The former Seafare Restaurant, part of a development concept proposed by Marina Village, was once a popular dining spot but is rotting and headed for demolition.

Less than a week away from a court-ordered transfer of the Astoria Riverwalk Inn to a new operator, the Port of Astoria is still untangling a knot of competing interests around the West Mooring Basin hotel.

A Circuit Court judge ordered the agency to follow through with a previous Port Commission vote to grant Portland-based Param Hotel Corp. a seven-year lease. Param is scheduled to take over operation of the hotel at midnight on Halloween from Astoria Hospitality Ventures.

Param had tried since 2014 to take over the operation from Brad Smithart in exchange for paying off his debts. The Port Commission voted in 2015 to transfer Smithart’s lease to Param, but negotiations fell apart.

Param sued the Port for breach of contract after the agency terminated Smithart’s lease, opened the hotel operation up for proposals and eventually chose Hospitality Ventures. William Orr and partner Chester Trabucco, the locally connected Astoria natives behind the firm, were named co-defendants in the lawsuit for their lobbying of the Port but cleared of any wrongdoing.

After appealing the judge’s ruling, the Port began settlement negotiations with Param. The appeal was dismissed earlier this month after the Port did not submit a transcript of settlement negotiations on time.

The Port, Param and Hospitality Ventures have since been negotiating the transfer of equipment, accounts, reservations and the approximately 30 people who work at the hotel.

Jim Knight, the Port’s executive director, did not respond to requests for comment regarding negotiations. Ganesh Sonpatki, manager of Param, also declined to comment.

Earlier this month, the Port sent a notice of termination of Hospitality Ventures’ lease. In an email to the Port, Orr, an attorney and president of a Seattle-area seafood processor, indicated the firm will cooperate with the handoff to Param, but later suggested it could pursue legal action to recoup its investment.

In the email, Orr detailed an annual revenue increase at the hotel from $1.1 million to $2.4 million a year, equating to at least an extra $100,000 for the Port and $130,000 to the city annually during Hospitality Ventures’ operation. The hotel’s payroll has also increased by almost 50 percent to more than $700,000, he wrote.

The Port continuing to appeal the verdict was critical for Hospitality Ventures to make the hotel work and be fairly compensated for its investment, he wrote. “If not, we will need to consider our alternatives for relief.”

“I just want a fair deal, and I think we’ll get one,” Orr said Wednesday.

Who operates the Riverwalk Inn has a domino effect on the adjacent Chinook Building, an aging commercial structure hosting a seafood market, bait shop, fishing charters and professional offices. It also effects the former Seafare Restaurant, a once-popular venue featured in the movie “Kindergarten Cop” but now rotting and headed for demolition.

Orr and Trabucco — a developer who has restored several local properties, including the Hotel Elliott — formed Marina Village to create a destination around the mooring basin. Their vision included the Riverwalk Inn; the Chinook Building as a shopping and conference center to help lure guests in the slow seasons; and the Seafare Restaurant as a fine dining option.

The Port Commission granted Orr and Trabucco a lease of the Chinook Building late last year. But Marina Village terminated the lease in December after learning Param won the hotel lawsuit. Orr, the primary financial backer of the partnership, also transfered ownership of Marina Village entirely to Trabucco.

According to Knight, Marina Village has since fallen more than $30,000 behind in rent. Trabucco claims Marina Village has been paying a revised level of rent based on more than $500,000 in needed upgrades to the building, and the untenability of running a conference center without control of the hotel.

In the original lease, Marina Village agreed to pay the Port $6,311 a month, along with taxes, insurance and utilities. After sending the termination letter, Marina Village adjusted the rents to equal revenues from the Chinook Building, currently at less than $4,800 a month, Trabucco said.

“We’ve been operating it as a pass-through for the Port,” he said.

Trabucco recently sent terms for a new lease to the Port, asking that the reduced rent be kept in place until December 2019, or until ownership of the hotel is determined, after which the rent would revert to the original rate. The amended lease would also give Trabucco the right to purchase the Chinook Building within the first five years.

As for the former Seafare Restaurant, Trabucco said, “the owner of that has to be the operator of the hotel to make it work.”