On paper at least, who gets a long-term lease for a beignet and coffee stand in City Park remained undecided on Wednesday.
But for Morning Call co-owner Bob Hennessey, he seemed resigned to the likely reality that Cafe du Monde will get the space his business has called home since 2012, apparently bringing to an end a process that pitted one well-known beignet stand against another in a sometimes contentious lawsuit.
When the bids were opened, Cafe du Monde offered the highest monthly rent: $25,760. Next highest was Cafe Beignet, which offered $25,100.
Hennessey and his brother came in third with $23,800.
“We gave it out best shot,” Hennessey said after the bids were opened. “To me, going any higher on our bid didn’t make any financial sense.”
In the first round of bidding, Morning Call submitted the highest bid: $10,000 a month in rent and 10.5 percent of gross revenue. Cafe du Monde bid $10,000 a month and 10.25 percent of gross revenue.
City Park will now review the three bids to determine which company will get the lease.
But park CEO Bob Becker indicated that unless there is some major problem discovered during that process, Cafe du Monde will take over the space in the casino building.
“The high minimum rent is probably going to be the high deciding factor,” Becker said, adding that the decision will come “probably right after the holidays.”
If Cafe du Monde is confirmed, Morning Call would have 60 days to leave the space.
Cafe du Monde would then have 120 days to make improvements, as noted in bid documents, and open for business.
Jay Roman, president of Cafe du Monde, said he was cautiously optimistic that his company would move in.
“Right now I feel very confident about it; very, very hopeful,” he said. “But I felt the same way last time. You never know until it’s all finished.”
Cafe du Monde won the lease the first time the park put the bid out, but Morning Call’s owners sued after their entry was thrown away.
The park argued that the Hennessey brothers missed a mandatory meeting ahead of the bid opening. The Hennessey brothers argued attendance at that meeting was not a deciding factor as to who should get the lease.
An Orleans Parish Civil District Court judge ultimately sided with Morning Call, leading the park to start the bidding process once again.
“No hard feelings. Hopefully City Park has what they want and hopefully Cafe du Monde does well if they’re confirmed the high bidder,” Hennessey said. “I have no animosity for them.”
Should that happen, though, Morning Call will be a business in name only, at least for the time being.
The Hennesseys closed Morning Call’s longtime Metairie location in May citing slumping business. Instead, they said, they would focus on the City Park location, where business was far more brisk.
Even though Morning Call appears to be leaving City Park and no longer has a second location, Bob Hennessey has said the business won’t become a thing of the past.
He has said in recent months that he is working with a real estate broker to find a new location for the 24-hour beignet and coffee stand which opened in the French Quarter in 1870.
He could not, however, say Wednesday if one has been found.
“Morning Call’s going to be here long after I’m gone. It’s not going away,” he promised. “It’s a historic business. It’ll be here forever. We just need to find the right home.”
Danny Monteverde can be reached at danny@wwltv.com.