Fresno judge denies church attempt to stop sale of historic Tower Theatre
A Fresno County Superior Court Judge has tentatively denied a motion by Adventure Church to halt the sale of the historic Tower Theatre.
Adventure Church has been at odds with the owners of the Tower Theatre after plans to sell the property to the church became mired in legal challenges.
The church was offering $4.8 million for the property at Olive and Wishon avenues in the heart of Fresno’s Tower District.
The City of Fresno has also entered the fray with its $6.5 million offer to buy the iconic building.
One of those legal challenges came from the owners of J&A Mash and Barrel, operators of Sequoia Brewing Company that sits on the property.
The owners argued that they had the right of first refusal to buy the property, saying they were denied that right.
They sued the Tower Theatre and eventually the church to stop the sale. Although the trial court denied their motion for a preliminary injunction, the appellate court disagreed.
The appellate court found that J&A’s claim of right of first refusal was not waived as it was never offered, Judge Kristi Culver Kapetan notes in her tentative ruling issued Wednesday.
“The appellate court further found that Tower Theater and its counsel ‘engaged in bad faith by initially failing to disclose and then to try and stop the sale and then exaggerating the sales price to induce J & A not to exercise its right of first refusal,” Kapetan wrote in her tentative ruling.
The judge further said the church’s motion for preliminary injunction “cannot be decided without strong consideration of J&A’s judicially-confirmed rights, which conflict with Church’s rights under the PSA (Purchase of Real Estate).”
Kapetan also denied a motion to strike by the defendants Tower Theatre.
The theater has been a flashpoint of controversy for more than a year after Adventure Church’s plans to purchase the building became public.
