I went with Steve to his new restaurant yesterday. He is going to have a lot more room both in the dining room and kitchen. It won't be nearly as close for me to patronize, but I know that it is a better location than where he is now.
I'm sure he's busy. I sent him an email about the site being back up. Hopefully he'll be by before he opens again but tell him we'll promote the hell out of it here.
I tried accessing the site for the last few days and just got it to pop up from my bookmark list. I'm thrilled we're back in business.
I'm getting the financials in order so that we can apply for a loan from the SBDC. Also, getting more estimates from subcontractors for Plumbing, Hood and Fire Supression people. and We discovered some old termite damage right where we have to hang a 1,000 lb hood so new supports have to be built in. We're stuck in the mud, spinning our wheels a little and it's getting expensive. But there's nothing abnormal so far. These type of set backs are expected. Capital investment in the project, amortized over the long time span of the lease is still reasonable. The landlord also claimed he owns all of my kitchen equipment so my attorney is in the process of informing them otherwise. I'm on very solid legal ground here, but the landlord relationship is over...he has to talk to my attorneys from now on.
Yes, All my equipment is now moved over there and I'm getting close to a building permit. I couldn't really operate under the existing permit because that was about replacing what was there originally so we needed to get a new permit. The project began to balloon cost wise as electrical and plumbing estimates came in, but we're getting some good sense waivers from code compliance. For example as far as the plumbing goes, code requires floor drains so that if the sewer backs up, it comes out those drains onto the floor and not into a sink. well, that requires jack hammering into the slab which is over 100 years old and overlies old terra cotta sewer lines. This was a huge expense and jack hammers would probably crack the pipes all around and cause more problems than it would be trying to solve...so we got a waiver. we'll have air gaps in the plumbing instead to prevent backup. The code requires an underground grease trap...also requiring disturbing the slab so we're allowed to use an above ground, in line grease trap instead....much less expensive. It looks like the fire Marshall is granting us a waiver on having to move the toilet several feet away from the wall in the handicap bathroom for the same reason. We had to go back to square one with the kitchen design because of the electrical code. We would have had to re-wire the entire building to upgrade the wiring to comply with the electrical code, but we don't have to now because we're under 50 people occupancy. We had to expand the service counter into the seating area to get the seating capacity to 49. Well this allows us to now have a cafeteria style line and I can do a lot of the line cooking and sandwich making out of the kitchen, in the dining area and be able to interact with the customers more...much like the omelet stations at a brunch. This frees up a lot of room in the kitchen which was cramped. The city is amenable to letting me build a patio in front of the building to make up for the lost seating inside. So in general, the project began to balloon cost wise and now is back down to a more manageable level. It really is a juggling act dealing with the five different jurisdictional agencies...the city department of safety and permits, the plumbing inspectors from the sewerage and water board, the electrical inspectors, the board of health and the state fire marshal. I have to admit that they all are very cooperative and are willing to help us get the project done. This cooperation along with the help I have been getting from the city councilman's office (Cynthia Hedge Morrell) really tells me that New Orleans really is pro business...big and small. it's a new day post Katrina. The old stereotype of political interference just isn't appropriate. I'm hoping to get the permit soon because our floor plans are getting close to approval. when that happens we can get the plans stamped by the architect and get our permit.
PS note that I'm posting this at 3:30 am...details can be the bane of project management big and small. Whether it's this small build out or managing a much larger project, the wheels are always turning and keeping you awake. It's amazing how many impediments are there both of the foreseen and unforeseen types. It takes a special type of attitude to make things happen. Whenever I read about a large project that gets scrapped, I wonder if they had the wrong person as project manager...or if the investors weren't that committed. It's a constant battle to overcome obstacles and make things happen. That's what keeps managers up at night. People see the empire state building and think wow that's a tall building. Me, I marvel at the scope of the project and wonder what type of people made it actually happen. Amazing !!
