SCENT OF BLOOD AT THE COVE HAS SHARKS CIRCLING

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, January 4, 1993                   TAG: 9301040021
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LON WAGNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MONETA                                LENGTH: Medium
SCENT OF BLOOD AT THE COVE HAS SHARKS CIRCLING
Alan Baker knew where to stand for a good picture of the Cove property. On a grassy finger of land jutting out into Smith Mountain Lake.
That way, he said, Docksiders restaurant would be in the background. The setup was the same as in the photo taken in 1986 when he bought the Cove.
Then, the transplant from Boston was the optimistic new owner of one of the lake's most promising pieces of commercial property. Seven waterfront acres, some of it undeveloped, at Hales Ford Bridge.
Now, Baker's creditors are circling him like sharks.
Baker says it'll take a miracle, or an offer of $700,000 or so, to prevent his creditors from foreclosing on him in a few days.
"I'm pretty well convinced there's no one willing to offer a fair price," he said. "There has not been an offer made to me in quite some time."
Baker's demise this fall was brought on by the closing of the property's moneymaker, Docksiders restaurant.
The Virginia Department of Taxation closed the restaurant - though the operator had already walked away - in November. Baker had leased the restaurant to Michael Macomson three years ago.
The state filed a notice of lien on the restaurant Oct. 27, after its operators failed to pay $7,000 in sales tax, according to Janet Freisner, spokeswoman with the Department of Taxation.
That was in addition to another lien the department had filed in March demanding that the restaurant's operators, MDR Corp., pay nearly $20,000 in back sales taxes and income taxes.
Macomson also operates Bedford Station Restaurant in Bedford, Michael's Bar and Grill in Roanoke, and a restaurant in Hickory, N.C.
Macomson could not be reached for comment. The manager at Bedford Station said Docksiders had closed permanently and indicated that Macomson likely would not return a phone call to discuss the reasons for its closing.
Baker said Macomson stopped making his monthly rent payments in October, which left Baker with no means to pay the Cove's mortgage.
The languishing economy has slowed the lake's real estate boom and stifled Baker's attempt to unload the top-dollar property.
Baker bought the property for $600,000 in 1986. He said within the past couple years it had been privately appraised at $1.6 million.
When the area's economy was good in the late 1980s, and the restaurant's lakeside deck was attracting regular crowds, Baker turned down some lucrative offers for the Cove.
"I had some unsolicited offers in the million-and-above range," Baker said. "I'd kiss somebody's feet all the way to the bank for an offer like that today."

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB