Hardee's says city 'put us out of business'

The Hardee's restaurant at the corner of West End Boulevard and Broadway is likely closed for good, say its corporate owners.

The shutdown, which occurred Wednesday, has Hardee's pointing the finger at both the property's previous owner and the city of Cape Girardeau.

The ongoing Broadway widening project, Hardee's said, diverted traffic, tore up its entrance and forced it to close its doors.

"They took out the front row of our parking, closed the street to traffic, used our parking lot for a detour and they provided us with no additional parking. The city put us out of business," said Larry Young, a Hardee's real estate administration official based in Anaheim, Calif.

Furthermore, Hardee's says, the former property owner, Han Mu Kang, cooperated with the city and green-lighted the final version of the project without telling corporate headquarters.

"The landlord worked and cooperated with the city without our knowledge," said Young, indicating Hardee's is considering a lawsuit against Kang.

Young said the version he approved did not include changes made to parking spaces, driveways and trash enclosure locations.

Reached at his home near Beaver Creek, Colo., Kang said Hardee's was regularly apprised of the plans and approved each version. Hardee's even submitted a redesign proposal from its own corporate engineers that was substantially accepted.

"We knew that street was going to be enlarged. Everybody knew," Kang said of Broadway. "I played the good corporate citizen's role. I said I'm willing to do whatever I have to do to cooperate."

Current owners of the lot at 1330 Broadway, RiverWest Partners, agree Hardee's has been treated more than fairly by the city.

"They've basically been catered to throughout this process," said Gerry Jones, one of the owning partners.

Through the widening, Hardee's lost 10 parking spaces on its south side. But in February 2005, the city purchased adjoining property at a cost of $266,000 in large part to compensate the restaurant with 19 new parking spaces and an additional drive-in route.

The city is now making curb cuts for drive-in entrance routes from both West End Boulevard and Broadway. Additionally, the city paid to move the 30-foot Hardee's sign back about four feet two weeks ago.

This week, Hardee's took down that sign.

Jones and others in his company said they were surprised Hardee's closed its doors just as Broadway reopened to traffic Tuesday after 40 days of closure.

Hardee's current lease agreement expires in October.

Cape Girardeau planner Martha Brown said Larry Young and Hardee's were informed and approved of the plan underway to widen the street and alter its parking lot configuration. She said she has extensive e-mail evidence to back that up.

Other merchants on Broadway have also been hit hard.

Jerel and Belen Lichtenegger own International Groceries and Global Cafe on opposite sides of Broadway. They said they have temporarily closed the supermarket and have seen Global Cafe's patronage greatly diminished.

tgreaney@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 245