Elyria officials, building owner hash out plan for redevelopment of former Friendly's

City officials and the owner of the former Friendly's on Broad Street started a meeting Thursday that began with conflict and awkwardness but eventually led to a plan to get the building's redevelopment back on track. The meeting included the owner of the building, Al Nimer, along with his general contractor and his attorney, and city officials including Mayor Kevin Brubaker, Councilman Andrew Lipian, I-1st Ward, Law Director Amanda Deery and Chief Building Official Darryl Farkas. Lipian organized the meeting in the hopes of overcoming confusion between Nimer's team and city officials that had led to the city issuing a stop work order in March after general contractor Tracy Homenik did certain work inside the building without a permit. Brubaker said that the conversation was difficult at times, but he believed that having both sides sit down and explain what went wrong and where to go was effective in clearing the air and setting up a plan. "Both sides had a thought process on how things went, and we got away from how things went versus let's talk about how we can work together and get this moving forward," Brubaker said. "Mr. Farkas did a very good job of explaining the process, gave them the permits that needed to be updated and they agreed that they would be turning that paperwork in." Both Lipian and Brubaker said that when the meeting began it was fairly contentious, but both credited Deery and attorney Michael Wilson, who is representing Nimer, for keeping the meeting on track and focused on finding next steps. "They still have a lot of leg work to do over there, but now I feel like we are all working from the same roadmap and I am cautiously optimistic that we will see some progress there," Deery said on Friday. Lipian said that the immediate steps to get back to work were for Nimer and Homenik to fill out several forms with the Building Department, particularly an extension on the electrical permit. He said that they have one week to submit that extension. "The crux of the complications were around communication, on both sides," Lipian said. "When everybody got around the table, and after some uncomfortable conversations were navigated, communication improved and I am cautiously optimistic that this will spell out success for the rest of the project. The parties are talking now and they have an understanding; that is key." Brubaker agreed that there was a lack of proper communication in both directions, but said that having a face-to-face meeting went a long way in overcoming that and he was hopeful work on the building would begin again soon. A news release put out by Lipian earlier this week included a quote from Homenik explaining the vision for the former Friendly's, which she said would once again become a casual local eatery. "It's going to have that old Friendly's feel: simple food, soft-serve and a place for families," she said in the release. "We'll start with a small menu, like sandwiches, and bring in homemade ice cream from Bella's to Elyria." Contact Owen MacMillan at (440) 329-7123 or omacmillan@chroniclet.com.