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Long-delayed downtown Dayton restaurant should open within six weeks, owner says
DAYTON — The new Asian restaurant to be called Sa Bai that was first slated to be developed in late 2009 at 200 S. Jefferson St. in the spot that was vacated by Chin’s Oriental Cafe/Elbo’s lounge is nearing completion and should be open within the next six weeks, according to the restaurant’s owner, Chanaka DeLanerolle.
“Construction-wise, we should be done in about 10 days,” DeLanerolle said, although the liquor license is expected to take a few more weeks to finalize. State liquor-control records show that the restaurant filed its application for the license last week.
“We should be opening in about five weeks or so, give or take a week,” DeLanerolle said.
The project stalled for more than a year following the Dayton City Commission’s approval of a five-year lease agreement with Chanaka DeLanerolle/Sa Bai LLC in June 2009. The city of Dayton is the landlord because the restaurant is located in the Dayton Transportation Center complex, which is managed by the Dayton Convention Center. The rental agreement was for a five-year original term with three five-year option terms.
At that time the lease was signed, city officials announced in a news release that the Asian restaurant would open in late summer 2009.
The recession played a role in the project’s delay. DeLanerolle owned four Cincinnati-area restaurants when the Dayton deal was first consummated, and he still owns The Celestial and Teak Thai Cuisine. But two other properties that housed restaurants have been sold, including Mt. Adams Fish House, which closed for business just last month.
“I was losing money on the two properties that we sold,” DeLanerolle said. “Now that those are gone, we should be in good shape.”
Sa Bai’s owners have paid more than $20,000 in rent, taxes and utilities on the unused space since the lease was signed, but they are about $14,000 in arrears on its payments, according to Bart Shaw, director of the Dayton Convention Center. The city and the restaurant’s owners have agreed to a repayment plan, Shaw said.
“We’re still very excited about it, and we understand that it took a little more time than everyone had hoped,” Shaw said. The restaurant’s owners have paid for extensive renovation of the property, including replacing the floors in the dining room and bathrooms and installing new bathroom walls, the convention center director said.
When it opens, Sa Bai will help connect the convention center and guests who stay in the adjacent Crowne Plaza hotel with the Oregon District’s dining, entertainment and arts businesses, Shaw said.
The new Dayton restaurant will feature “casual to upscale dining Asian restaurant, sushi bar and lounge, providing a unique and rewarding dining experience through an array of authentic cuisine and beverages from across Asia,” according to the city’s initial news release.
Sa Bai will be open seven days a week for dinner, and will be open weekdays for lunch, DeLanerolle said. It will employ between 20 and 30 people, he said.
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