The Riggers Loft Wine Company has filed a lawsuit against its landlord, the Surplus Property Authority of the City of Richmond, for unlawfully and illegally, and in bad faith, forcing it to pay excess rent and penalties, trying to coerce an illegal eviction and trying to prematurely terminate the lease. The motivations of the Surplus Property Authority, ultimately controlled by the Richmond City Council, are murky, but appear to be related to a desire to vacate leases of Port properties to make way for speculative opportunities to serve the offshore wind industry. Click here for the lawsuit.

The City of Richmond has also been served with a Demand to Cure Brown Act Violations and Desist Further Violations in connection with illegal actions in connection with the Riggers Loft. Click here for the Brown Act Demand.

The action of the City of Richmond and the Surplus Property Authority of the City of Richmond is particularly puzzling because the Riggers Loft is one of the most economically successful components of the Port of Richmond, which otherwise operates at a loss, and it brings thousands of out-of-town visitors to Richmond to enjoy our waterfront. The adopted 2023-24 budget for the City of Richmond shows Port revenues of $11,455,141 and expenditures of $12,647,414, a nearly $1.2 million loss. This is due to the relatively high costs of maintaining aging port infrastructure, some of which dates back to WWII, and to underperforming assets, mostly import automobile offloading and storage. Much of the vehicle storage areas are either unutilized or underutilized because import volume continues to perform below capacity. Every attempt to lease the historic General Warehouse has resulted in failure, with the most recent tenant in default. The historic Cafeteria Building remains vacant and deteriorating.

In sharp contrast to other Port properties, The Riggers Loft has been both an economic success and a visitor-attracting asset.

• Since the inception of the lease with Riggers Loft Wine Company on January 1, 2015, the tenant has paid nearly a million dollars in rent (actually $946,882 as of September 2023), and the City has spent almost nothing maintaining the building, which was completely rehabilitated about a decade ago.
• The rehabilitation, which included the office and EOC for the Port, was mostly paid for by a grant from State of California OES.
• The Riggers Loft Wine Company currently pays $132,412 annually in rent with an annual CPI rent increase.
• In addition to rent, the Riggers Loft Wine Company pays $2,470 annually for business license taxes and has paid $345,000 in sales taxes since 2015.
• The Riggers Loft Wine Company has invested approximately $2 million in capital improvements to the building.
• Since opening the Tasting Room in March 2016, the Riggers Loft has hosted approximately 130,000 visitors, many from outside Richmond, despite a significant drop during COVID. The current visitation is trending towards 50,000 a year, more than the Rosie the Riveter WWII Home Front Visitor Center.
• There are currently 40 people employed, some part time, at the Riggers Loft.
• The Riggers Loft has made significant in-kind donations to City-sponsored and community-oriented events, including:
• Taste of Richmond for first three years, with 300 to 750 attendees (value $40,200)
• Chamber of Commerce breakfasts, candidates’ forums and City staff meetings (value $24,000)
• Mayors Roundtables & Contra Costa County Mayors Conference (value $5,000 per event)

The basis of the City’s no-holds-barred offensive against the Riggers Loft goes back to COVID when the Riggers Loft cash flow, like many businesses, suffered greatly. I know from personal experience that sometimes you just have to let it go. I’m part of a partnership that owns the building where the Baltic (now Baltic Kiss) restaurant is. Our previous tenant, Brezo, had to shut down during COVID and never came back. The Baltic was closed for over three years. We had to give Baltic Kiss six months free rent, and then low rent, to entice them. A similar thing happened with the Hotel Mac, which recently reopened following a nearly four-year closure.

Meanwhile, the City has its own issues with the Riggers Loft Building, having not maintained the exterior it at all since it was rehabilitated. The outside is rusting and needs painting. Some of the historic sign letters have fallen off. A roof leak a couple of years ago remained unrepaired for over a year, even though it was under warranty, and the resulting mold has never been abated.

The adjacent General Warehouse is an abandoned and unsecured graffiti target, having lost its second non-performing tenant due to a poorly drafted lease and poor management by the City. The parking lot at the General Warehouse had become a favored venue for donut makers.