San Pedro Fish Market & Restaurant, one of the waterfront’s most colorful attractions for decades, has ended its talks with the new waterfront redevelopment project and instead plans to double its size by moving to a spot near the Catalina Express Terminal, about a mile and a half north.
The announcement came this week, after the restaurant’s long-running negotiations to help anchor the new West Harbor development ended without a signed deal.
Neither side commented directly on the negotiations. But among the complications was that the market would have had to make do with a smaller space if it stayed inside the West Harbor footprint, where the restaurant currently operates and was a holdover from the original Ports O’ Call Village.
The new plan would move the Fish Market — with both outdoor and indoor dining amid a casual “Pedro” ambiance — to Berth 93, next to what was the first section of the waterfront promenade that opened about a decade ago. It is just south of the Vincent Thomas Bridge, near Harbor Boulevard and Swinford Street.
Earlier this year, the U.S. Navy’s medical relief ship, the USNS Mercy, was docked in the slip next to the space that is now largely taken up with a surface parking area shared by Catalina Cruises and the World Cruise Center.
Luxury cruise ships also use the slip as a regular berthing spot.
In addition to much-larger dining spaces right on the water, the larger space would also allow the restaurant to have a ride of some kind and a parking structure, said Michael Ungaro, CEO and one of the family owners of the market.
The market is working with Rick McCormack of Studio McCormack, the company that provided principal design for The Cheesecake Factory and BJ’s Pizzeria, along with Garner Holt Productions, which has created global projects for Disney and Universal Studios.
The Port of Los Angeles will begin formal negotiations with the market in the next week or so, said Mike Galvin, the port’s director of Waterfront and Commercial Real Estate.
“There are a lot of details we have to work out about the scope and size of the development and different types of amenities, how it’s all going to fit,” Galvin said. “There’s quite a bit of work to do, but we’re very committed to doing that work.”
Ungaro, for his part, said he hopes the process for approvals and buildout can be completed quickly.
“We’d like to see it all done in two or three years,” he said.
But he also acknowledged that’s ambitious and a full environmental impact report may be required, which alone takes 18 months.
The new location, Ungaro said, made sense for both the restaurant and the West Harbor development, set to open in 2022 on the property that once housed Ports O’ Call Village.
“It was a better opportunity for us,” Ungaro said, “and I think it benefits both parties.”
Among the major pieces of the West Harbor development will be a 2,200-seat amphitheater, envisioned to be managed by Nederlander Concerts, which Ungaro said would be a natural link to the Fish Market for concert-goers.
The two sites on the waterfront now, Galvin said, will serve as “bookends,” allowing visitors to shuttle back and forth via trolley-themed shuttle buses already provided by the San Pedro Business Improvement District.
Catalina Cruises also will provide a mutual benefit for both businesses, Ungaro said.
The restaurant can double its size while the waterfront development won’t have to figure out how to accommodate the Fish Market on its more limited footprint, he said. No dining platform over the water is currently planned for the Berth 93 location, Ungaro said, as the water is so close anyway. A platform could potentially increase planning and permitting time.
The West Harbor development team, meanwhile, said in a written statement that the change in plans is workable and will benefit the waterfront overall.
“This is great news for the San Pedro Fish Market,” the statement read. “We wish them all the best in their new expansion.”
In between West Harbor and the future Fish Market is the USS Iowa museum battleship. Plans to move that to the Southern Pacific Slip — adjacent to the West Harbor development — are still in play but are paused for now because of the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on budget planning.
Original plans called for the West Harbor developers to construct a new facility for the Fish Market, allowing the business to continue operating until its replacement building was ready.
But the market, which could seat up to 3,000 at one time, stood to lose space in that swap, a problem because the market has been growing and gaining widespread popularity through such menu items as its shrimp trays. It has a strong Instagram following and became known also for its “Kings of Fi$h” Internet series showcasing its San Pedro family members.
The new spot, Ungaro said, will double the market’s current seating.
The market, which typically serves more than 40,000 dinners a week at the San Pedro location, already has opened a new spot in Long Beach, along with additional “grille” options, which provide a different feel from the traditional restaurant, in Wilmington, Harbor City and Rolling Hills Estates — all part of an overall expansion being carried out in the past few years.
Because of its local roots, however, staying on San Pedro’s waterfront, where the family business got its start four generations ago, was a must, Ungaro said.
“We want people,” he said, “to experience the look and feel of being in a working harbor.”
The market, Galvin said, produces almost $30 million in gross revenues a year, which includes the Crusty Crab restaurant. That brand, once a competitor, was acquired by the Fish Market and now will be incorporated into the main restaurant at the future location, Ungaro said.
“As an ongoing business, it’s very important because they do have a large following both locally and regionally,” Galvin said. “It’s something we definitely want to capture for the waterfront.”
The Fish Market was founded in 1956 by two 15-year-old cousins, Tommy Amalfitano Sr. and Henry Ungaro Sr., along with Mackey Ungaro, Henry’s father.
Plans for the new restaurant spot, according to a news release, include “iconic attractions that celebrate the rich history of the community.” The market, Ungaro said, has seen double-digit increases in customers each year in the past decade, until the coronavirus pandemic hit.
“It’s been terrible,” he said of 2020, adding sales dropped 90% early in the year but since have increased a bit. “Now we’re back to 60% of where we were, but that’s still 40% down.”
The business had to furlough 350 employees, he said.
Catering and takeout delivery has had to make up for the loss of in-person dining, which the state has banned under a new regional stay-at-home order that won’t end in Southern California until next week at the earliest — though state officials say it will likely get extended.
While it’s unknown when the hard-hit restaurant industry will get back to normal, there is plenty of time to do so before both West Harbor and a new Fish Market are opened.
“We never imagined,” Ungaro said about getting past the pandemic, “it would last this long.”
The Link LonkDecember 23, 2020 at 07:35AM
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San Pedro Fish Market eyes north cruise center space instead of new waterfront development - The Daily Breeze
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