ANNA MARIA – The Anna Maria City Commission has authorized Mayor Mark Short to negotiate the potential lease of the larger City Pier building to Brian Seymour’s GSM Partners LLC, a limited liability corporation that now includes Ben and Jason Sato as new partners.
GSM Partners currently holds the lease for the smaller City Pier building from which Seymour and his former business partners operated the City Pier Grill & Bait Shop until Hurricane Milton destroyed most of the City Pier walkway in October 202 4.
A new walkway is currently being built and the pier is expected to fully reopen later this year. GSM’s lease was scheduled to expire at the end of 2025, but due to the hurricane-related suspension of business operations, Seymour has the option to utilize the remain ing 15 months of his suspended original lease once the pier reopens.
Seymour has recently expressed interest in also leasing the larger pier building previously occupied by Mote Marine. A clause in the original lease provides, but does not guaran tee, Seymour and his partners the opportunity to renegotiate the lease to include the larger pier building in their business operations.
In March, Seymour sent Mayor Mark Short a letter of notice regarding his decision to revise the GSM partnership structure.
“As managing member of GSM Partners LLC, I am sending this letter to serve as official notice that I am requesting a change in partners within GSM Partners L LC that is currently under lease with the city of Anna Maria. The changes are the removal of V ictor Mattay and Nicholas Graham and replace ment of them with Benjamin Sato and Jason Sato,” Seymour stated in his letter.
“I have chosen to change the partnership and keep the partnership solely comprised of long time Anna Maria Residents and proven successful businesspeople who take a hands-on approach, as I do, to ensure success for our business and success for the City Pier. This change positions us with the means, resources, business experience and flexibility to build out and execute our ideas/business for the soon to be rebuilt City Pier,” his letter says.
During general public comment at the April 23 commission meeting, Seymour addressed the mayor and commission and said, “We would like to request that the commission considers enacting clause 1.13 of our lease and allowing the mayor to negotiate with us for the primary building on the pier.”
Commissioner Chris Arendt later made a motion to approve Seymour’s request.
“Because time’s of the essence regarding the City Pier, especially the T-end, and given the fact that GSM Partners is ready to move forward, I’d like to make a motion that we take a vote today that would allow the mayor to begin negotiations with GSM Partners,” Arendt said.
Before the votes were cast, Short said it makes sense to engage in those negotiations, but it does not commit the city to granting the lease of the larger pier building to GSM Partners.
