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The Student News Site of San Francisco State University

Golden Gate Xpress

The Student News Site of San Francisco State University

Golden Gate Xpress

Jessie's Hot House evicted from Cesar Chavez Student Center

“I had no idea that Jessie’s was having any financial issues,” Masaquel said.

At the time, Darden alleges that all of the owners of spaces in the student center were behind in their rent. Corpus disputed this allegation as well, saying that to his knowledge the other vendors were all up to date on their payments.

“Furlough days were hitting, everyone carried a balance,” Darden said.

Furlough days occurred at the height of California’s 2009 budget crisis, when California State University employees were forced to take unpaid work days to avoid layoffs.

According to Darden, the negotiation was anything but easy. It was only after mediation with attorneys and an organized student campaign of protests and letter writing that their lease was re-examined.

“We had to fight them,” Darden said on his negotiations with the board. “They hated that, all that attention.”

It was only a few months before Jessie’s was again in the same position of not being able to pay rent. Darden said that in the “perfect model” of a restaurant business, rent should hover around 12 percent of the total revenue.

“Our rent was somewhere around 45 percent even after the modification,” Darden said, referring to the negotiated lower rent.

After another semester and under the looming threat of eviction, the Dardens approached the board for another rent adjustment. Darden said they submitted many “win-win” scenarios that would benefit both the students and their business.

“We even put a $10,000 cashiers check in front of them,” Darden said.

According to Darden, the board was no longer interested in negotiating. Corpus echoed that sentiment.

“If we have vendors that refuse to make their obligations, we have to replace them,” Corpus said, noting that it is not the function of the Student Center to subsidize businesses.

Particularly, Darden says that Guy Dalpe, Managing Director of the Student Center, was no longer interested in working towards a solution that would keep Jessie’s on campus. Dalpe did not return calls seeking comments.

Another lease holder disagreed with Darden’s accusation that the governing board makes running a business at the student center difficult.

Ferras Jweinat, who owns both The Pub and Gold Coast Grill in the student center, reacted with shock when informed of the difficulties that Jessie’s was having negotiating with the governing board.

“They’ve always been supportive of my initiatives,” Jweinat said. “Guy has been very supportive.”

Jweinat, who has been at the student center for more than 12 years, is also a landlord off-campus.

“I mean, in business, landlords can be tough to deal with sometimes,” he said. “Landlords and tenants never really get along.”

The damage has already been done to Jessie’s Hot House. According to publicly available records, Robert and Julissa Darden appeared in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy hearing on Aug. 17.

According to Corpus, the Dardens owe a total of $28,888.71 in accumulated rent and other charges.

“This is the students’ money,” Corpus said. “Why should we even use it to pay for the evictions process?”

An eviction notice, posted by the San Francisco Sheriff’s Department dated Aug. 3, still hangs on the door to the kitchen entrance of Jessie’s.

The closing of a small business is difficult under even the best circumstances, but what Darden said he will miss most is the customers.

“We knew a lot of people, a lot of people knew us,” Darden said. “We’ve seen people go through that campus and graduate.”

Although Darden is sure that Jessie’s will not return to campus, he is still interested with keeping in contact with past Jessie’s customers.

“They can follow (Jessie’s Hot House) on Facebook,” Darden said.

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    BrutusSep 8, 2011 at 6:49 am

    “We couldn’t pay the rent we agreed to, so we’re the victims!”

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Jessie's Hot House evicted from Cesar Chavez Student Center