When Landry’s Restaurants and Daniel Yeh, operator of the island’s Flagship Hotel, hammered out an agreement last year to end a litigious squabble about when the restaurant company would take over the property, both sides were tight-lipped.
Few details were disclosed when the Daily News reported the two sides had struck a deal to end the fight that began soon after Landry’s purchased the Seawall hotel — known by locals for its buxom mermaid sculptures — from the city for $500,000 in 2003.
But disclosure documents filed this year by Landry’s with the Securities & Exchange Commission provide a few details about when the publicly traded company, run by island businessman Tilman Fertitta, could take over, and how much it will invest to build a Kemah Boardwalk-like attraction on the Flagship pier that juts out into the Gulf at 25th Street.
According to the filing, Landry’s would begin renovations in 2009 and invest $15 million to transform the property into a “19th century-style inn and entertainment complex with rides and carnival-type games.”
Yeh’s long lease on the property, executed when the city still owned the hotel, withstood multiple legal barrages. At one point, Yeh filed for bankruptcy protection to foil the bid by Landry’s to break his lease on the 220-room hotel before the settlement was reached in 2005.
