04/25/2023
My name is Andrew Cuming, head of Cuming Holdings LLC. Thank you for allowing me the time to address some concerns you may have recently seen on social media, regarding some issues in our downtown area.
As many of you know, Arabica Café and its owners are renters/tenants located at 59 Douglas Ave, Elgin IL, a property which is currently owned and managed by Cuming Holdings LLC. For approximately the past six years, Arabica Café has been a bustling, wonderful addition to our downtown community, however, on April 13th, 2023, representatives from the café made a post stating:
“Regarding the closing of Arabica … this is not our choice … our landlord informed us he is ‘not interested in renewing or extending our lease ...’ we have not found a suitable downtown relocation site.”
I was equally shocked and confused, as was much of the public, when reading this via social media. I will not speculate as to why those at Arabica Café would make the statement misrepresenting the facts, nor can I speculate on their motivations, however, I would like a moment to set the record straight. To the best of my knowledge, the following facts are true:
Approximately two years ago, during the COVID pandemic, Chef Brian visited me at my office, and in private, stating he and his wife Diane would be pursuing the selling and transfer of the business known as Arabica Café -- they would be retiring and moving to Nevada. He requested that I keep the matter private until they had secured a buyer, in order to make the sale and transfer as seamless as possible. I have kept that promise and this is the first time I have spoken publicly on the matter.
The relationship between Arabica Café and Cuming Holdings LLC is strictly that of a tenant/landlord agreement. Beyond that, in no way are I, Cuming Holdings LLC, or Arabica Cafe partnered in any further business relationship. In no manner does Arabica Café own or hold a stake in the actual building or property.
On April 13, 2022, 52-weeks ago, representatives from Arabica Café began making social media posts, publicly stating their desire to sell the business, in order to retire and move to Nevada.
Approximately 47-weeks ago, representatives from Arabica Café stated their desire to sell their business for $200,000.
Within the past year, the owners of Arabica Café made an offer to sell the Arabica Café business and/or cooking equipment to Cu***ng Holdings LLC. The offer was politely declined
Over the past two years, since meeting with Chef Brian, Cuming Holdings LLC has made THREE separate attempts to extend/renew the Arabica Café lease, guaranteeing retention of their current location in downtown Elgin.
In January, Cuming Holdings LLC made a third and final attempt to extend and broker a lease extension to the owners of Arabica café, which they again refused. At this time, they stated to Cuming Holdings LLC that they declined to extend their lease and requested not to “discuss the issue further,” as they would be leaving the state at the end of their term.
Cuming Holdings LLC has a history of making any needed repairs/improvements to these historic buildings as fast and diligently as possible. Any requests made by Arabica Café were immediately responded to and addressed by Cuming Holdings LLC, even during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic along with the logistical issues it posed, both in terms of manpower and equipment backlogs.
On occasion, Cuming Holding LLC waived or reduced rent for the owners of Arabica Café during the COVID-19 pandemic. We understood the hardship it created for all of our businesses, as well as community. Cuming Holdings LLC assumed this financial hardship, because we had such a strong belief in what Arabica Café offered and meant to the downtown area.
In the approximately 6-years Arabica Cafe has been at its current and original location, Cuming Holdings LLC has NEVER raised their rent.
In conclusion, it is the goal of myself and Cuming Holdings LLC to preserving the beautiful historic buildings of downtown Elgin, while trying to maintain a thriving community. To date, Cuming Holdings LLC has approximately 95% of its properties rented out and flourishing, both for families and small businesses. I recognize what an amazing loss Arabica Café is to our community, which is why they were offered numerous opportunities to extend their lease and potentially have a successful sale of their business. We wish Diane and Brian the best during their retirement and move.
Cuming Holdings LLC does not just invest in properties, it invests in the people who rent those properties. We can only hope the public understand and appreciates this. Thank you for your time.
