Hoping to Speed Pier Plaza Project, City Takes Over Concessions Lease

A lease dispute that threatens to delay the $5-million Pier Plaza renovation project continues, with city officials taking new action to cancel the lease.

The City Council voted Monday night to take over the entire lease of six pier-area concessions and a 120-space parking lot from the state, in order to cancel it. The lease was originally granted by the state in 1980 to TLC Co., a partnership that operates the concessions during the summer and the parking lot north of the pier.

A portion of the lease was transferred from the state to the city in 1986 when Huntington Beach obtained a 99-year agreement from the state on property north of the pier. Councilwoman Shirley S. Dettloff said the state has now agreed to transfer the entire lease to the city.

City officials say they need to cancel the lease to begin the Pier Plaza construction. Real estate business owner Tom Lewis, one of three partners with TLC, said the city is using eviction as a way to avoid paying a fair price for the three years remaining on the lease.

Another court hearing on the dispute is scheduled for Friday.

“It’s going to be a court battle,” Lewis said. “I’ll spend my last damn nickel fighting those people.”

Lewis said he refused to invest in Pier Plaza when the required investment rose to $1.7 million, for which TLC would have been granted three consecutive 10-year leases on the property.

“I’ve told the city many times, either allow me to operate to the term of my contract or pay me off,” Lewis said.

Council members voted Monday night to authorize payment of up to $90,000 to TLC, representing the depreciated value of concession improvements made by the partnership. But Lewis said his financial records for the last 16 years indicate that TLC could earn about $825,000 during the next three years.

City officials declined comment because the matter is in litigation. Construction on the Pier Plaza project was expected to begin in January or February.