South Campus Gateway Failing

[CleveBucks]

Actually Eddie's is doing better than expected. They're planning on adding another 2,000 square feet. The retailers like Finish Line and Cingular probably won't last long though.

High Street is slowly getting a makeover up North too. New buildings going up at Lane & High and on High just South of Lane.

The new CPD station on 11th should help too.

 

[tmporter]

To address your question about how much Eddie sank in of his own money, your original estimate is probably way to high. I was working for a company that has an establishment in the complex and their total outlay was just over 1.65 million total. That is everything including the first orders of product. The thing is you only have to foot a portion of the build out, menaing the interior. Most of the exterior windows and doors are paid for by the building. The floors are a 50/50 split. If you want just concrete that is sealed and waxed the GC will pay for most all of the and any tile or other floor coverings will be your expense. The most expensive part of the whole thing was the design and the plans. Those alone were almost $200,000.00. I know that for a fact as I wrote the check for the Architect and Interior design firm for the place the guys I was working for put up down there. So after seeing what "we" built as compared to Eddie's place their total was most likely under 2 million total b/c I am guessing the Campus Partners picked up a good portion of the buildout to get thenm in there.

 

[ekeen]

To address your question about how much Eddie sank in of his own money, your original estimate is probably way to high. I was working for a company that has an establishment in the complex and their total outlay was just over 1.65 million total. That is everything including the first orders of product. The thing is you only have to foot a portion of the build out, menaing the interior. Most of the exterior windows and doors are paid for by the building. The floors are a 50/50 split. If you want just concrete that is sealed and waxed the GC will pay for most all of the and any tile or other floor coverings will be your expense. The most expensive part of the whole thing was the design and the plans. Those alone were almost $200,000.00. I know that for a fact as I wrote the check for the Architect and Interior design firm for the place the guys I was working for put up down there. So after seeing what "we" built as compared to Eddie's place their total was most likely under 2 million total b/c I am guessing the Campus Partners picked up a good portion of the buildout to get thenm in there.

Two questions.....who was the design firm?

and who was the architecture firm? I am assuming both were local.

Also....most businesspeople use a lot of leverage regardless of net worth. He may have had to pony up 10-15% of the total cost....and that is assuming no outside investment.

Actually Eddie's is doing better than expected. They're planning on adding another 2,000 square feet. The retailers like Finish Line and Cingular probably won't last long though.

The summer months kill a lot of businesses and restaurants that have mediocre food struggle in Columbus. I wonder about the expansion. It couldn't be because of the great food or speedy service.

 

[Brewtus]

Question for anyone in the restaurant/commercial real estate biz-assuming he has some investors, how much $$$ do you think Eddie George personally sank into his joint on High Street. I said between .5 and 1.5 mill depending on investors when my buddy asked me my opinion on the question.

I?ll qualify my response first by saying that I have absolutely no knowledge of how this transaction was structured, but I would think that Eddie probably didn?t sink one penny of his own money into the project. The smart way for Eddie to structure the deal is to get partners to pony up the equity and he just lends his name and image to the restaurant. I?m sure his equity partners would require a certain amount of Eddie?s time, effort and personal appearances at the restaurant, but let?s face it ? this place will initially get people in the door strictly because of Eddie George. But to keep people coming back they?ll need to provide a good atmosphere and food (which in my opinion they do). And Eddie is incentivized to stay involved with the restaurant since he?ll share in some of the profits. This is the same arrangement that many pro sports players have structured for their restaurants (like Michael Jordan).

