- Who: Fort Pierce City Commission and leaseholder Winking Starfish LLC
- What: Commissioners must decide whether to collect or waive about $334,000 in unpaid rent and taxes
- Where: City-owned Crabby’s site at 5 Avenue A, Downtown Fort Pierce
A planned handoff of the shuttered Crabby’s waterfront restaurant to a new operator appears to be dead, and the Fort Pierce City Commission now has to decide whether to chase or forgive roughly $334,000 owed by the current tenant. Commissioners were scheduled to take up the question at a 9 a.m. meeting on Monday, Oct. 12.
What the Tenant Owes the City
City staff say Winking Starfish LLC, a St. Petersburg company, has not paid monthly rent for the past year. As of Oct. 1, that adds up to $192,019.77 in uncollected rent plus $9,600.99 in late fees.
The city has also covered three years of property taxes that the lease made the tenant’s responsibility. Those payments total $132,299.95, and the 2026 tax bill is coming due. An agenda memo puts the overall balance at about $333,942.71 and asks commissioners whether staff should pursue collection or waive the debt.
How the Restaurant Reached This Point
The Crabby’s restaurant closed abruptly in February after the operator failed to pay five months of rent and several years of property taxes, according to Hometown News. The city had initially paid those tax bills but did not bill the operator for them. The tenant had asked the city to forgo several months of rent before closing.
The city awarded the lease in December 2018. It runs for 20 years, with two five-year renewals available. The tenant built a 7,200-square-foot restaurant on the site in 2020. Under the lease, the city keeps ownership of the building if the lease is broken.
In September, commissioners gave Winking Starfish another month to finish assigning the lease to a new operator. City Manager Richard Chess did not name the prospect at the time but said it had experience in the restaurant business, and staff said they needed more time to review its finances. The agenda memo for Monday says the proposed assignment now appears unlikely to go forward. It does not say why.
Options Before Commissioners
Staff are asking the commission for direction on three questions:
- Whether to keep pursuing a lease assignment or begin terminating the lease.
- Whether to prepare a Request for Proposals (RFP) for a future operator of the site.
- Whether to try to recover the money or waive it.
The outcome will determine who, if anyone, serves seafood at one of the most visible spots in Downtown Fort Pierce and whether city taxpayers absorb a six-figure loss. A termination would likely lead to a new solicitation for the building. Readers can follow city decisions through Fort Pierce news on TreasureCoast.com.
Source: Hometown News Treasure Coast
