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davis_squareI did not take written notes, so this is just from memory:
Michele Biscoe: Som|Dog presentation about off-leash areas on bike path. The organization would like to build one or more small fenced-in off-leash dog runs along the Community Path, similar to the successful one at Nunziato Field near Union Square. Possible locations are Lexington Park, Cedar Street, or Willow Avenue.
Sara Rosenfeld about Community Servings: would like to recruit people to sell "Pie in the Sky" around Davis Square at Thanksgiving time. The organization prepares and delivers meals to people suffering from AIDS and other debilitating illnesses. Their website is servings.org.
Sign at Middlesex Bank: the sign is permitted by zoning, but is not allowed to advertise the bank's services. It is limited by law to time, temperature, and public service announcements. The bank's president(?) was there, and got an earful from people in the room who complained that it does not belong in the Square, is too bright, doesn't fit the building well, and is irritating to the eye. He says he wants the sign to promote community events and activities. We'll see if he listened to the feedback he got.
Someday Cafe and Mr. Crepe: All interested parties were present: Richard Fraiman (who owns the building), Gus Rancatore (who owns the Someday Cafe), Ian Judge (who manages the Somerville Theatre), Mr. Crepe himself (whose real name I did not get), and a whole lot of Someday employees and customers.
The basic facts, agreed upon by all: the Someday's lease expired in February, Rancatore neglected to renew it, and Fraiman did not notify Rancatore of his failure to renew. After several months of hearing nothing from Rancatore, Fraiman entered into negotiation with Mr. Crepe, and last week told Rancatore he needed to vacate by September 1. Mr. Crepe has not yet signed a lease with Fraiman but is close to doing so.
As you might expect, the next hour was quite emotional. Local residents were upset to see a beloved community space about to disappear. Someday employees were unhappy that the city learned of the cafe's fate (and announced it to the public) before they did. Some people said they would never patronize Mr. Crepe if he displaced the Someday. Rancatore apologized for overlooking the lease expiration. People asked if the two businesses could somehow divide the space, or time-share it, or otherwise work together.
In the meeting, Fraiman did not appear to offer much flexibility, but out of public view, there may soon be back-room negotiations involving Fraiman, Rancatore, Mr. Crepe, and Ward 6 alderman Rebekah Gewirtz.
Michele Biscoe: Som|Dog presentation about off-leash areas on bike path. The organization would like to build one or more small fenced-in off-leash dog runs along the Community Path, similar to the successful one at Nunziato Field near Union Square. Possible locations are Lexington Park, Cedar Street, or Willow Avenue.
Sara Rosenfeld about Community Servings: would like to recruit people to sell "Pie in the Sky" around Davis Square at Thanksgiving time. The organization prepares and delivers meals to people suffering from AIDS and other debilitating illnesses. Their website is servings.org.
Sign at Middlesex Bank: the sign is permitted by zoning, but is not allowed to advertise the bank's services. It is limited by law to time, temperature, and public service announcements. The bank's president(?) was there, and got an earful from people in the room who complained that it does not belong in the Square, is too bright, doesn't fit the building well, and is irritating to the eye. He says he wants the sign to promote community events and activities. We'll see if he listened to the feedback he got.
Someday Cafe and Mr. Crepe: All interested parties were present: Richard Fraiman (who owns the building), Gus Rancatore (who owns the Someday Cafe), Ian Judge (who manages the Somerville Theatre), Mr. Crepe himself (whose real name I did not get), and a whole lot of Someday employees and customers.
The basic facts, agreed upon by all: the Someday's lease expired in February, Rancatore neglected to renew it, and Fraiman did not notify Rancatore of his failure to renew. After several months of hearing nothing from Rancatore, Fraiman entered into negotiation with Mr. Crepe, and last week told Rancatore he needed to vacate by September 1. Mr. Crepe has not yet signed a lease with Fraiman but is close to doing so.
As you might expect, the next hour was quite emotional. Local residents were upset to see a beloved community space about to disappear. Someday employees were unhappy that the city learned of the cafe's fate (and announced it to the public) before they did. Some people said they would never patronize Mr. Crepe if he displaced the Someday. Rancatore apologized for overlooking the lease expiration. People asked if the two businesses could somehow divide the space, or time-share it, or otherwise work together.
In the meeting, Fraiman did not appear to offer much flexibility, but out of public view, there may soon be back-room negotiations involving Fraiman, Rancatore, Mr. Crepe, and Ward 6 alderman Rebekah Gewirtz.
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Fraiman wanted Someday Out
Date: 2006-06-29 02:33 pm (UTC)I used to patronize Mr. Crepe when they were on Holland St. I'm happy to see them returning to Davis Square... but I will have a very hard time patronizing them if they move into the Someday space. Mr Crepe came off as the innocent "man in the middle" last night, but he HAD to know what kind of an uproar it was going to cause to oust the Someday Cafe. If I were a businessman, I wouldn't want to have any part of this type of deal. He is just as much a part of this scenario as Mr. Fraiman. My advice to Mr. Crepe is: Watch your back! Who's to say that Fraiman won't pull something like this on Mr. Crepe in a few years?
I found an interesting post on another message board about the Fraimans... Check it out here: http://cinematreasures.org/theater/325/
Scroll down to the second to last comment.
Davis Square is changing and it's a shame. The "Times Square" message board, the loss of the Someday, and a new CVS megaplex are all going to make Davis Square a worse place. It's the beginning of the slippery slope... We all watched it happen to Harvard Square and now it's on our doorstep.
My brain is still spinning after last night's meeting. I have so many more thoughts but I'm going to stop and take a breath.
