The building where Humphrey’s on the Delta restaurant was located at 1 Marina Plaza, foot of L Street in Antioch. Herald file photo by salliegoetsch.com

By Allen Payton

Rumors circulating through Antioch this week, that Zephyr Grill & Bar will open a third location at the former site of Humphrey’s on the Delta, were somewhat confirmed Thursday night by Lizeht Zepeda, the city’s Economic Development Manager.

Asked if the rumors were true, Zepeda responded, “It’s an item on the November 14th council meeting, staff report should be posted on the website.”

However, the agenda including the staff report had yet to be posted on the City’s website as of publication time, Thursday night.

Zephyr Grill & Bar’s two other locations, in Brentwood at 613 1st Street and in Livermore at 1736 1st Street, have menu items which are hard to find at restaurants in East County, including free-range chicken, grass-fed beef and wild-caught fish. See more photos and information about their food on their Facebook page, here. The owners of Zephyr recently sold a third location in Seattle.

The city currently owns the building as well as the land, located at the Antioch Marina with the address of 1 Marina Plaza, and has been seeking a buyer or tenant since the former restaurant closed for business on December 24, 2012.

11/10/17 UPDATE: The transaction the Antioch City Council will be considering is the sale of the building and land for $1.2 million to Sean McCauley Investments, Inc. (SMI), a Brentwood-based business which owns other real estate in East County including the old Casino Building at Waldie Plaza in Antioch’s downtown, Rivertown District. It is item #4 on the council’s agenda. ACC mtg agenda 111417 – Humphrey’s sale Item #4

According to the staff report on the agenda item, “SMI has invested millions of dollars in development and revitalization of several blighted buildings, bringing additional businesses and entrepreneurs into downtown and other areas of Antioch.”

The staff report further explains SMI’s plans, which are a joint effort with the owners of Zephyr Grill & Bar, Randy and Lynn Tei.

“In an effort to bring the site back to a working restaurant, SMI submitted to the City a signed Letter Of Intent (LOI) between SMI and a restaurant operator for the site. The LOI (Attachment C) describes the operator lease terms, and scope of work between SMI and Randy Tei and his wife Lynn Tei, DBA RLW Properties (RLW) for the operation of a Zephyr Grill & Bar restaurant at One Marina Plaza. SMI will be doing extensive repairs and improvements to deliver a “vanilla shell” to the tenant, RLW. Once the PSA is executed the estimated timeframe for SMI’s delivery of improvements is about two months to complete. Additional work, kitchen and interior design will be made by the tenant after SMI completes their work.”

“RLW has over 30 years of experience in the restaurant industry. They currently own and operate two restaurants in the Bay Area, Zephyr Grill & Bar in Brentwood and Zephyr Grill & Bar in Livermore; Ca. RLW is committed to revitalizing the site and operating an elegant upscale restaurant. SMI was instrumental in RLW’s decision to launch this endeavor in the Rivertown District of Antioch. This will be their 3rd location in the Bay Area. They look forward to operating this 3rd restaurant for many years to come in Downtown Rivertown Antioch.”

However, according to Sean McCauley, owner of SMI, if the Tei’s become the tenant then it will have a different name than Zephyr Grill & Bar, so as not to compete with their Brentwood location.

“This has been in negotiation for over a year,” he said.

The purchase includes the land, as well as the building, McCauley explained. He estimates there will be about $1 million of tenant improvements needed for the restaurant to open.

The address of the restaurant may also change as the city has plans to rename L Street to something with Marina in the name such as Marina Way or Blvd. The new address would then be 1 Marina Way or Blvd., making it easier for people to find the restaurant from Highway 4.

The council meeting is at 7:00 p.m. in the Antioch Council Chambers at 200 H Street in historic, downtown Rivertown. You can also watch the meeting live on local cable channel 24 or via livestream on the city’s website at http://www.ci.antioch.ca.us/CityGov/citycouncilmeetings.htm.

Melody Royal from her Facebook page.

Better Homes and Gardens^® Real Estate LLC announced this past week that Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Royal & Associates, located in Antioch, California, is the newest member of its network.

Owned and operated by Melody Royal, the newly named Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Royal & Associates serves the residential real estate market across the communities of Antioch, Pittsburg, Oakley, Brentwood, Discovery Bay, Knightsen, Bethel Island and Byron in Contra Costa County, approximately two hours east of San Francisco.

Royal has been a member of the Women’s Council of REALTORS® since 2016 and has been named a Five Star home professional.

The fresh, modern look of the Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate brand will enable Royal and her team to forge stronger connections with the area’s high volume of millennial and Gen X buyers, and prove an impactful recruiting tool that builds upon the brokerage’s reputation for fostering growth in a familiar working environment.

“From day one, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate affords a striking freshness, offering renewed inspiration for my team, as well as a dynamic experience for consumers,” said Melody Royal, Owner, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Royal & Associates. “The brand offers unique tools that encourage a deep understanding of our clients, which align with our thorough approach to the real estate process. As we continue to explore the network’s broad suite of tools and resources, I’m thrilled to continue leveraging the brand appeal as a recruiting tool for organic growth.”

