Since its 2016 opening, Riggers Loft Wine Company at the Port of Richmond has become a mellow space to while away an afternoon, sipping a house made wine and listening to live music with a view of San Francisco Bay. The winery attracts not only locals but visitors from all over the Bay Area and has become a popular wedding venue.
But its days may be numbered, after a Contra Costa Superior Court judge in March ruled in favor of evicting the business for failure to pay rent, which the city estimates at $460,000. The judgment, according to the city, stated that “Due to the monetary and non-monetary defaults by Riggers Loft, the Surplus Property Authority of the City of Richmond is entitled to judgment in its favor and awarded possession of the premises. Further, the court declares that Riggers Loft has no interest under the lease.”
The problem dates back to the start of the business, when investments promised by then-port director Jim Matzorkis, who died of COVID in 2020, fell through. Intent on seeing the project through, Riggers Loft’s owners, Kevin and Barbara Brown, decided to sell their Alameda house to finance the business, but it was not an auspicious start to the venture.
Riggers Loft was already struggling to pay rent when the COVID shutdown began in March 2020, forcing the cancellation of all public events. The Browns, who lease the space from the city of Richmond, asked for and received rent deferment. In November 2022, they said they negotiated a new agreement to help them repay the debt in four years. But, according to correspondence between the two parties, the repayment plan was never approved by the Richmond City Council at the time, so it was never validated. By the time the repayment plan was brought to the city council, the governing body rejected the deal.
Now, the Browns say that the city has not acted in “good faith” by refusing their efforts to resolve the issue and has not done enough to reach a compromise.
“It’s the showcase of Richmond and gets more visitors than Rosie the Riveter,” said Kevin Brown in a recent interview with Richmondside. “We’ve put in $2 million into the building (by installing water, electricity, upgrading sewers, resurfacing floors, installing bathrooms, among other things) and now they’re just telling us to get out?”
The city says it has been willing to work with Riggers Loft but that the business has not paid any rent for more than a year. Furthermore, when the city offered a payment plan several years ago, the owners walked away from the deal, in part because the compromise would have required shortening the maximum lease to eight years, down from the 30-year term in the original lease.
“The city was happy to come up with a plan where some of the debt would be forgiven, but they didn’t make any effort to pay any of the back rent,” said Dave Aleshire, Richmond’s city attorney. “The city felt that they had other uses for the property over the long term and that committing to a 30-year lease was not the best use of the area.”
City eyes port property for offshore wind project
One of the ideas that has been proposed for the building, and surrounding area, which is in an historic military district dotted with decaying World War II buildings, is an offshore wind development project, given the port’s deep-water access, existing industrial infrastructure and proximity to major transportation networks. Last month, the port, which the city owns, issued a request for proposal to hire a consultant to evaluate the facilities in an attempt to better position itself in the offshore wind industry as part of what it has called its Green-Blue New Deal.
“It was a bad business decision to put them (Riggers) in there,” Aleshire said. “We didn’t want to kick them out, but since they’ve made no effort to pay their rent, the council has now decided that they aren’t good tenants.”
Kevin Brown said that his attorneys, Daniel Butt, the son of former mayor Tom Butt, a longtime proponent of Riggers Loft and a historic preservationist, and Richard Mac Bride, advised his company to stop paying rent after the city filed an unlawful detainer. An unlawful detainer is a legal action a landlord files to evict a tenant for failing to pay rent or for violating lease terms.
In addition, the Browns have tried to argue that their true landlord isn’t the city but the Surplus Property Authority, the name that appears on their lease. The Surplus Property Authority is an entity created by the city to manage and repurpose surplus public lands in support of economic development and infrastructure projects. It’s managed by the city and its governing body is the mayor and city council, according to Port Director Charles Gerard.
The dispute has caught the attention of customers, who’ve been solicited to donate to a legal defense fund, and Richmond residents who have been discussing it on Nextdoor, with opinions seemingly split between supporting the business or siding with the city.
“Riggers Loft brought lots of people to Richmond who went away with a much different opinion of Richmond,” said Nextdoor user Susan Elwell of Point Richmond. “In other words, not just a hub for sideshows and fireworks which commuters drive through as quickly as possible… I wish the City Council would get serious about promoting the waterfront as the asset it is for the benefit of Richmond residents and businesses that promote Richmond.”
Sandra Tarbet, who said she visits Riggers Loft at least once a month for the music, called it “one of the few nice things Richmond has. I admire the owners for trying to fight to hang on to this beautiful thing they’ve created. The winery brings in SO many people and tourists who would never set foot in Richmond!”
But Richmond City Council member Sue Wilson, whose district is across the harbor channel from Riggers Loft, said that the city should focus on revenue-generating businesses and not let the public’s affection for particular businesses sway its decision.
“Running a hospitality business in a gigantic building at an aging port is an incredibly expensive proposition,” Wilson wrote in a recent newsletter. “Frankly, I think it’s a money pit. Keeping it going requires ongoing capital investment, which Riggers Loft does not have…I think the city showed a lot of patience in giving Riggers as much time as it did to figure out a plan. But as a result, we have lost $400,000 in unpaid rent, which is disappointing.”
It’s unclear what the next steps are for the business, and because it’s a legal issue, the city council’s discussions about it have been in closed sessions. According to the company’s website, they’re trying to raise $30,000 for an appeal of the court’s decision, saying that “…our legal team believes we have strong grounds to win…As a small, independently owned business, we simply do not have that kind of money and we cannot do this without your help.”
Meanwhile, the winery’s events calendar remains booked with weekend live music acts scheduled through July 3, the day customers can buy a ticket to bring lawn chairs and blankets to sit on the chilly patio and watch the city’s annual fireworks display.
“I don’t know if we would be able to relocate,” Kevin Brown told Richmondside. “We don’t have a couple million to go build out another place. This is about (the city) changing the direction of what they want to do with the property.”
coolest place ever. Attended and worked on a few weddings at Riggers and the venue is simply phenomenal. But, as a business proposition, doubt you can make enough money in the hospo/winery/event business to support such a large venue. That whole industry is broken right now and in a state of transition. Sorry to see it go but it is unsustainable. I feel very badly for the Browns. They took the risk because the space is amazing. Best of luck to all . Richmond is still a great city
It would be chill if the donation went to pay the rent and make the city whole instead of suing the city.