After 22 Years, River City Brewing Company Pushed Out For Sacramento Kings Arena
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — The Sacramento Kings' arena construction is changing the looks and feel of downtown, but some longtime tenants say they're leaving, and it's not by choice.
River City Brewing Company says it wanted to be a part of the new arena, but owners say they were only given a six-month lease last summer and no straight answers on their future. Now they say they're forced to move jobs out of Sacramento.
For 28 years, Spinners Cafe has stayed busy. Even through the arena construction, the customers kept coming.
Owner Sandy Tiang never thought she would be closing.
"They supported me for 28 years, so I don't want to leave the mall," she said.
But Spinners and the most of the remaining stores in Downtown Plaza were told by Sacramento Kings property owners that their leases run out at the end of June.
"We're told it's for the remodel," she said.
She doesn't know where the cafe will go after June.
Zee Jewelers' employees say their store is moving to Arden.
River City Brewery will be leaving its namesake for Carmichael after 22 years. Owners are not happy they're being forced out.
"We wanted to leave back in 2008 and were asked not to by the city saying 'please stay, you anchor that part of downtown," said co-owner Beth Ayers-Biro.
They brewery even offered to house its furniture in storage during the remodel.
"And we would come back in a year and a half when everything was redeveloped. We just want to know we're a part of redevelopment. 'No' was the answer," she said.
When it moves to Carmichael, 75 percent of its employees will follow the brewery.
JMA Ventures, which manages the property, says Macy's, the theater and 24-Hour Fitness are the only businesses that are staying through reconstruction. The Kings haven't announced who is moving in, but some worry the focus won't be on businesses that have called the area home for decades.
"Everyone's taking bets on whether there's going to be a BJ's or something like that here instead," said Ayers-Biro.
Plaques on the bar at River City Brewery show customers who have been regulars since 1993. The brewery is paying Uber to take those customers from Sacramento to the new Carmichael location once a week.
While the arena isn't finished, business owners say downtown rents have gone up, so it makes more sense to leave the city now.