Blu Sushi will remain open at one of its two locations, but the downtown Fort Myers restaurant will permanently close June 28, a little more than two months before its lease expires in September. 

Blu Sushi owner Rick Arenas said a series of events combined to knock business down—the pandemic, Hurricane Ian, downtown parking fees and the 10-week closure of the Caloosahatchee Bridge chief among them. 

In addition, the landlord asked for a $10,000 monthly rent increase, Arenas said. 

“That’s a lot of sushi,” Arenas said of the rent increase. “Things do happen. The hurricane and everything. Everybody’s down. But again, landlord’s being a little unreasonable. They don’t understand what the hurricane did to a lot of tenants.” 

The original Blu Sushi, 13451 McGregor Blvd., will remain open. The downtown location at 2262 First St. will close following a going-away bash June 28. 

The original location opened in 2002. 

“We’re going to have a big party,” Arenas said. “We’re not just going to go away quietly. We’re going to celebrate the good times we had there.” 

Downtown Blu Sushi has 42 employees. They will either not be retained or moved to the original location. 

“I’m going to move some people around,” Arenas said. “Not everyone will be able to stay. But some will go to other places.” 

The Fort Myers Yacht Basin’s continued closure since Hurricane Ian also put a further dent into downtown Blu Sushi’s business. 

“That was 10% of our business,” Arenas said of customers who lived aboard their boats, which are now gone. “On top of all of that, they closed down the [U.S.] 41 bridge. People don’t understand. That’s huge. You close that down, and it stops all the North Fort Myers people coming over. 

“It’s not a mystery. This is just a series of events.”