An end to valet parking at City Center steered Legal Sea Foods L.L.C. to its decision not to renew its lease for its downtown White Plains restaurant, which will close in late December.
The Boston-based company recently notified the state Department of Labor of the Dec. 22 closing, which affects 41 employees at the downtown seafood eatery. The company opened its 5 Mamaroneck Ave. location in 2004.
With its City Center lease due to expire at the end of next January, the company decided not to renew, said Ida Faber, vice president of marketing at Legal Sea Foods. She said the company is searching for alternative sites to open by 2014.
“The city took away the valet parking, which made it untenable for us to continue operating in that location,” Faber said. “We need a restaurant that’s readily accessible for our guests. So had the city not done that, we may have stayed.”
She declined to comment on whether the seafood chain will open another restaurant in Westchester County.
“We are providing opportunities for our 41 employees to continue employment with us in our other area locations in New York and New Jersey and other markets,” Faber said. The company operates restaurants in shopping malls in Huntington Station on Long Island and in Paramus and Short Hills, N.J.
Legal Sea Foods will offer financial incentives for employees who continue to work until the restaurant”™s closing, Faber said. The company is working with the state Labor Department to provide resources and assistance to employees seeking new jobs.
UPDATED: An earlier version of this article appeared online Sept. 26. It has been updated to reflect Legal Seafood’s reasons for not renewing its lease.