(P.S. This is my first post. I had to register on livejournal to add to this discussion. I've lived in 02144 since 1991 and I've been a Someday regular since it opened. I've been to Davis Square almost every day for the last 14 years.)
Re: Fraiman wanted Someday Out
Date: 2006-06-29 02:39 pm (UTC)Mod #4 (Mare)
Re: Fraiman wanted Someday Out
Date: 2006-06-29 03:05 pm (UTC)Sorry, I don't buy it. He did it to himself, and demonizing the landlord is pretty ridiculous. It would be one thing if the landlord didn't allow him to renew, but that is not the case.
Re: Fraiman wanted Someday Out
Date: 2006-06-29 03:20 pm (UTC)The landlord played by the rules, but the WAY he did it makes me very uncomfortable. I guess this is how business works, which is why I am not a businessman.
Re: Fraiman wanted Someday Out
Date: 2006-06-29 03:23 pm (UTC)I guess I just have no ability to see it how you are seeing it. Yeah it would have been a nice courtesy to be like "hey man your lease is up" - but its a courtesy. I don't think he's a creep for finding a new tenant.
Re: Fraiman wanted Someday Out
Date: 2006-06-30 06:00 am (UTC)Re: Fraiman wanted Someday Out
Date: 2006-06-30 07:00 pm (UTC)Re: Fraiman wanted Someday Out
Date: 2006-06-30 07:04 pm (UTC)If the landlord wants to return to having a lease, or wants to raise the rent, he sends me a "Notice of Termination of Tenancy / Offer of New Tenancy" which I'm supposed to send back by a deadline. The one time I missed the deadline, I got a second nagging notice.
It doesn't sound like Fraiman bothered with any of this for the Someday Cafe.
Re: Fraiman wanted Someday Out
Date: 2006-06-29 03:24 pm (UTC)Who knows what Mr. Crepe was told about the availability of the space ... it's very likely that he may not have known all the details of the Fraiman/Someday interaction.
A leasing business, having its rent skyrocket or having the landlord not renew its lease is an inevitable risk - not attempting to renew a lease is the one thing that a business can control. In any case, look at what happened to Picante's and Pluto's in Davis - they're no longer here because their landlord wanted different tenants.
Re: Fraiman wanted Someday Out
Date: 2006-06-29 03:25 pm (UTC)or pay attention to when your lease is up and actually renew it in time.
Re: Fraiman wanted Someday Out
Date: 2006-06-29 03:26 pm (UTC)Re: Fraiman wanted Someday Out
Date: 2006-06-29 03:34 pm (UTC)Re: Fraiman wanted Someday Out
Date: 2006-06-29 03:45 pm (UTC)Re: Fraiman wanted Someday Out
Date: 2006-06-29 04:54 pm (UTC)Re: Fraiman wanted Someday Out
Date: 2006-06-29 03:35 pm (UTC)I second the others who have noted how unfriendly the staff tended to be, resistant to requests to turn down the music. I know plenty of people who didn't feel comfortable there, as the place had an increasingly seedy and shabby air, with lack of comfortable seating and clean bathrooms. They'd been losing money for years, and the staff was resistant to changes. Places that can't adapt and update themselves don't stick around. Just because some place is a local hangout doesn't mean it's a good one.
Do you know that Mr. Crepe even knew that Gus had forgotten to renew the lease - we don't know what he was told.
It's your right not to patronize Mr. Crepe, but do so for the right reasons.
Re: Fraiman wanted Someday Out
Date: 2006-06-29 05:15 pm (UTC)Where were these legions of supporters when Someday was losing money year after year?
Re: Fraiman wanted Someday Out
Date: 2006-06-29 05:35 pm (UTC)Last night Gus said he had just made the final $2000/month payment to the previous owners. And that's money on top of the $4800/mo rent he was paying Fraiman (as stated in the Somerville Journal today.) He stated that he had just bought new furniture and was planning on replacing the floors.
He made it sound like he was finally able to start paying for improvements to the store and then he received an eviction.
Yes, it's stupid of Gus to forget to renew the lease. I agree on that. But Fraiman did not even ASK one time if Gus wanted to stay before negotiating with a new tenant. It's all just a bit sneaky.
Re: Fraiman wanted Someday Out
Date: 2006-06-29 05:55 pm (UTC)I think ron's latest post from an anonymous source really points out the truth - if the Someday had been kept up, with a staff that understood that they had to adapt (and turn down the damn music), maybe they would have been considered a more valuable tenant.
Sure, it's a bit sneaky - but in the end, Someday didn't measure up.
Re: Fraiman wanted Someday Out
Date: 2006-06-29 05:07 pm (UTC)There was a used bookstore called "Somerville Books and Records", or sometimes just "Some Books and Records". I think it was located at 389 Highland Avenue. While renovating the building that contained it, the Fraimans managed to commit enough code violations that the city temporarily shut construction down. In the process, they managed to destroy most of the store's merchandise. It was a mess.
Around the same time, Garen Daly held the lease on the Somerville Theatre. He bounced one or more rent checks, causing the Fraimans to lock him out of the theatre. This led to a lot of community concern that the Fraimans would subdivide the theatre or turn it into something other than a theatre. The Fraimans say that such concern was never justified, but it led to the creation of an organization called FISST (Friends in Support of the Somerville Theatre).
FISST successfully lobbied to have Garen's lease renewed, though it was cut back to just one additional year, with no further extensions. After that lease ended, FISST's relations with the Fraimans gradually changed from antagonism to guarded support. Eventually, FISST members appeared at public hearings, in favor of the Fraimans' plans to add four additional movie screens.
Once these were built and we were satisfied that the theatre was in good hands, we dissolved FISST and gave its remaining money to the Somerville Arts Council, which used it to present a silent film accompanied by a live band at ArtBeat.