Zorona’s plans for garden space hookah bar halted by College

Katie Paul News Editor

Rachel Wolff Contributing Editor

After more than a year of wrangling over the terms of their lot rental, the owners of Zorona Restaurant and Hookah Bar are frustrated with their landlords. College Properties, LLC, the College’s real estate business, has put a stop to plans to develop the garden space next to Zorona Restaurant’s new home into an open-air hookah bar.

“Vassar College doesn’t want to be associated with tobacco use,” said Maha Nesheiwat, who runs Zorona Restaurant with her husband Yousef. She said that she was informed of the College’s decision in June 2006, eight months after signing a lease that granted her “use of the adjacent garden” and nine months after she initially explained her plans for converting the garden space to an outdoor hookah cafe to a Vassar representative. “Vassar was afraid that it would look like people are doing drugs, that the hookah looks like a bong,” said Nesheiwat, who received this information from a representative of River Management, the real estate agency responsible for managing all of the College’s properties.

“We were concerned about the plan for smoking, and also about fencing off a space that had been open to the public,” said Vassar Vice President of Finance and Administration Elizabeth Eismeier when asked about Vassar’s objections. “We were very concerned that the plan was not the best use of the space and did not serve the community.”

In May 2006, the Nesheiwats moved their family-run Middle Eastern restaurant from its former location at 50 Raymond Avenue to a larger space two doors down, next to the garden space. “Nobody used the [garden] space beforehand,” said Joe Nesheiwat, the owners’ son and Zorona waiter. “People threw garbage into it. We cleaned it up when we moved in because we wanted to put a patio there and to do outdoor seating.”

The family had previously rented two adjacent spaces for Zorona Café and Zorona Grocery Store, which supplied the Arlington business district with Middle Eastern meals and products.

Before deciding to commit to the move, Nesheiwat met with former Director of Administrative Services Gerald Mason as well as Mark Raphael and Maureen Cronin of River Management in September 2005. In the meeting, which took place at the Café, Nesheiwat said that she demonstrated how to use a hookah and explained her vision for the garden space adjacent to the lot.

“I told Mason that the only reason I’m moving here is to use the garden as a hookah bar,” she said. “I said, ‘If you’re not giving me the garden, I’m not taking it.’ Out of all the applicants, they said that they picked us because we were different, and they wanted to do something with the garden to make it usable.” The lease was signed on Oct. 31, 2005, and granted the Nesheiwats use of the garden area, pending the College’s approval of a more specific proposal for construction, gardening and decorating details.

Mason, who is no longer an employee of the College, was Nesheiwat’s primary contact about the property. When asked about the situation concerning Zorona’s, Eismeier said, “Without [Mason] here to speak for himself, I can’t be absolutely certain what can be said about this. However, when [Mason] spoke to me I had and continue to have grave concerns about turning that garden space into a space that would primarily be for smoking.”

Eismeier explained that when a proposal first came to her this past summer, she consulted a number of individuals who are active in Arlington business groups.

When asked if the College sets limits on what can be sold in the business spaces the College owns (such as a restriction on tobacco), Eismeier said that there is “nothing formal” in place; rather, the College looks to submitted business plans for approval. “We require a prospective business to give us a business plan…what is it that they produce? What is the service? Who are they targeting? From the business plan, you hope to get a sense of who they might serve.”

Eismeier went on to say, “We are sticking to our position that it’s not in the best interest of the space that it be dedicated to smoking…when a lot of people don’t like space to be used for smoking while eating and when more and more information is coming out about the dangers of smoking. We felt the need to be responsible about that.”

Nesheiwat said that she submitted approximately five plans between September 2005 and June 2006, none of which were approved by the College.

According to Nesheiwat, Mason told her that each proposal needed “more details,” requests she responded to by elaborating on her plans and including separate proposals from the individual contractors she planned to hire. In April 2006, after the third plan had been rejected, Cronin came to assist her in crafting a fourth. “That’s ok, I understand that my English is not too good,” Nesheiwat said, although she noted that because Vassar had taken over a month to respond to each submission. The fourth plan, despite Cronin’s help, was also rejected.

When asked about the multiple plans, Eismeier said that she had only ever seen one plan, in July 2006. This plan, according to her, was a “simple sketch” of the garden art space with only a couple of sentences explaining its intended use. However, Eismeier said it was possible that more plans were exchanged between Nesheiwat and Mason. “[Zorona owners] could well be right about what they did previously,” she said. “But I don’t know.”

Nesheiwat said that she received no response from the College in June 2006 after repeatedly inquiring as to the status of her request, since she had by then moved into the new space. “[Mason’s] secretary told me, ‘He’s on vacation, he’ll be back in two days,’ then ‘He’s in New York.’” She had called River Management, but did not hear from them until she removed the wooden fence that had lined the sidewalk by the garden.

According to Nesheiwat, the day after Nesheiwat made this change to the garden, Cronin and Raphael came to the restaurant and explained that the lease prohibited any changes to the garden space without Vassar’s written approval. Cronin called later that day to inform Nesheiwat that she was allowed to dispose of the fence, but that Mason had left his post at the College. Nesheiwat said that she was then told to wait for someone to take his place and re-evaluate the information.

Nesheiwat said that Cronin came to the restaurant the next day to tell her that Vassar would not allow her to use hookahs, and that there was nothing in the lease to guarantee otherwise. When Nesheiwat called the College to ask why officials had changed their minds , she was referred to River Management for any questions.

The constant back-and-forth resulted in a significant loss of profit, said Nesheiwat. She invested in 35 hookahs that are now stored in her basement; since a 2003 New York State law prohibits smoking inside commercial spaces, they cannot be used inside the restaurant. Nesheiwat had also purchased a sign that advertises a hookah bar and new menus that explain the historical use of hookahs. “It’s not about the tables; I have enough tables inside,” she said. “It’s about the outdoor seating area in the spring and the summer.”

More than financial concerns, however, Nesheiwat noted the cultural significance the hookah café held for her. “It’s a tradition. It’s something from my home,” she said. “I want to bring it here and give people more of an idea about who we are, more than what they usually hear about Arabs. It’s something to get the whole community together, something different that’s never been done here before.”

Vassar officials said that they do not take issue with the use of the outdoor space for shared seating and dining. Eismeier noted, “Various businesses donated to and supported the creation of the garden art space, and that’s why we felt somewhat uncomfortable with it evolving in this way.” Associate Vice President and Director of Investments Stephen Dahnert said that there were also logistical issues. “[Eismeier and I] didn’t get involved in this until [Mason] left at the end of July, and it would have taken several months for any permitting process to play out. Therefore...it made sense to wait and address the issue more clearly in the springtime,” said Dahnert.

Director of Internal Services and Special Projects Andrew Meade also supported development of the garden lot. “The idea of outdoor seating in Arlington sounded like just a fabulous idea and something that we didn’t have, so it would be one more neat thing that would make people want to come [to the area].”

“We certainly want Zorona’s to succeed,” said Eismier, and added that she was pleased “that [the owners of Zorona] have put so much effort into the restaurant and that they’ve extended their business.” Said Meade, “Shared seating in a well-kept park-like space is just good news. It’s bad news that it wasn’t able to happen for whatever reason this summer. It’s a lost opportunity, for everybody…but the hope is that going forward that this will be another really positive thing.”

While maintaining their position on the prospect of a hookah bar at Zorona, Vassar College officials are eager to move forward with the plan of outdoor seating. “We regret that it’s been a misunderstanding, but the lease is very clear,” said Eismeier. “We’re continuing to talk to [the owners of Zorona] about the future of this.”