The operators of the landmark Ore House restaurant on the Santa Fe Plaza announced in January they were moving out of their upstairs location at Lincoln and San Francisco.
But the Ore House hasn’t moved yet, and its landlord wants the restaurant gone now — and has asked a judge to make it happen.
Ortega Plaza Building Inc. filed a complaint in state District Court this week seeking a judge’s order requiring the Ore House to “quit the premises.”
The lawsuit maintains that the Ore House has violated its lease by allowing the premises to the deteriorate to the point that city inspectors have found “serious” fire code violations that are “an immediate and significant threat,” both to the Ore House building and adjacent properties. The city has threatened to shut the place down, the complaint says.
An order to make the Ore House get out of the building is needed to “avoid a disaster” from the hazardous conditions, the complaint maintains.
John Beaupre, owner of the Ore House, said it would be inappropriate to comment on the legal action because a hearing is scheduled for today.
Beaupre said in January that after 35 years, the Ore House was leaving its second-floor spot at Lincoln and San Francisco, overlooking the Plaza, and would be combined with his Milagro 139 restaurant at 139 W. San Francisco St., creating the renamed Ore House at Milagro 139.
He said then that the lease was expiring in June and that landlord Armand Ortega, who runs a gallery and other businesses on the Plaza, wanted to put another restaurant in the space.
Ortega’s complaint says the Ore House lease required that the space be kept in good repair. In August, the complaint says, Armand Ortega’s lawyer advised the Ore House operators that the restaurant premises were in a condition “not allowed by the lease” and had deteriorated “beyond the scope of normal wear and tear.”
When no improvements were made after that notice, Ortega’s lawyer notified the Ore House on March 8 that the lease was terminated effective March 31, the complaint says. The city code inspections took place after that.
The court complaint also says that on April 27, Ore House employees were ordered to “bar access to Ortega’s agents, lest said employees be fired.” That means Ortega can’t have workers make the scheduled replacement of a grease trap, the complaint states.
And the filing alleges that “items of personal property” subject to Ortega’s landlord lien, including “valuable art work and furnishings,” are being removed from the Ore House space.
Photo Credit – JOURNAL FILE
Cutline – The landmark Ore House’s continued operation in its space overlooking the Plaza is the subject of a lawsuit seeking a judge’s order to make the restaurant move out.
