The owners of Riggers Loft Winery Company said they have permanently shut down amid a long-standing legal battle with the city.
“We wish it could have ended differently but the city had the power, the resources and the final word,” Riggers Loft announced in a Facebook post. “We still believe our case against the unlawful detainer was strong. However, the uncertainty of jury trials and the timing of eviction mean that even a legal victory would come too late to save the business. So we end this chapter and say a sad goodbye to everyone.”
Riggers owner Kevin Brown has alleged that Richmond city officials violated state law and engaged in bad faith dealings to force out the waterfront business, which opened at the Port of Richmond in 2016.
Brown told Richmondside in July that the business had been unable to book events or accept wedding reservations due to the ongoing legal uncertainty, effectively strangling all revenue.
“They’ve killed our business,” he said.
The closure ends nearly a decade of serving drinks, food, and entertainment at the historic Richmond waterfront, where the 1325 Canal Blvd. winery was an events venue, a space to watch the annual city fireworks shows and one of a handful of live music spaces. The winery previously donated space for city events, held an election forum and hosted the first three Taste of Richmond festivals at cost, according to Brown.
“The city government — you couldn’t have asked for a more helpful city government than the one that was in place at that time,” Brown said, referring to when Riggers Loft opened. “The current city council, they think business is a necessary evil.”
COVID rent deferral sparked Riggers business woes
The dispute centers on deferred rent accumulated during the COVID pandemic. Brown said he negotiated a four-year repayment plan in 2022 with then-interim City Attorney Dave Aleshire, but the agreement was never presented to the sitting council for approval.
When newly elected city council members were sworn in following the 2022 election, Brown said officials requested a shorter lease — cutting 18 years from the original 30-year term — and asked for accelerated rent repayment plus $100,000 in penalties and legal fees.
“By the time we paid the money back, we would have two years to try and make any kind of money with the business at all,” Brown said. “They were asking us to commit economic suicide.”
Brown believes the city was motivated by its plans to repurpose the Richmond Port property for the Blue Green New Deal initiative.
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“They were asking us to commit economic suicide.”
— Kevin Brown, owner of Riggers Loft, which has closed
The city filed an unlawful detainer action citing multiple lease violations, including unauthorized subtenants, non-compliance with Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) permits, roof damage from installed heaters, and unpermitted signage. Brown maintains the alleged “subtenants” were legally permitted alternating proprietors — other winemakers sharing equipment and space under standard industry practice explicitly allowed in the lease.
In unlawful detainer proceedings, defendants cannot present evidence or explanations supporting their case, Brown noted.
“It’s ‘yes or no,’ that’s all,” he said, adding, at the time, that his attorney, Daniel Butt, planned to appeal.
Brown said he believes the true motivation for the eviction was clearing tenants to pursue offshore wind farm support operations, despite the recent cancellation of related grant funding following President Donald Trump’s reelection in 2024.
The winery stopped paying rent after filing its bad faith lawsuit, which was later dismissed without prejudice to allow focus on the unlawful detainer case.
“It was a bad business decision to put them in there,” City Attorney Aleshire told Richmondside in July. “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.”
But Brown said the legal advice they received was to stop rent payments as they might lose that money if they lost the unlawful detainer case and were evicted.
“If they had never slammed us with the unlawful detainer, we wouldn’t have stopped paying rent,” Brown said. “So you see, it can’t be about the money. It’s about something else.”
This really bums me out. This location is so special — not only unique within Richmond, but really unique within the Bay. I enjoyed Riggers but my main hope is just that the location stays accessible and enjoyable to the public. To lose so much public access and business at the Craneway, and now to have this place close and possibly be replaced with more industry, is a huge loss.
finally ! we needed some better economic growth for the city and not a financial burden like riggers loft.
Let us know when we get some better economic growth for the city. I don’t see it happening with this mayor or this city council.
Kevin and Barbara, we will really miss you. What a loss for Richmond! We wish you the best of luck and fortune at your new digs! We wish that we could have done more to help.
Time for Richmond to install another money-loser. Pickleball anyone?