Former Gainesville CRA-backed restaurant Southern Charm Kitchen to be sold at auction

A when popular east Gainesville restaurant renovated utilizing taxpayer bucks will before long be marketed to the highest bidder.

Southern Charm Kitchen area, situated at 1714 SE Hawthorne Street, and all of its machines will hit the auction block on June 1 starting at 11 a.m. with an opening bid of $250,000, formally ending what has been a very long rocky street between city officers and the restaurant’s operator.

The group functioning the auction, Campen Auctions, will also provide off 3 containers of restaurant devices that will be sold individually and in heaps on June 2.

The Gainesville Local community Redevelopment Company invested a little a lot more than $330,000 to redevelop the land amongst 2008 to 2010 in hopes of encouraging financial growth in the southeast aspect of city. The cafe, which battled its individual problems for yrs, in no way spurred the outcome officers hoped.

Even though the restaurant faced its good share of worries, town spokeswoman Rossana Passaniti claimed it can be in the end a “accomplishment tale.”

“GCRA generates chance for entrepreneurs who might not have ready access to the sources wanted to thrive,” se wrote in an electronic mail. “By delivering funding solutions to Southern Attraction when common loan companies would not, the GCRA aided seed a tiny, assorted, community business enterprise in East Gainesville. Aiding add property again on the tax rolls, as in this scenario, is fundamental to ongoing economic growth in this group.”

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The metropolis leased the property to neighborhood restauranteur Omar Oselimo, who also owns Reggae Shack Cafe alongside West University Avenue.

Olesimo in 2011 agreed to a five-yr lease with the town, which provided an choice to purchase the residence at the stop of the lease. Following some delays, Southern Attraction Kitchen opened to a great deal fanfare on Sept. 25, 2012.

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“For a very long time, the persons who stay on the east side have preferred a wonderful put to go and take in and fellowship with a single a further,” explained point out Rep. Yvonne Hinson Hayes, who at the time represented District 1 where by the cafe is positioned.

About 5 several years afterwards, the strategy started to unravel for Olesimo.

The operator opened a third cafe, The Twisted Peacock, on Southwest 13th Street in February 2016, only to “briefly” close the eatery in late 2017 so that Olesimo could focus on his other ventures.

“I assumed, ‘I’m spreading myself far too thin,’ ” he advised The Sunlight in November 2017. “I like to have my palms touching everything I do.”

A year later on, nonetheless, it was unveiled on Sept. 11, 2018, that Olesimo experienced defaulted on loans totaling about $1 million, mainly stemming from the failure of The Twisted Peacock restaurant.

Southern Attraction Kitchen area closed in 2018, reopened in 2021, then shut down for fantastic

A month later, Olesimo then shut Southern Charm Kitchen area for what he identified as a “rebranding.” Oselimo unsuccessful to make regular monthly lease payments for the Southern Attraction residence from January to July 2018 resulting in past-owing payments totaling $16,551.

Southern Allure sooner or later reopened in January 2021 in advance of abruptly closing all over again for excellent.

In December 2018, Alachua County Circuit Decide Donna M. Keim awarded Ga-based mostly Fidelity Lender a approximately $700,000 judgment versus Oselimo following he defaulted on his modest-enterprise loan with the bank. The ruling ultimately led to the foreclosures of his Twisted Peacock restaurant and his warehouse homes.

Alachua County assets information demonstrate Southern Attraction Kitchen Inc. acquired the property from the town in October 2021 for $215,000.

Passaniti mentioned Oselimo fulfilled all his economical obligations, which includes all past thanks house taxes and lease arrangement demands, before the sale.

All proceeds from the sale will be reinvested into the Eastside Redevelopment Rely on Fund.

The property was transferred to new possession on Feb. 9, 2022, according to house documents.

This post initially appeared on The Gainesville Sunshine: Former Gainesville CRA-backed restaurant to be marketed at auction