Cape Town - The 20-year lease for Fish Hoek’s beachfront restaurant, The Galley, is once again up for grabs next month.
Interested parties can bid on the lease on October 2 at noon at the DHL Stadium in Green Point. The opening bid will be R100 000. In November last year, the restaurant’s lease was among several the City put up for auction.
The bid for the lease on the 1 295m² stand opened at R50 000 and was sold to the highest bidder, restaurateur and former owner of Harbour House Group Michael Townsend, for R380 000 on November 23.
Earlier this year, the City questioned the legitimacy of the bid after it came to light that Townsend had made the bid on behalf of the Kalk Bay Waterfront Development (KBWD), the lessor of the Harbour House building at the Kalk Bay Harbour, and not his own business, K2023, a subsidiary of Sweetheart of the Rodeo (Pty) Ltd.
Townsend is the biggest shareholder of KBWD.
In August, it was reported that a letter from the City’s lawyers to Townsend revealed that he had won the auction but he had not been authorised to represent KBWD.
Townsend was registered only to bid for K2023 with bidding number 517, yet the winning bid was recorded under number 512 for KBWD.
This despite Townsend’s company, Sweetheart of the Rodeo, depositing R1 915 045.47 into KBWD’s account, which was then paid to the auction company for one month’s rent plus VAT and a 5% commission on the first 60 months of the lease. The City said that based on the facts, the offer did not comply with its mandate.
“The City intends to grant the long-term lease rights to a suitable lessee who will help the site reach its full potential as a tourism catalyst for the area,” said Mayco member for economic growth James Vos.
Townsend confirmed that he would be participating in the next auction. Mathea Eichel, who currently holds the lease, will not be participating.
Cape Argus