Narsi's settlement stalls

A settlement that would move Narsi's Hofbrau to a new spot in Coddingtown Mall was on the verge of falling apart Wednesday when its embattled owner said he would rather shut down his popular eatery than agree to move.

Emotional and exhausted after hours of negotiations, owner Narsi Samii told a judge he was just about ready to throw in the towel in his struggle against Simon Properties Group, the largest mall owner in the nation.

"I want to walk away today, because I can't live with this any longer," Samii told visiting Judge Dean Beaupre during a Superior Court hearing in Petaluma.

Samii has been fighting efforts by Simon Properties to evict him from his longtime spot at Coddingtown and move to a new location in the mall, making way for a national restaurant chain such as Cheesecake Factory.

Simon, which is planning a multimillion-dollar upgrade of the 1960s-era mall, canceled Narsi's lease last October, claiming the restaurant wasn't generating enough revenue. The notice gave the restaurant 30 days to vacate. Samii challenged the move, filing suit contending Coddingtown's owners broke an agreement granting him a lease until 2015.

After hours of closed-door discussions with Samii and representatives of Simon Properties, the judge emerged from his chambers to announce that he was giving Samii a month to consider a tentative deal to move him to another part of Coddingtown.

The judge praised Simon Properties representatives for their "extreme flexibility" in handling the case and called its latest offer to move Samii to another part of the mall "generous," strongly hinting that Samii should accept the offer on the table.

Samii then raised his hand, asked if he could speak, and told the judge that he didn't want to take the deal.

Instead, he said he would accept "one dollar" if Simon would allow him to stay through Christmas. This would give him time for his employees to find other opportunities, after which he said he would "turn the lights out."

"I know it's been very hard for you," Beaupre said. "I don't want you to make this decision today."

Samii's lead attorney, Stephen Beckwith, urged the judge not to let Samii make any rash decisions following what he said had been a "long, arduous day."

Clearly caught off guard by their client's remarks, Samii's team of three lawyer told the judge that they would resign from representing Samii if he persisted, and would need some additional time to file such paperwork.

When Samii indicated his mind was made up, the judge again urged him to reconsider, calling him an "institution in Santa Rosa" who should consider before making any hasty decisions.

"I know you do not know me, but I have done this for 40 years," Beaupre said.

The judge then suggested that Samii "sleep on it" and everyone return to court at 9 a.m. today to continue discussions.

You can reach Staff Writer Kevin McCallum at 521-5207 or kevin.mccallum@pressdemocrat.com.