February 28, 2008 - 12:30 p.m.
A proposed deal between the
Arab Commercial Development Authority/City of Arab and Quality
Restaurant Concepts, LLC to bring an Applebee's Franchise
Restaurant to Arab appears to be a dead issue, at least for the
foreseeable future.
Mayor Frank Lee Cox said he and
other city officials have had several discussions with QRC
representative Mark WassWeiler, this morning. Cox said the issue
appeared to be completely dead at first, but that after further
discussions, Mr. Wassweiler issued the following statement: "At
this point, I would concur Applebee's doesn't want to make any
part of the community unhappy in opening a restaurant in Arab.
It is apparent from exhaustive and extensive studies of the Arab
market that it is our conclusion we cannot afford to open a
restaurant at the present time. I would welcome any discussions
that would change the economics of opening a restaurant in Arab
in the future."
Mr. Wassweiler has requested that the proposal be removed from
the agenda, and indicated he will not be present Monday night.
Cox said that Wassweiler didn't shut the door completely and
"left us a crack for possible discussions in the future.
The proposal had been presented at
the last city council meeting by QRC. The planned called
for the CDA to issue up to $2 million in bonds designated to
purchase land and to erect, equip and furnish a building which
QRC would then lease from the CDA and operate as an Applebee's
franchise. QRC would agree to lease the building for
twenty years. The plan also called for a "sliding scale"
contribution of sales tax revenue to help pay the lease payments
if the restaurant did not reach agreed upon profitability levels.
(See
related article for details)
The proposal quickly met with
opposition from many local restaurants and retail business
owners who felt that the plan gave QRC an unfair advantage (See
article below). The Arab Retail and Dining Committee
had requested that the proposal be delayed until their questions
were answered.
