Quote:
Originally Posted by graciegirl
I agree Dewilson, and further.........
There are a lot of anti-developer posts on this thread in my opinion. The restaurant closed because no one wanted to rent it. It was offered for sale to the AAC for a very reasonable price. (The AAC not the CDD)...because a group had sued the developer and won control of that area. The AAC didn't buy the property.
I thought the original suit giving control to the AAC in that area was at least part a power play by a lot of people then in the POA. THAT WAS MY OPINION.
I still "feel" the drum beats on this thread from people who in my opinion are anti-developer and probably anti-capitalism and maybe jealous of financial success. THAT is MY OPINION.
I myself have been satisfied, actually more than satisfied living in The Villages and often think the form of government here, the CDD, is more effective than that of similar and even larger municipalities. I do not sell real estate, and have never sold real estate and do not know any Morses, other than meeting once in person the half brother who lives in our village. My name is Grace Helene Gantner and you can friend me on Facebook to peek at my real life.
I am a satisfied customer. I just read things and wonder about stuff.
The Villages does not need my support. They are extremely successful at selling houses and re-selling houses. The homes near the closed Hacienda Country Club are selling well and quickly and for a lot more money than people paid for them. Just watch the market like I enjoy doing.
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I'm not anti-developer or anti-capitalism by any means but you're not telling the whole story here.
The Hacienda Hills restaurant was very poorly managed. One of the problems was that it catered to the very old clientele that had been going there for years. As those people died off, younger villagers would go there and were not happy with the way things were being done. Management didn't want to change because they were afraid of losing their dwindling but loyal customer base.
As a result, the quality of the food and service began to go downhill. The last owner did make a last ditch effort to appeal to a younger client base but it was probably too late. He was losing money and couldn't maintain decent standards. That led to even fewer people patronizing the restaurant.
Eventually, his lease was up for renewal. The Villages saw the writing on the wall and increased the lease to a number that made it impossible for the restaurant to remain viable. I can't say for sue but they may have had the idea of shutting it down and building and apartment building in it's place when they did this.
Nothing wrong with that, it's their property, they have every right to do whatever they want with it. But if they could have made more money by leaving it as a restaurant I'm sure that they would have. If the previous lease holder could have made it work I'm sure that he would have paid the higher lease and updated the restaurant to appeal to a different clientele.
But the fact is that it was mismanaged. The food was terrible, the service had gone downhill and the building was deteriorating. They had been closed several times for health code violations. That is an indication of not enough money to maintain a business and also mean fewer people will want to eat there.
I'm a musician and played there several times. The room had terrible acoustics and was a horror to try to play in. My musician friends call it the room from hell. Most of the country clubs have music. Hacienda Hills had quiet dinner music geared to the over 90 crowd. When they tried to introduce music for a later generation, the over 90 crowd left and musicians like myself found the room very difficult to play in.
The whole thing was just a mess and I was glad to see that building taken down. I'd rather see them put up another restaurant that would cater to a younger clientele but that's me. I don't own the property and the owners are going to do what's best for them. I don't blame them one bit.