Ivar’s president: Something fishy going on at Sea-Tac Airport

Ivar’s is vowing to fight to keep its Fish Bar restaurant at Sea-Tac Airport.

The Northwest staple was informed by the Port of Seattle that it lost the bid to stay in the Central Terminal. But Ivar’s president Bob Donegan says something more is going on.

“There’s something fishy going on at Sea-Tac and we’re not going to keep clam about it,” Donegan told KIRO Radio’s Dori Monson.

Donegan said the port told them that Ivar’s bid score was not as high as others, so they lost their spot at the Central Terminal. Their 10-year lease was up in 2015, but Donegan said that the port had such high employee turnover recently, they are just now getting to their lease.

“The port has been saying that we were outbid, but according to the ratings they have given us, we in fact, bid the most,” Donegan said. “We projected the highest sales and therefore the highest rent to the port. So we were not outbid.”

But Sea-Tac spokesperson Perry Cooper says it’s just business.

“We are not kicking them out,” he said. “It’s actually part of the competitive bid process that all of our dining and retail redevelopment is going through right now. So, in this last group that was approved, their specific spot was up for bid and they did not win.”

According to Cooper, Ivar’s lease ended in 2015 and they have been “holdover.” Like all leases that have expired at Sea-Tac, according to Cooper, Ivar’s went through an “open,” “thorough,” and “fair competitive bid process.”

“Anyone who bids could finish on top of the scoring, the current tenant or someone new,” he wrote in an email. “In this case Ivar’s didn’t finish with the top score.”

Ivar’s vs an “unfair” bidding process

There were seven criteria that the port used to judge the bids, including consideration for small businesses. According to Donegan, Ivar’s lost a few points because they are not a small business. But he argues that they should have been evaluated more fairly, and more high scoring, because of another criteria — historic heritage. Ivar’s came in four points below the maximum, according to Donegan. The restaurant that will replace Ivar’s — another seafood stop — outscored the 80-year-old Northwest establishment in the historic heritage category. That new restaurant is a startup, according to Donegan. He argues that this was unfair.

The restaurant is appealing the decision. The company has even started a website explaining their argument to stay at Sea-Tac.

A letter to the Port of Seattle Commission from Ivar’s President Robert Donegan says, “The integrity of the process has been breached by actions of the Port and it’s employees. In addition, the evaluation process itself is fundamentally flawed. Ivar’s demands that the Port of Seattle nullify the results of this evaluation.”

There are 26 Ivar’s locations in Washington state.

We learned last month that the waterfront property that is home to Ivar’s Acres of Clams on Pier 54 was sold to a Los Angeles company for $39.5 million. The company said it signed a long-term lease with the new owners, so Ivar’s Acres of Clams, as well the company’s Fish Bar, will continue to operate there. The sale of Pier 54 would reportedly help suburban expansion.

Information from KIRO 7 contributed to this story.

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