Two months after Borderlands Brewing Company was evicted from its downtown Tucson flagship, an east side taproom owned by its CEO was evicted after failing to pay rent.
Landlord Sunbelt Land Holdings posted notice of the eviction Tuesday on the door of Borderlands North, 5605 E. River Road, after the business failed to pay rent, according to the notice. The taproom, which Borderlands CEO Es Teran and his Dos Concepts LLC partners opened last November, operated under a licensing agreement with the brewery.
Meanwhile, Dos Concepts’ Borderlands Sam Hughes at 2500 E. Sixth St. is still open.
An eviction notice is posted on the door to Borderlands North taproom at 5605 E. River Road.
Both businesses operate under a licensing agreement that requires the taprooms to pay a quarterly fee and buy Borderlands beer in order to use the Borderlands name. Both locations also are listed on the Borderlands Brewing website.
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Teran could not be reached for comment on Friday and did not return a phone call or text message seeking comment.
Borderlands Brewing board members also could not be reached to comment.
This is the second time since late June that a business affiliated with the financially troubled Tucson brewery has been evicted for non-payment.
Peach Properties in late June locked the brewery out of its flagship downtown at 119 E. Toole Ave., where the brewery got its start in 2011. Peach Properties’ Patricia Schwabe said the brewery, which had been on a month-to-month lease for the past year, failed to pay rent in June and did not respond to repeated lock-out notices.
Borderlands North at 5605 E. River Road closed on Tuesday after it was locked out by its landlord for not paying rent.
Borderlands’ financial troubles came to light last spring after its landlord, Peach Properties, announced plans in April to lease the historic former produce warehouse to Live Nation’s Punch Line Comedy Club. Borderlands and its Toole Avenue neighbor Playformance were told they had to vacate the building by the end of August.
Borderlands in a social media post claimed Peach Properties was booting them from their longtime home without notice as the two parties were in the midst of negotiating a long-term lease; Schwabe at the time said that while there had been casual conversations, there was no serious moves toward a lease deal.
Live Nation in early June pulled out of its plans for Tucson.
In addition to struggling to meet its monthly rent downtown, Borderlands also faced a slew of financial hurdles, including owing members of its board of directors $392,834 in outstanding personal loans and $132,007 to shareholders and board members for so-called “bridge loans†dating back several years.
The brewery last fall let go of its brewing staff and stopped making beer, contracting out to Tucson microbrewer and Scottsdale’s State 48 Brewery.
Borderlands Brewing’s flagship taproom at 119 E. Toole was the first to close in early July. Borderlands North closed this week after the owner failed to pay rent, according to the landlord’s notice.
MotoSonora CEO Jeremy DeConcini in May said he had not brewed for Borderlands in months and had no contract with the brewery.
He could not be reached Friday to comment on whether his brewery was still working with Borderlands; State 48 officials also could not be reached.
Borderlands’ biggest financial blow came in late May when the Arizona Department of Revenue filed a lien against the brewery for more than $250,000 in unpaid sales tax.
Teran also owns the agave-centric . at 124 E. Broadway.
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