Lido Marina Village sold

LIDO MARINA VILLAGE ? After several sale attempts that fell through, this collection of shops, restaurants and offices has been sold to Newport Beach’s JC Partners International and Rhode Island-based Wasserman Real Estate Capital for an undisclosed sum.

It’s not clear what changes may be in store for Lido Marina Village, the home of a well-known boat show and harbor-based businesses such as yacht sales and charters, but city plans could dictate multilevel mixed-use developments with commercial space on the first floor and residential above.

JC Partners issued a written statement Monday confirming the sale, which closed May 31. Officials at JC Partners and Wasserman did not return calls for comment.

There won’t be any immediate changes and none of the more than 100 tenants are being evicted, said Donna Larson, who has managed the property for 18 years.

“They all know we’ve got new owners. They all want to know what’s going to happen,” she said, but added that she doesn’t know much more.

Lido Marina Village includes several restaurants, a bookstore, jewelry stores and a perfume shop as well as boating businesses that use the adjacent docks. The property encompasses 0.38 acres and was assessed at nearly $4 million when it was placed in trust by a previous owner in January, Jennifer Fischer, a customer service representative at First American Title Co. in Santa Ana, said.

Because the city is updating its general plan, it’s not clear what would be allowed on the property. It’s zoned for commercial activities, but the proposed update would include mixed use, Newport Beach Assistant City Manager Sharon Wood said.

Business owners said they haven’t heard anything but rumors about the future of the waterfront shopping plaza, including the rumor that a boutique hotel will replace the existing buildings.

A hotel plan that arose in 2004 ? a deal that involved JC Partners and another firm ? never came to fruition but had some business owners worried they’d be kicked out of their shops.

That worry has resurfaced, Lido Village Books owner Dan Schmenk said. When his lease expired about six months ago, he decided to go month-to month because of the uncertainty.

“Needless to say, that’s one of the reasons I’m worried,” he said.

Raj Parfumerie owner Sudhir Sutaria said his lease will expire soon, and he’d like to know if it will be renewed.

“I would love to stay. It’s a beautiful place,” he said.

Monica Warthen, owner of Mama Mia Italian Restaurant, said her lease doesn’t end until 2009, and she knew the property was in escrow when she bought the restaurant a year ago.

Warthen is also hoping for more information from the new owners, and she’d like to see the area spruced up. For example, she said, by her restaurant there’s a hole in the boardwalk about the size of someone’s foot.

“If their plan is to upgrade and update and correct the maladies of the location and help us with some marketing, that would be the best thing I could hope for,” Warthen said.

City Councilman Tod Ridgeway, who said he is not connected with the Lido sale but is familiar with it, said a mixed-use development “is probably what they’re going to do,” but added that the owners have no definite plans yet.

? Staff writer Ana Contreras contributed to this story.dpt.13-lidomarina-1-kt-CPhotoInfo441RTN1O20060613j0rxhqncKENT TREPTOW / DAILY PILOT(LA)David Randall, 14, right, and Jeff Godfrey haul an octopus up to the third floor of the Lido Marina Village building Monday. David, whose father works there, was fishing when the octopus grabbed the baitfish. It was released unharmed a short while later. dpt.13-lidomarina-2-kt-CPhotoInfo441RTN3U20060613j0rxi8nc(LA)A skateboarder rides through Lido Marina Village on Monday.