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Pappas restaurant sold to mysterious buyer

It is unclear, though, what the recently formed Tampa firm is planning for the culinary landmark.

By ROBIN STEIN
Published May 13, 2006

TARPON SPRINGS - For eight months, dust collected, debates roiled and the Pappas Riverside Restaurant stood empty, a stark symbol of the city's collective anxiety over the future.

But this month, the city landmark was sold for $6.25-million in cash. The buyer is Tarpon Restaurant Services of Tampa, a mysterious corporate entity that has existed for less than month.

Victor W. Holcomb, a Tampa attorney who is the agent for Tarpon Restaurant Services, did not return calls from the Times Friday. State corporate records list no other officers or managers for the company, which shares an address with Holcomb's law firm.

Tarpon Restaurant Services was incorporated only a week before the deed was signed, according to state records.

News of the deal seemed to spread a sense of hope and relief among city merchants and officials, but also sparked a frenzy of speculation. The town buzzed with rumors about the buyer's identity and intentions. Was it former pro basketball player and developer Matthew Geiger of East Lake? Or a group of New York investors? Will it be a restaurant, a sports bar or a retail complex?

"It's the world's best-kept secret," said Mayor Beverley Billiris. "I really, truly have no idea."

Even the sellers say they do not know for sure who else is involved besides Holcomb.

But Mia Boutzoukas, one of the three sellers, said she doesn't care who it is.

To the sellers, the deal seemed like a miracle.

Since the 1,000-seat restaurant first went on the market last fall, Boutzoukas said they have formally entered six different contracts, five of which ultimately fell apart.

The most visible disintegration came last November, after a deal with St. Petersburg developer Grady Pridgen died. Pridgen's plans to build a mixed-use complex with a hotel, shops and condominiums sent a shock wave through the community and spawned a dizzying series of proposals from city commissioners.

Another previous redevelopment proposal for the property included a hotel 75 feet tall.

By March, Boutzoukas said she and her partners were so desperate to unload the property they had decided to put it up for auction.

They agreed that if no contract was in place by Monday, April 3, it would be auctioned off. Days before the auction, they had a Greek Orthodox priest bless the restaurant, only to have Tarpon Restaurant Services emerge the next day.

The cash contract came with no contingencies and a 30-day closing period. The sale closed May 2.

"It was a true miracle how this buyer came along," Boutzoukas said.

Whoever the buyer, the sale opens a new chapter in the storied history of Pappas restaurant.

Louis Pappas, the inventor of the Greek-salad-with-potato-salad-on-the-bottom, founded the original restaurant in 1925, but the current building was erected in 1975.

That building was purchased for about $5.5-million three years ago from the Pappas brothers by three families.

The restaurant closed in September, putting about 70 employees out of work.

[Last modified May 13, 2006, 02:30:25]