WKH night before their arranged mar- riage. “I stayed 10 days,” he said, adding he would come back to ,QGLDHYHU\¿YHRUVL[PRQWKVWR visit his family. Lovekesh moved to America in 2001 to work at convenience stores around Tillamook owned by family friends . Alpana stayed with his parents in India, eventu- ally earning bachelor’s degrees in chemistry and education, and master’s in chemistry before teaching middle school science for seven years. The marriage wilted under the long distances, and the two divorced in 2005. Lovekesh remarried in 2006 in the U.S., from which he has a 10-year-old daughter,Samantha , who lives with the family in Warrenton. In 2007, Lovekesh gained custody of Kevin, who moved at age 5 to the U.S. to live with his father. In 2009, they moved to Cloverdale as Lovekesh opened KLV¿UVWFRQYHQLHQFHVWRUH By 2010, Lovekesh had got- ten divorced from his second wife. In 2011, he and Alpana remarried, by choice. Shortly thereafter, she moved to Clover- dale. “It’s been good,” she said. “I like it here, especially living with my family.” Making life in Warrenton Lovekesh said he had been looking at the location in War- renton, the former site of Mather Martial Arts Academy, since before his store in Cloverdale opened. The Kumars made the move north last spring to run the new store, and for the addition- al opportunities afforded their children. Kevin attends Astoria Middle School and said he en- joys the Astoria Aquatic Center and going to the local movie the- ater. Samantha attends school in Warrenton. “I like beach,” added Ka- makshi, who will start preschool next year. Alpana has helped run the convenience store and came close to studying at Clatsop Community College, wanting to be a radiology technician. But Lovekesh contracted Fuch’s corneal dystrophy and eventual- ly had to have one of his corneas transplanted. On top of the sur- gery, he developed anemia. “I was resting, and she was taking care of the kids and work- ing at the store,” he said, adding a friend who works at Uptown Cafe in Warrenton helped drop off and pick up Kevin from school while he was incapacitat- HG³,WZDVEDGIRUIRXURU¿YH months.” The couple say they are now just enjoying the relative stabili- ty, looking at restarting Alpana’s studies and focusing on build- ing their business in Warrenton. Lovekesh’s parents are prepar- ing to immigrate to live nearby. Alpana said her parents will eventually make a visit as well. “In the beginning, it took some time to build trust,” Lovekesh said about the family integrating and opening busi- nesses in small communities like Cloverdale and Warrenton. “We make the trust. The cus- tomer comes to you if they have trust in you.” Welcoming in the New Year OPEN News Year’s EVE 10-5 New Year’s DAY 12-5 Winter Hours Lan-Ĩar Sun-Thurs 10-6, fri-Sat 10-8 12 TH AVE. & HWY. 101, SEASIDE, OR 0.1.10 o SEASIDEOİTħETS.ĞOĨ Photos by Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian The former Seafare Restaurant building is vacant but has drawn interest from several unnamed parties. In 2012, the Astoria Yacht Club moved into the upper floor of the Chinook Building. Cordero and Neva said busi- ness has been brisk, despite cus- tomers often having trouble try- LQJWR¿QGWKHVWRUHRYHUORRNLQJ the marina but hidden from the street. They said a sign facing the street or on the highway could double their business. “I think a restaurant would be great,” Cordero said of the Port’s efforts to resurrect the Seafare. She and Neva have approached the Port Commis- sion about building a covered crab-cooking area next to the Chinook Building, available to the public. “We’d like to have a restau- rant here,” Cordero said. “We get a ton of calls from people thinking we’re a restaurant. We’re the only place in Astoria where you can get a crab din- ner.” Yacht Club In 2012, the Astoria Yacht Club relocated from the city of Astoria’s former Yacht Club Building to the upstairs of the Chinook Building. The club has another 1 1/2 years left, with an RSWLRQIRU¿YHPRUH Tom Brownson, a represen- tative for the yacht club at the last Port meeting, said the mem- EHUVSXWDORWRIWLPHLQWR¿[LQJ up their formerly dilapidated suite in the upstairs . Next meet- ing, he added, the club would present a plan to work with the 3RUWWR¿[WKHEXLOGLQJ¶VEURNHQ elevator, which Knight has esti- mated will cost at least $17,000. ³,¶PDOOIRULWEHLQJ¿[HGEXW as a tenant, I’m not interested in investing my time if the build- ing is on the chopping block,” Brownson said. Port Commissioner James Campbell cautioned the Port’s intention is not to displace any tenants from the Chinook Build- ing. When the Red Lion Hotel operated a meeting space in the upstairs of the Chinook Build- ing, he said, the hotel left the downstairs alone except for a FRUQHURI¿FH Square: Soil removal in January ZLOODIIHFWWUDI¿FRQ'XDQH6WUHHW and when city matching funds and other expenses are The piles of soil have factored, the price tag will contributed to the unsightly exceed $500,000. mess at the site, which has “The city is very happy sat vacant for more than a WR EH DSSURDFKLQJ WKH ¿QDO decade as the city weighs re- leg of this project to get this development. material removed,” said Jeff The City Council is re- Harrington, the city engineer. viewing a potential mixed-use “And very appreciative of the project with a new public li- EPA grant to pay for it.” brary and housing at Heritage Symbolically, the removal Square, but there is no consen- of the contaminated soil will sus on how to move forward. represent progress toward The city received a revitalizing the Duane Street EURZQ¿HOGV JUDQW corridor downtown. from the U.S. Environmen- The city is advising driv- tal Protection Agency for the HUV WKDW RQH ODQH RI WUDI¿F cleanup of Heritage Square, will be closed on the south Continued from Page 1A side of Duane Street between 11th and 12th streets during the soil removal in January. Parking spaces on Duane Street will also be closed. “The summer of 2016 PD\EHWKH¿UVWVXPPHULQ years that the central block in downtown Astoria isn’t oc- cupied by a makeshift plaza of mostly dead trees in hid- eous planters or a big trashy hole,” City Councilor Cindy Price said in an email. “Re- PRYLQJ WKH GLUW LV WKH ¿UVW visible step in many years to- ward turning the larger part of Heritage Square into a worthy inheritance. I dig it.” You Visit us online at Tube DailyAstorian.com Deadline: January 8, 2016 Inserts: January 22, 2016 FR EE IN TER N PR ES EN C E E T A vailab le on a fo r an en ti ll 4 w eb sites re year IN CLU D IN G ELECTR O PA G E-TU R N IN G N IC VER SI ON Inserted into The Daily Astorian and Chinook Observer plus extra copies available all year long New this year! Copies of the 20 16 River & Sea Weddings will be at the “Shores Style” Wedding Faire January 23rd at The Loft in Astoria. 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