The owner of Dearman’s and the restaurant’s longtime landlord in the Bocage Village Shopping Center have reached an agreement on a new lease, ending three months of uncertainty over the future of the beloved diner.
Dearman’s has been shut down since early March, when a late-night fire damaged the restaurant and also caused smoke and water damage to other suites in the shopping center. One week after the blaze, shopping center management notified Dearman’s owner David Van Gelder that his lease had been terminated, prompting an outcry on social media from loyal patrons of the neighborhood diner.
In the weeks that would follow, talks resumed between Van Gelder and the shopping center, which is owned by Hill Properties and managed by Mitch Richardson. But as recently as mid-May, Richardson said he was entertaining proposals from several potential restaurant tenants, including Dearman’s.
Earlier this month, the two sides came to terms on a new five-year lease that will enable the restaurant to reopen once renovations are complete. Richardson says several factors played into the decision to sign a new lease with Dearman’s, though ultimately it was the restaurant’s concept and popularity that won out.
“We looked at our tenant mix, how we’re set up here and gave consideration to the whole,” he says. “We went back to the basics and looked at what we were lacking and the Dearman’s concept, the family thing, the fact that it’s a place where you can take young kids—all that was very attractive to us.”
For his part, Van Gelder says he is thrilled to be coming back to Bocage Village, which has been home to Dearman’s for 58 years, nearly 10 of which are under Van Gelder’s ownership.
“We’re thrilled to be coming back,” says Van Gelder. “Over the past three months, the Dearman’s team has been overwhelmed and grateful for the outpouring of support from its loyal patrons. We look forward to many years of providing the great food and family atmosphere so many people have come to enjoy.”
Van Gelder says it’s too soon to say for sure when the restaurant will reopen but he’s hoping to be ready by September.
—Stephanie Riegel
