Chef Jamie Keating says ‘we are not going anywhere’ after losing RiverMill lease

An oversight caused Columbus Chef Jamie Keating to miss a deadline that triggered the end of his lease as the management and catering company for a popular event center.

The Hospital Authority of Columbus ended its lease for RiverMill Event Centre, a business Keating started 11 years ago, when he failed to notify the landlord of his intentions to renew the lease, Keating said Wednesday night.

“I am 100 percent in the wrong, but in no way did I think we were not going to be there,” he said.

Jamie Keating Culinary had a three-year lease and two one-year renewals with the Hospital Authority of Columbus. The agreement was entered into after the authority purchased the property in 2014. The lease expires Jan. 31, 2018.

Keating was required to notify the authority in writing 180 days before the lease expired of his intention to extend the lease for a year. Keating missed that Aug. 5 deadline, he said.

Keating notice the oversight about 20 days after the deadline had passed, he said. Keating said he reached out to the authority, but they could not set up a meeting immediately.

They agreed to meet on Sept. 6, and that is when Keating was informed his lease would not be renewed.

“It’s sad, but maybe things happen for a reason,” Keating said.

Columbus-based Valley Hospitality Services through It’s Your Day Catering will assume management and food service responsibilities beginning Feb. 1, said Frank Morast, the president of the Hospital Authority of Columbus. In 2014, the authority purchased the riverfront property, which is on the site of the former Bibb Mill.

Jamie Keating Culinary started the RiverMill Event Centre in 2006 and has operated it since the opening, including in 2008 when most of the old Bibb Mill, which houses the venue, was destroyed by fire. Keating is one of the city’s most well-known chefs and owns Epic, a nationally recognized fine dining restaurant in downtown Columbus.

“When I opened RiverMill, it was an antique mall and I turned it into an event center,” Keating said. “I had more than 40-plus clients booked. In no way did I think this would be an issue.”

Keating has been notifying clients who have weddings and events booked in the center for the past few days.

“I am in the emotion business,” Keating said. “I am concerned about my team and the bookings and families I am hosting. Everyone who books at RiverMill and books with Jamie Keating Culinary becomes family. That is No. 1. No. 2 is to look at how do we provide them with an experience, if we can.”

Keating is looking for alternate venues to host some of the events, even if his company cannot cater the event, he said.

“Now, it is on me to make it right in a bigger way, even if we can’t be there,” Keating said. “If they want to book with the new tenants, absolutely 100 percent, go ahead. I am not trying to hold back from them booking. I would never do that.”

But Keating said his company will continue to stay in business in Columbus.

“I want everybody to know we are not going anywhere,” Keating said. “... I want to get on the roof of Epic and scream, ‘We are not going anywhere. We’re here.’ I started my business as a catering business.”

This story was originally published October 25, 2017 at 7:10 PM with the headline "Chef Jamie Keating says ‘we are not going anywhere’ after losing RiverMill lease."