Calling it a "relief," the owner of Locos Grill and Pub in Gainesville has signed a lease for the business to remain in its current location.
The restaurant and several other businesses call the Sherwood Shopping Plaza on South Enota Drive home. Northeast Georgia Health System officially purchased the plaza on September 7 after about a year of speculation and rumor about its future.
"The old landlord came at me with the news of the potential sale of the property a year and a month earlier, so 13 months ago is how long it's been an issue for me and the other tenants," Locos Gainesville owner Hudson Wilson said. "It's been quite a while, so it was a relief to get the offer of the lease extension for sure."
Wilson said the move will allow the restaurant to remain in its current location for at least several more years.
"We are pleased to reach a new lease agreement with Loco’s that will allow them to continue serving customers at Sherwood Plaza and provide stability for several years," Northeast Georgia Health System Director of Public Relations and Marketing Sean Couch said.
When rumors began circulating about the potential sale of the property, some tenants and employees became uneasy about the future of their location. Wilson, for one, has been operating Locos in its current home for 20 years.
"I think we navigated that pretty well and everybody is happy to continue to be there for the next several years."
At the present, the health system has not announced any firm plans for the location.
"Appropriate agents will continue to work through lease terms with other tenants as needed," Couch said. "Final plans for the property are still being explored."
While he hopes to reach a solution with the health system for long term plans, Wilson said the new lease provides him some breathing room to think about the future without the pressure of the unknown.
"We've been there for so long. It would be nice to be able to stay, and I know that we (businesses at Sherwood) all serve a purpose for that community, the workers in that community that use the businesses in Sherwood Plaza on a daily basis," Wilson said.
El Sombrero co-owner Christian Aguirre said his current contract, in place when the sale happened, takes him into the new year and beyond. Aguirre also said he'd like to keep his business located at Sherwood Plaza.
Hospital officials announced in June that they had signed the contract to buy the plaza.
"We do not have any immediate needs for the property," former Health System Executive Director, Strategic Marketing Melissa Tymchuk said in June. "We will be going through a thoughtful and intentional planning process that we know will take at least a year, which we hope will provide some relief from the current tenants, kind of relieve any immediate pressure from them."
