Silver Beach Pizza is seeking a long-term lease on its building below the bluff in downtown St. Joseph.

Early this year, Silver Beach Pizza expressed an interest in purchasing the building from the city, but at this past week’s meeting of the St. Joseph City Commission, co-owner Tony Bertig told commissioners after some review, they’ve determined that would be too complicated due to the building’s proximity of the railroad tracks and key city infrastructure. Instead, the business has decided to pursue a lease that would secure its location for the next 30 years.

“We just think that a long-term lease is going to better suit our long-term goals, and we think it also has quite a few benefits for the city,” Bertig said.

Bertig said the current lease still has eight years to go. What Silver Beach Pizza is seeking from the city is two 11-year lease options on top of that, adding up to 30 years.

Bertig noted since Silver Beach Pizza took over the train depot, it’s invested heavily in the property, bringing the building from 3,000 square feet to 10,000 square feet and paying for most of the maintenance.

“Most of the profit from Silver Beach Pizza has gone back into the building, and we’ve got well over $1.5 million.”

Silver Beach Pizza is offering to pay the city an extra $200,000 over the next eight years, plus regular rent increases beyond that, for the long-term lease. Additionally, it would take on the responsibility of all maintenance.

Commissioners expressed support for the plan, with Michael Sarola saying the city’s property committee has been taking about this for a while. Commissioners instructed staff to draw up a lease agreement to move the plan forward.