By Thane Grauel

WESTPORT — The honeymoon does not appear to be over between the town and the group running the Inn at Longshore, a popular venue for weddings and other special events.

The Board of Finance on Monday night modified a lease with Longshore Hospitality that includes $8 million in alterations to the inn and could extend the lease another 30 years after 2028.

The tenant signed on to run the town-owned Inn at Longshore Park just before the pandemic. While that was a challenging time for hospitality businesses of all kinds, the outfit survived.

Negotiations for the amended lease had apparently been under way for some time, and it seems few details were known to those outside the talks.

“We are committed to returning the inn to its to its original glory,” Adam Cassidy of Longshore Hospitality said at the board’s online meeting Monday night.

The finance board’s vote was unanimous, 7-0.

The new lease commits the vendor to $8 million in capital improvements, and, after they are completed, increases the rent from 15 percent of gross receipts from the banquet hall and overnight guests to 18.8 percent, according to Doug LoMonte of Bercham, Moses, the town’s law firm.

“This is a revenue sharing model, not a profit-based model,” he said.

The base rent is $50,000 a month, with Consumer Price Index increases. The amended lease also allows for rent relief while the inn has no guests during reconstruction.

The first 10-year lease extension begins Dec. 31, 2028, he said. It could be followed by two optional 10-year extensions.

The amended lease includes a “robust audit mechanism pursuant to which the town will able to confirm the tenant’s investment, as well as the calculations regarding the gross revenue,” LoMonte said.

First Selectwoman Jennifer Tooker noted that when the town signed the first agreement with Longshore Hospitality, it was pre-pandemic.

“We were very excited about having them as a tenant because of their expertise, because of their proven track record, and because they understand the community and how important the Inn at Longshore is our community,” Tooker said.

“They have now been tenants for a couple of years, we have lived through COVID together, and I’m pleased to say we are just as delighted to have them as a tenant now as we were when they took over the lease a few years ago,” Tooker continued. “Their commitment to make an investment in a town asset, and truly a town jewel, is something that I’m so pleased about.”

Thane Grauel, executive editor, grew up in Westport and has been a journalist in Fairfield County and beyond more than three decades. Reach him at editor@westportjournal.com. Learn more about us here.