Fabrison’s French Creperie Café opened its doors in Coronado in June of 2012. The owners, Fabrice and Alison Borel, had every reason to believe it would be a success. They already had one eatery in Little Italy and Coronado seemed like an ideal spot for a new one. Moreover, the location at 1120 Adella Avenue, in the building with the El Cordova Hotel, promised a steady walk-by clientele.
For the first few years, according to Fabrice Borel, everything went well. The restaurant was, in his words, “quite popular.” This, along with the earlier success of the Little Italy location, caused the owners to consider opening a new location. As they were nearing the end of their five-year lease, Alison and Fabrice opened a third location in Jamul – in east San Diego – in January of 2017. With experience under their belt, the Borels knew the risks they were taking. A new establishment can always go wrong. But, they understood the business and they knew they had the revenue from the shop in Coronado to rely upon if the new location wasn’t immediately successful.
Now, Borel says, “Our financial future that we built over the years is destroyed … we are finding ourselves in a very precarious financial situation with what happened with the Coronado location.”
What happened in Coronado, according to Borel, is that he had a good relationship with his landlord – the joint owners of the El Cordova Hotel and building (collectively known as El Cordova LLC) – and he and Alison had just signed the extension of their lease. However, over time, he and Alison began to notice some problems with the building – what appeared to be foundation problems. Borel says, “There seemed to be some structural problems. You could put your foot through the floor tile in the dining room… We contacted management in 2015 and shared the floor and a wall problem (where the wall seemed to be separating).”
“It took a long time for the owners to get a contractor to do the job and we agreed to close for three weeks while we got a new floor.” More delays ensued. According to Borel, the work was initially slated to take place in November of 2016, but was put off until January, 2017. On the first day, the contractor let them know that the scope of the work was much bigger than what they had already agreed.
According to Borel, there was rotten wood and mold over much of the premises. According to Borel, the landlord continued on with the necessary repairs despite the increased size of the job until a City of Coronado Inspector shut down the work for lack of permits. According to Borel, it appeared as though the owners were scrambling for permits, but were concerned about costs. At a certain point, Borel said, “It became apparent that the landlords were not going to make the necessary repairs.” Effectively, that ended Fabrison’s in Coronado.
Since that time, Fabrice and Alison struggled with the loss of revenue from Coronado and with their investment in the Jamul business, which came just three weeks prior to the Coronado location’s collapse. At this point, Borel says, they have closed the Little Italy location and they are working to promote the Jamul location.
Alison and Fabrice Borel filed suit in November of 2017 in the Superior Court of the State of California for the County of San Diego for Damages, Business Injury and Other Relief, alleging, primarily, “constructive eviction.”
The Coronado Times contacted the registered officer for El Cordova LLC, Charles Hellerich, for comment on the suit and to ask what the plan is for 1120 Adella. The lawyer for El Cordova LLC, Anthony Nash, from Mintz Levin, returned the call and politely declined to comment since his client is “currently involved in ongoing litigation.”
So, it is not known whether the space is up for lease or whether a new tenant is being sought. According to Joe Romero, City of Coronado Building Inspector Supervisor, there was a stop work order, but there are currently no restrictions on the space being leased out.
To date, 1120 Adella remains shuttered, with paper covering the windows.
The court date is set for June 1, 2018.
