By RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com, originally filed Thursday, February 26, 2015
Frank Ski, the former long-time V-103 morning host, has put his Buckhead restaurant and lounge up for sale.
He opened Frank Ski's Restaurant and Lounge in 2011, a fulfillment of a long-time dream to create his own local version of Houston's (which is right up the street.).
It's for sale at $395,000 in cash for the assets inside the building and the rights to a long-term lease for $18,000 a month. (I earlier had this incorrect as an either/or proposition. The $395,000 is tied in with the lease.)
UPDATE 8:45 a.m. Friday, February 27: My apologies to Eli Zandman. I should have credited the Tomorrow's News Today blog for breaking the story originally. Here's his story.
"You're getting a fully equipped, gorgeous, stunning restaurant almost for free," said broker Steve Josovitz. "Frank is selling at a sacrifice price basically to cover the remaining portion of a loan." He is touting this as a "below market" rate.
It opens with this sales pitch: "Buckhead “Atlanta” Full Service Restaurant, Bar & Lounge - Freestanding, Open, Equipped & Turnkey with sales that have reached [annual sales of] $4,000,000 with an absentee Owner who is selling to focus on out of state business."
In other words, Ski is spending most of his time now in D.C., where he has worked at R&B station WHUR-FM as an afternoon host since the fall of 2013. Ski hasn't responded to inquiries today but presumably, his ability to focus and promote his restaurant has been limited by the fact he no longer lives in Atlanta full time. He tries to fly back to Atlanta every weekend, which he told me last June was a major strain.
"It's really a time issue, not a money issue," said broker Josovitz, who said the restaurant is still generating positive cash flow, even with Ski's relative absence.
Ski still has a desire to break back into Atlanta FM radio, perhaps through syndication, but has had no luck to date.
He was the No. 1 radio host in town on R&B/hip-hop station V-103 from 1998 until late 2012, when he left because he wanted to do a syndication deal that V-103 owner CBS Radio could not accommodate.
He uses Mo Ivory as his co-host at WHUR. Ivory was part of Ryan Cameron's morning show in 2013 for a few months. Ski's show airs on WHUR from 3 to 7 p.m. on weekdays.
Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
Ski has used his restaurant to host his Frank Ski Kids Foundation fundraisers and last year, Stevie Wonder serenaded Ski for his 50th birthday at his place. He did not hold his most recent wine auction earlier this month at the restaurant.
Frank Ski's has 8,000 square feet with seating for 400. There's a 30-seat bar, two private dining rooms and a special wine cellar dining room which Ski takes special pride. It opens for dinner and late night Monday through Thursday and lunch, dinner and late night on weekends.
His restaurant/loung has an average of 3.5 stars out of 5 on Yelp based on 113 reviews.
On the restaurant website, which is still featuring a Valentine's Day special, Ski describes the concept:
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