 

[BayBuck]

Celebrity Ventures teams casual dining with sports-theme concepts


Nation's Restaurant News, July 10, 2006 by Jack Hayes

FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. -- A group of foodservice veterans is winning dollars in the sports-theme dining niche with a strategy teaming Hall of Fame athletes with high-exposure locations and high-quality foodservice.
Bob McCarthy, Howard Shiller and Bob Burness, all partners in Celebrity Ventures, based here, launched their business in August 2000 with Eddie George's Sports Grille at the downtown Hilton in Nashville, Tenn. George, a Heisman Trophy winner, played for the National Football League's Tennessee Titans. The group waited through the post-9/11 hospitality recession before debuting Jeff Conine's Clubhouse Grille in Hollywood, Fla., last July, borrowing the name of the popular baseball player. Unit three, Eddie George's Grille 27, hit Columbus, Ohio, only months later, in February. The fourth location, Jerome Bettis' Grille 36, will open in Pittsburgh next January. That unit carries the name of the running back who last year led the Steelers to a Super Bowl victory.
"We've hit on something that excites athletes and developers as well as customers--and we're grossing nearly $600 a square foot," said McCarthy, Celebrity's concept development vice president. "But the commitment to entertainment takes good people at all levels, so we can't push this thing too fast."


Nevertheless, McCarthy, group president Shiller and chief financial officer Burness are focused on opening a second Eddie George's at Polaris Mall in Columbus and a second Jeff Conine's in Florida's West Broward County suburbs.
In addition, Celebrity Ventures, which has rights to the legendary Babe Ruth name, is looking at the Northeast to launch the prototype for a Babe Ruth sports grill brand. Meanwhile, the group also is in talks with Eddie George to develop a line of fast-casual health food restaurants as well as a prime steakhouse in Nashville's Green Hills neighborhood.
"Our plate is full, but our plan is to average two units a year. We hope to build a national presence with our localized units," said McCarthy, who oversaw development of the R&R USA brand for the Houston-based McFadden Ventures nightclub group before teaming with Shiller, a T.G.I. Friday's veteran, to re-energize the original Pleasure Island entertainment concept for Walt Disney World in the early 1990s.
Burness, a former Price Waterhouse accountant, maintains a separate portfolio with 30 Dunkin' Donuts, Coldstone Creamery and Auntie Anne's locations.
What differentiates Celebrity Ventures' sports-theme approach, according to McCarthy, are the group's commitment to "gender neutral" design and ambience and its mainstream "made-from-scratch" food presentation, as well as a strong entertainment focus and a $250,000 audio-visual package.
The group was launched when McCarthy and Shiller, who oversaw foodservice for Aventura, Fla.-based Turnberry Association's Hilton project in Nashville, were approached by college and professional football star Eddie George, who wanted to do a sports restaurant.
"George won the Heisman Trophy in 1995 as Ohio State University's star running back, and as the National Football League's first-round draft pick that year he went to the Houston Oilers, which became the [Tennessee] Titans. He was the face of the franchise, the team's star athlete," McCarthy said.
Celebrity Ventures units boast a per-person lunch check range of $12 to $15 and an average dinner check of $20 to $22, according to McCarthy. The menu includes grilled cheese sandwiches as well as 27-ounce Angus porterhouse plates priced at $44.
"We don't want to alienate the person looking for a good, affordable meal or a good sports bar," McCarthy said. "And we distinguish between short-lived static entertainment, baseball bats on the wall, and continuously evolving dynamic entertainment, like using DJs to replicate a stadium experience during game commercials."
Admitting the brand can't be all things to all people, McCarthy said the group is most selective in its celebrity relationships--choosing partners who are "hall of fame people as well as Hall of Fame athletes."
The group went into Columbus with 6,400 square feet expecting to do $2.5 million, but the new unit is already approaching $4 million, McCarthy said. Now contracting for an added 2,700 square feet, they hope to gross $5 million to $6 million, including private-event revenues.
"We were surprised to see so many families using the new Eddie George's in Columbus as a special-event venue during Ohio State University's graduation," he said. The concept operates in the South Campus Gateway project adjacent to the university.
Jeff Conine's Clubhouse Grille is named for 39-year-old All-Star baseball celebrity Jeff Conine, who split his career between the Baltimore Orioles and the Florida Marlins and is beloved by South Florida sports fans. Jerome Bettis, meanwhile, the 33-year-old NFL star running back, is a sports legend in Pittsburgh, where he led the Steelers to victory in Super Bowl XL last January before retiring.