Council rejects donation of historic Craneway Pavilion

The Richmond City Council voted Tuesday to reject a proposal to accept the donated leasehold interests of the historic Craneway Pavilion, a waterfront event venue at the former Ford Assembly Building, after a debate over the facility's long-term financial obligations.

The council voted down the donation agreement with Orton Entertainment, LLC in two separate procedural votes, with council members citing an estimated $12.7 million in deferred maintenance costs and projected annual operating deficits of up to $2.5 million as reasons to decline what some described as a gift that would become a significant financial burden.

A 3-4 vote ultimately rejected the donation agreement. Four councilmembers, Soheila Bana, Jamelia Brown, Cesar Zepeda, and Vice Mayor Doria Robinson voted to reject it outright. Three others, Claudia Jimenez, Sue Wilson, and Mayor Eduardo Martinez, voted to accept it.

The decision leaves the fate of the bay-front pavilion uncertain, with the property's current leaseholder, Eddie Orton, indicating he intended to transfer the leasehold interests to an unidentified marine-use entity if the city declined the offer.

The Craneway Pavilion sits on city-owned land at 1414-1422 Harbor Way South, part of the former Ford Assembly Building complex that once produced nearly 49,000 vehicles during World War II. The property was redeveloped in the early 2000s under a Disposition and Development Agreement between the city's Redevelopment Agency and Orton Development, Inc., with nearly $20 million in public and grant funds invested in the project.

The current lease, dating to 2004, carries a rent of $1 per year and includes an evergreen renewal clause that drew sharp criticism from councilmembers who questioned its legality.

Special Counsel Anne Lanphar told the council the provision was unusual, describing it as "kinky" and acknowledging it appeared to be an end run around California law restricting city leases beyond 50 years. She noted the leases were structured under redevelopment law, which was broadly interpreted at the time, and that while the evergreen clause could potentially be challenged in court, Orton could argue he relied on it when making substantial improvements to the property.

The Craneway Pavilion at the former Ford Assembly Building in Richmond, California. Photo/ Linda Hemmila

"If you really look at this, any tenant would come in and say we really own this property," Lanphar said. "It's definitely on the unusual end."

At the heart of Tuesday's debate was a stark financial picture. A facility condition assessment conducted by city consultant RDH identified approximately $12 million in recommended maintenance work over the next decade, including near-term structural reinforcement of the concrete piles supporting the pier on which the building sits.

A separate analysis by SCI Consulting Group projected that even leaving the building vacant, a so-called mothball scenario, would cost the city roughly $600,000 annually. Operating the building as a special event venue was projected to generate an annual deficit of approximately $930,000.

Vice Mayor Doria Robinson, who abstained from the first vote and voted no on the second, said she had spoken with Orton privately and was troubled to learn that at the height of his operations, the venue had generated a net profit of only $100,000 to $200,000 per year.

"I feel like we're buying a money pit," Robinson said. "We don't even have the resources to deal with the things we already have, and I just can't in good conscience take on another one."

Councilmember Sue Wilson, who voted yes on the final motion, helped organize protests outside the Craneway on the opening day of Orton's pickleball facility two years ago before she was elected to the council. Writing in a newsletter before Tuesday's meeting, she acknowledged the deal was far from ideal but argued the alternative was worse.

"The Craneway lease terms that the Richmond City Council gave to Orton Development 20 years ago, no expiration date, $1 per year rent, transferable, were so strongly tilted in the developer's favor that most of the power in this current negotiation still lies with them," Wilson wrote. "Saying no to the deal on the table now does not mean Orton comes back with more money for the city. It just takes all the decisions about the future of the Craneway out of our hands."

Councilmember Claudia Jimenez offered a similar argument, framing the decision as a choice between two costly paths. Rejecting the donation, she said, would not eliminate the city's financial exposure; it would simply shift it toward litigation to enforce maintenance obligations and challenge the evergreen lease.

"All the roads lead to the city," Jimenez said. "We take it now with conditions that we can use it, or we wait, and the building will deteriorate, and then it will not cost only $12 million, but more."

Special Counsel Dave Aleshire cautioned that enforcing the lease's maintenance requirements against a future tenant would likely require costly legal action given the vague language of the agreement. He noted the city had not yet retained litigation experts who could testify that the building's current condition violated the lease's standard of "good order and repair."

"It all depends on who comes up with the best experts that give the most convincing testimony," Aleshire said.

Complicating the council's deliberations was a lawsuit filed by PB Development Group, a pickleball operator that alleged it was wrongfully locked out of the Craneway in May 2025 after entering an operating agreement with Orton entities in February 2024. The company's principal, Rachel Hong, addressed the council in written comments, urging a delay and arguing the existing agreements gave the city stronger tools than it was using.

Pickleball courts filled the floor of the Craneway Pavilion on opening day in March 2024. The facility's leaseholder, Orton Entertainment LLC, shut down the pickleball operation in May 2025 amid a dispute with the operator, PB Development Group. Photo/ Soren Hemmila

"The governing Disposition and Development Agreement and Ground Lease establish the developer's obligations at Craneway, including maintaining and repairing the property," Hong wrote. "They do not contemplate voluntary surrender as a substitute for those remedies."

Hong also questioned the framing of the transaction itself, arguing it "may provide financial advantages to the developer while potentially relieving the developer of ongoing obligations and shifting those responsibilities to the City." PB Development Group has claimed damages in excess of $10 million.

Orton agreed to indemnify the city against that lawsuit as part of the proposed donation agreement.

With both votes failing, the city now faces the prospect of Orton transferring the leasehold to a third party, a marine-use operator he declined to identify publicly. Lanphar told the council the city could potentially challenge the evergreen clause regardless of who holds the lease, though the legal outcome would be uncertain.

The council did not indicate plans for any follow-up action.

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