City Pier lease awarded to GSM Partners
This story was updated at 2:20 p.m. on June 16 with additional information about the bait shop returning and fishing still being allowed at the T-end of the pier.
ANNA MARIA – GSM Partners LLC and the city of Anna Maria are entering into a new five-year lease that will allow business partners Brian Seymour, Ben Sato and Jason Sato to operate a new open-air establishment called PIERadise.
The new pier-based business is expected to open when, or soon after, the City Pier reopens, which is expected in November.
On Thursday, June 11, city commissioners unanimously approved the new pier lease Mayor Mark Short negotiated with Seymour and the Sato brothers.
The meeting packet includes preliminary conceptual renderings of the proposed PIERadise space.
Short said all of the T-end seating, with the exception of the PIERadise bar seats, will be available to PIERadise customers and non-customers alike – including the Gulf Island Ferry passengers who visit the pier when ferry service returns to the City Pier in 2027 or 2028.
“All the seating out there, except for those seats at the bar, are for anybody. There is no obligation. If you want to sit at a table, you can. You don’t have to buy anything,” Short said.
GSM Partners will pay the city $12,000 per month and cover all of the ongoing maintenance costs for the space they lease at the T-end of the pier. The monthly lease payments will be subject to an annual increase that is based on the Consumer Price Index and is not to exceed 3% per year.
PAST MEETS PRESENT
In 2020, Seymour and his original GSM partners, Vic Mattay and Nick Graham, secured the lease for the smaller city-owned pier building from which they operated the City Pier Grill & Bait Shop until the back-to-back hurricanes in 2024 destroyed the City Pier walkway and rendered the still-standing T-end pier buildings temporarily unusable.
Before entering into the new lease, Seymour and GSM Partners held the remaining 15 months of the hurricane-suspended lease of the smaller pier building. In March, Seymour informed the mayor and commissioners that Mattay and Graham were leaving GSM Partners and Ben and Jason Sato were joining GSM Partners.
Seymour is the owner/operator of the Anna Maria General Store, which is located on Pine Avenue, within walking distance of the pier. Seymour has long expressed interest in leasing the larger pier building too.
Jason Sato co-owns Sato Real Estate, which is located on Pine Avenue, near the pier. Ben Sato owns and operates gRub Tropical BBQ, also located on Pine Avenue. Ben also expects to open his new Mingo’s restaurant in Holmes Beach in 2027 in the former Wells Fargo bank space being developed by Jake Spooner.
COMMISSION DISCUSSION
During the June 11 meeting, Short noted he was tasked with trying to negotiate a lease agreement with GSM Partners that was fair to all parties involved, including the residents of the city.
“I believe we have negotiated a very fair lease,” he said.
He said the lease is 60 months and provides for an additional 60-month extension. He noted GSM Partners was paying the city approximately $6,500 per month before the 2024 hurricanes struck.
Commissioner John Lynch asked if GSM Partners would resume responsibility for closing the pier each night at the close of business. Short said they would. The lease states the common areas of the pier must be open to the general public seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. and the allowed hours for the PIERadise business hours are the same.
Commissioner Chris Arendt said, “I think it’s a great thing for Anna Maria to be partnering with a local group like GSM. I look forward to them getting up and running out there and having the City Pier open again.”
Regarding the PIERadise renderings included in the meeting packet, Commissioner Charlie Salem said, “The renderings look great. It’s going to be a huge improvement. Thank you to GSM for the vision and the mayor and his team for executing negotiations.”
Lynch asked Public Works Manager Dean Jones if the pier is still on track to reopen in November.
In response, Jones said, “I left my crystal ball in my other pants, but if everything holds and the weather’s good, I think November is a timeline we can hit.”
With Commissioner Kathy Morgan Johnson participating by phone, the commissioners voted 5-0 in favor of executing the lease agreement with GSM Partners.
WALLS AND DOORS
Earlier this year, the mayor and commission discussed possibly removing at least two of the larger pier building’s walls and replacing them with sliding glass doors or bay doors that would drop down from above.
The intent was to create an open-air space that is more flexible in terms of how that space is utilized. The open-air concept was desired in part to accommodate the ferry service that is expected to include the Manatee County’s new and larger Manatee Belle ferry boat that currently operates between downtown Bradenton and the Bradenton Beach Pier.
During press comments and questions at the end of the June 11 meeting, it was noted the PIERadise preliminary conceptual renderings show large, garage door-like openings in three of the larger building’s walls.
Short was asked if the commission must still make a formal decision regarding the wall removals and door installations.
“Based on the proposals we got back, we have concluded that it is financially feasible and within the realm of funding that we have available, so we are anticipating that those walls are going to be gone,” Short said.
The mayor said a request for proposals will be issued seeking bids from contractors interested in making the city-funded wall removal and door enhancements before that space is occupied by GSM Partners. The exact style and appearance of the new doors and windows will be detailed in the RFP and/or the bid proposals received.
POST-MEETING COMMENTS
When speaking to the Sun immediately after the meeting, Ben Sato addressed the new lease and said, “I think it’s fair for the city, it’s fair for us and I think it’s a great win for the city of Anna Maria. I’ve been working on this for months. Now I can start buying equipment, furniture and the other things we’ll need. I wouldn’t have done this without Brian. Brian’s a good business owner and a hard worker and I couldn’t ask for anyone better.”
Seymour said, “I’m very excited. I think we have a good plan to move forward and it’s a win-win – not only for our group, but for the city of Anna Maria. I’m looking forward to getting this project up and running and seeing the pier open again.”
When asked if the PIERadise menu will be different than the City Pier Grill menu, Seymour said, “Yes, there will be some changes, but it’s still going to be family-friendly and as economical as possible.”
Seymour said he and Ben are currently in the process of developing the PIERadise breakfast, lunch and dinner menus that will also include beer and wine.
Seymour has long been a proponent of a single tenant occupying both pier buildings, as was the case when longtime tenant Mario Schoenfelder leased both pier buildings before Hurricane Irma struck in 2017. The damage the pier sustained during Hurricane Irma necessitated a three-year pier closure and reconstruction process that included the construction of the current pier buildings that survived the 2024 hurricanes and the pier walkway that did not.
“It’s almost impossible to run two businesses out there with the limited amount of storage space, the functionality of the T-end of the pier and the restrictions to leave some of that space as open space for the public. With Mote not coming back, it’s a good opportunity for our organization, the city, the residents and the visitors,” Seymour said.
Regarding the anticipated, county-funded installation of a ferry landing alongside the pier in 2027 or 2028, Seymour said, “There’s still ongoing conversation between the city and the county about the ferry service and we try not to get involved in that part of it. But whatever’s decided between the city and the county will directly impact our operations.”
Regarding the new partnership, Seymour said, “I’m very excited to work with Ben and Jason. They’re both proven business people in Anna Maria and between us we have a lot of knowledge, expertise and ideas on how to keep it local and family-friendly.”
When contacted later and asked about the return of the bait shop, and about fishing still being allowed at the T-end of the City Pier, Seymour said, “Yes, we will have bait and tackle options like we did before, and the footprint where people can fish all around the pier will remain the same.”
