Will The Starboard take over Dewey Beach's northbeach? A decision is coming soon.

Will next year be the final summer for Dewey Devils, cover bands and late night dance parties at northbeach in Dewey Beach?

The lease for the popular waterfront nightclub expires in early 2020 and the property owners, Dewey Beach Lions Club, have been busily taking bids this year for future leasing and redevelopment.

Atlanta-based real estate services firm Red Rock Global LLC has been in charge of the search and two of Dewey Beach's best-known bar owners have confirmed to The News Journal that they have made bids and are awaiting a decision.

The Highway One Group, which is led by Alex Pires and owns Dewey Beach clubs northbeach, Bottle & Cork, The Rusty Rudder and Jimmy's Grille, has made a bid, as has Steve "Monty" Montgomery, owner of The Starboard, also located in Dewey Beach.

The future of the nightclub at 125 McKinley St. could be announced any day now, says Michael Tabb, managing principal of Red Rock Global.

The announcement would come after the final step. That's when the Lions Club board of directors makes a recommendation to the club's membership, who will then either accept the recommendation or reject it, he says.

"No final decision or recommendation has been made to the membership by the board, but they are in the process of wrapping up negotiations so they can make that recommendation," Tabb says. 

Messages to the Dewey Beach Lions Club were not returned.

Pires says Highway One's 20-year lease at northbeach expires in early 2020. His group submitted a proposal when the Lions Club asked for bidders, he says. 

"I don't know anything else," he adds.

For his part, Montgomery says he placed his bid with a group that includes Eric Sugrue, president and managing partner of the Big Fish Restaurant Group. The two are already partners in Nick's Fish House in Baltimore.

"It's a closed bid behind closed doors at the Lions Club, but we're bidding and obviously Pires is as well," Montgomery says. "I think the rest of them are no longer bidding — that's what we've been told. So it's just between the two of us."

There were two possible redevelopment opportunities initially made available at northbeach, according to the request for proposal.

The first option was to lease the existing northbeach site, which includes the parking lot that hugs the restaurant and totals approximately 51,300 square feet. The second option includes a second parking lot between northbeach and the Lions Club, totaling about 79,300 square feet. The larger proposal would include a new residential development.

Montgomery says he bid for the smaller proposal, which sticks to the current northbeach property. Pires would not comment on the details of his proposal.

Tabb confirmed Pires' group has made a bid, but would not comment on Montgomery or any other proposals that may have been accepted.

"During the course of an active negotiation and discussion, [the Lions Club] wants to be a little more quiet," Tabb says.

According to the March submission timeline detailed in Red Rock's request for proposal, proposals recommendation was to occur by Aug. 31 with a selection to be made on Friday, Sept. 21.

"I would imagine in every scenario, it would be within the next 30 days," Tabb says of a selection.

Tabb says his firm was hired to run the process, partially due to the town's tiny size, boasting a population of only 380 people.

"They probably didn't have to bring in a firm from out of state," he says. "I think they enjoyed the fact that we're completely separate from the small town — that we would not be deep into the community."

When it comes to wild times in Dewey Beach, northbeach has always delivered whether it be inside with its up-tempo party bands and drinking games or its outdoor, sand-covered waterfront area with the bar's whipped cream-topped frozen Dewey Devil drinks under the sun.

In recent years, you could sometimes spot the bar's Dewey Devil mascot flying above Rehoboth Bay using a water jet pack. This past summer, northbeach co-opted "Taco Toss" from The Lighthouse while that Dewey Beach bar was closed for construction.

The location has also been the site of controversy in recent years with town officials criticizing the bar for unmanageable crowds drawn in by mid-week drink specials, leading to both fights and arrests in the parking lots nearby.

Highway One first opened northbeach in 2000 after gutting the old Waterfront restaurant and completely renovating the property.

Contact Ryan Cormier of The News Journal at rcormier@delawareonline.com or (302) 324-2863. Follow him on Facebook (@ryancormier), Twitter (@ryancormier) and Instagram (@ryancormier).

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