Pier 45 restaurant will not open for the season

Updated: Thursday, January 30 2014, 07:08 PM EST

byPatrice Walsh

Rochester, N.Y. -- Its a popular place in the summer time, but Pier 45 served its final meal in September.

The operator of the restaurant in the Ferry Terminal said he has ended his contract with the city and will no longer run the restaurant.

Joe Floreano is Executive Director of the Rochester Riverside Convention Center. Floreano said he has enjoyed running the restaurant for the past five years but said it became too challenging to keep it going.

He said construction of the 17 million dollar marina project, closed the front entrance to the ferry terminal and took away valet parking for the restaurant. He said this makes it hard for customers to find their way into the restaurant. He also said competition from other restaurants was just too difficult. That marina project is in its first phase. It includes not only a public marina, but also a promenade, and eventually condominiums, restaurants and possibly a hotel. The first 85 marina slips are expected to open next spring.

Floreano told 13 WHAM News: It just wasnt worthwhile to open it for the season.

Floreano said he is proud of the restaurant, which has won many top honors, and will miss interacting with customers there, but will focus on running the Convention Center. He doesnt know what will happen with the ferry terminal or if the city will bring in someone else to operate the restaurant.

This isnt the only big change at the Port of Rochester. Other businesses at the port said they have heard their leases will not be renewed.

Tom Beaman said he is looking at other options and may re-locate his California Rollin sushi restaurant. It is one of the original businesses in the terminal and has survived many ups and downs over the years. Beaman could have bailed when the ferry sailed out of Rochester, but he said devoted customers kept him in business. He also held sushi classes to help pay his rent when business was down.

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Pier 45 restaurant will not open for the season