Boats in Newport Harbor.
By Kim Kalunian, WPRO News
The Newport Yachting Center is being sold, according to its current owners.
The Newport Harbor Corporation (NHC) says recent noise violations are prompting them to reconsider the concert and festival portions of the business; however, they plan to continue to operate the private function and wedding venue on the Yachting Center property.
“We have reluctantly made the decision to exit the concert and festival segments of our company,” NHC President and CEO Paul O’Reilly said in a statement Tuesday. “The current, local city noise ordinance is not designed for a concert business.”
“He’s probably right in that take,” Newport Mayor Henry Winthrop told WPRO News Tuesday. He says there is a 75 decibel maximum noise level for the area, though Winthrop says there were no formal conversations with Newport Harbor Corporation about potential exemptions. “We haven’t had any opportunity at all to work with them on the Sunset Concert Series.”
On Tuesday, The Newport Daily News reported the Newport Yachting Center agreed to plead no contest to 10 violations of the city’s noise ordinances this year.
“If you take a look at the history of the events down at the Newport Yachting Center for 15 years they held events and they were never cited a single time,” he said. “So something’s changed in the last year, year and a half.”
Winthrop says what exactly that change was is anyone’s guess, since NHC has owned and operated the facility all along.
Meanwhile O’Reilly says he “simply could not commit to a long-term lease and invest capital into an area that has such an unpredictable future.”
“We remain committed to investing in the local island economy as we grow our remaining businesses in future years,” he said.
Winthrop says he was told NHC wanted to focus more on their restaurants and hotels. O’Reilly echoed that, saying the primary reason they’re selling the waterfront venue is to “invest into our expanding restaurant and hotel operations, where we see excellent growth opportunities.”
“As I see it, it was strictly a business decision on their part,” Winthrop said. He was told about the decision to sell the venue Monday.
“I did not see this coming,” said Winthrop. “This was just brought to my attention yesterday…it came as a surprise to me.”
The venue is being purchased for an undisclosed amount by Rumford-based Peregrine Group LLC. They say the expect to close the sale by November.
Winthrop says it’s unclear if the new owners will continue the comedy and music series at the venue, but says he’s hopeful they’ll consider it.
“Obviously, one of the pieces of the business they’re going to exit is the concert business, so yeah that’s going to affect the employment of 75 to 80 people down there as well as any business that the local restaurants have done during that time,” he said.
“We expect the economic impact caused by the loss of these many events to be felt throughout the hospitality industry; most significantly, the loss of local jobs,” said Evan Smith, President and Chief Executive Officer of Discover Newport, the local tourism agency.
“Our local restaurants, shops and lodging partners will also experience a substantial loss. It is our hope that the events will continue at alternative venues within our destination,” said Smith.
NHC is set to continue to operate the annual Newport International Boat Show and the Charter Yacht Show, as well as the two restaurants The Mooring and The Smoke House. They plan to lease back land from the new owners to continue to operate the private events portion of the Newport Yachting Center’s business at the Sunset Terrace, which is also used for weddings.
As far as reports that the Newport Yachting Center will be torn down, Winthrop says the concert venue is a temporary tent that comes down every year.
This story will be updated when more information is available.
