Former Crescent Beach Restaurant is again for sale (or lease)

Listen to this article

A well-known Greece landmark that has been nothing but a vacant building and parking lot for six years is again on the market.

The former Crescent Beach Restaurant, which hugs the Lake Ontario shoreline on Edgemere Drive, has been listed by Hanna Commercial Real Estate. The property is for sale at $2.5 million or can be leased.

The current Southern Ontario-based owner, Crescent Beach Restaurant and Hotel LLC, also will consider a joint venture with a qualified operator, according to Nick Capanna, an associate broker at Hanna Commercial Real Estate.

“It’s the best news we’ve had in several years about the property,” said Scott Copey, planner for the town of Greece.

The current owners bought the property for $550,000 in April 2013, according to records filed with the Monroe County Clerk, and over the first few years invested in building renovations and parking lot improvements. But the facility never came close to opening for business, and mechanics liens and tax liens piled up.

Capanna said in an email that “Crescent Beach Restaurant and Hotel LLC and 1372 Edgemere Drive are on solid ground, including with the taxing authorities (and by no means under water).”

“It’s true that the completion and reopening of the current building has been delayed in a manner that never was envisioned by current ownership,” Capanna said in the email. “That said, what remains to be completed are largely finishing touches.”

The primary point person with the Canadian ownership group, Andy Ferri, unsuccessfully tried to bring investors on board, Copey said.

“They would get so far (in negotiations) and it would fall apart,” Copey said. “To see him (Ferri) let it go is a good thing. I can say this, though: he’s up to date as far as town taxes go.”

The status of state tax liens could not immediately be confirmed.

Former Buffalo Sabres forward Zenon Konopka joined the group in 2016, but he’s no longer involved in ownership, Copey said.

The property features cathedral ceilings in the dining room, a private party room, 210 feet of lake frontage, a 100-car parking lot and, according to the listing, new kitchen equipment.

“Current ownership is hoping a qualified replacement operator will now surface, so that the remaining details may be finished to efficiently fit their personal vision or brand,” Capanna said. “And this is not to say that a truly visionary developer will not see an even higher purpose for this breathtaking waterfront location.”

Greece officials have been approached in recent years about re-zoning to allow housing. That is not going to happen on Supervisor Bill Reilich’s watch, however.

“The supervisor has been pretty adamant that this remain an area where people can get to Lake Ontario,” Copey said. “There’s eight miles of shoreline in the town of Greece but there’s pretty limited public access to the lake. This is something that will continue to be a feature to the community and not residential.”

[email protected]/(585) 653-4020