The communities served by Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Royal & Associates are popular among buyers with San Francisco and Silicon Valley-based careers. While offering an affordable alternative to the Bay Area, the region also draws recreation seekers with its proximity to the San Joaquin River and the Diablo Mountain range.

The multilingual Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Royal & Associates team members are able to work with the area’s melting pot of nationalities and cultures in a variety of languages.

“Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Royal & Associates is committed to ensuring that every client has a close working relationship with its sales associates, offering unprecedented accessibility and a profound knowledge of the local market,” said Sherry Chris, President and CEO, Better Homes and Gardens® Real Estate. “We look forward to helping Melody Royal and her team further deepen these relationships in the dynamic Contra Costa County area, enabling Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate to continue its growth in Antioch and beyond.”

For more information, visit www.bhgroyal.com.

Click to Tweet:

Melody Royal & team join the @BHGRealEstate family as Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Royal & Associates. #RealEstate

About Better Homes and Gardens® Real Estate LLC

Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate LLC is a dynamic real estate brand that offers a full range of services to brokers, sales associates and home buyers and sellers. Using innovative technology, sophisticated business systems and the broad appeal of a lifestyle brand, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate LLC embodies the future of the real estate industry while remaining grounded in the tradition of home. Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate LLC is a subsidiary of Realogy Holdings Corp. (NYSE: RLGY), a global leader in real estate franchising and provider of real estate brokerage, relocation and settlement services.

The growing Better Homes and Gardens® Real Estate network includes approximately 11,000 affiliated sales associates and approximately 300 offices serving home buyers and sellers across the United States, Canada and the Bahamas.

Better Homes & Gardens® is a registered trademark of Meredith Corporation licensed to Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate LLC and used with permission. An Equal Opportunity Company. Equal Housing Opportunity. Each Better Homes and Gardens® Real Estate Franchise is independently owned and operated.

Settlement will also include costs and restitution for misleading customers by falsely promising guaranteed annual renewal rates to obtain up-front fees

MARTINEZ, California — Contra Costa District Attorney Diana Becton, in conjunction with Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas, announced that on November 1, 2017, the District Attorney’s Consumer Protection Divisions reached a consumer protection settlement of $1.2 million in civil penalties against 24 Hour Fitness, Inc. The company must also pay $100,000 in costs to the County of Orange and Contra Costa, as well as pay restitution to the members who were misled by the promises of a low lifetime annual renewal rate in exchange for large up-front membership fees.

24 Hour Fitness is headquartered in San Ramon, Contra Costa County, California and has 400+ membership fitness gyms in 18 states, of which 140 are located in California. The allegations against 24 Hour Fitness state that between 2006 and 2009, 24 Hour sold pre-paid memberships in a false and misleading manner when 24 Hour sales representatives took large up-front fees for an initial 2 or 3-year membership period, with the promise that members would be guaranteed a low life-time annual renewal rate for life, as long as the member remained in good standing by paying their annual renewal fee on time. The up-front fees ranged from $600 to over $1400 with a promise of a fixed annual renewal rate between $29-$199 a year.

In 2006, 24 Hour made changes to the language of their pre-paid membership contracts that allowed for annual rate increases, but the District Attorneys alleged that 24 Hour sales representatives continued to sell these post-April 2006 memberships with verbal promises that their annual renewal rates would be guaranteed fixed for life. Consumers also believed they were misled by the verbal representations and in 2015, when 24 Hour began increasing annual renewal rates, they complained to the Company and the Better Business Bureau. They also started an on-line petition protesting the company’s broken promises.

The complaint alleges that 24 Hour refused to honor the verbal guarantees, so members who refused to pay the increased annual rate had their memberships terminated after having paid the large up-front fees or forced members to pay the increased rates.

The Settlement requires that 24 Hour Fitness allow pre-paid members to renew their memberships at the promised low annual lifetime renewal rate, if the member submits a claim form and declaration that they were told by a 24 Hour sales representative that their annual rate was guaranteed to remain the same for life.  All past and present 24 Hour Fitness members, who purchased post 2006 pre-paid membership contracts, or were updated to these contracts, and either paid the increase or were terminated for failure to pay the increase, will be sent a notice with instructions on how, where and when to submit their forms and declarations.

The District Attorney’s Offices want to make it clear that, if you receive a notice, it means you have one of the new contracts that allows for the increase, even if your rate has not yet been increased. It is important, that if you were promised a lifetime guaranteed annual renewal rate you must fill out the claim form and declaration to preserve or reinstate your guaranteed annual renewal rate. The restitution provisions of this settlement extend to qualifying pre-paid members nationwide.

24 Hour Fitness admitted no wrong-doing in the Settlement Agreement.

Deputy District Attorney Michelle Cipolletti from the Orange County District Attorney’s Consumer Protection Unit and Deputy District Attorney Dodie Katague from the Contra Costa Consumer Protection Unit prosecuted this case.

For further information, please contact DDA Dodie Katague at 925-957-8604.

Hosted by Antioch Councilwoman Lori Ogorchock