- Policy Kings, Utah’s first Black-owned brewery, faces an uncertain future after four months in operation.
- HMB Partners, its landlord, seeks $50,000 in unpaid rent and other fees and has sued to evict the business and recoup the money.
- Policy Kings officials said last week on social media that the business has ceased operations.
SALT LAKE CITY — The future of Utah’s first Black-owned brewery, Policy Kings, is up in the air a little more than four months after opening in Salt Lake City’s Central Ninth neighborhood.
The business’ landlord, HMB Partners, issued an eviction notice to the business earlier this month and filed suit last week in 3rd District Court to force the business out. HMB also seeks around $50,000, saying it is owed in unpaid rent and other charges. The business received two $75,000 loans from Salt Lake City, though that doesn’t figure in the issues between Policy Kings and HMB.
Reps from the two sides didn’t respond to queries seeking comment and Policy Kings officials haven’t yet filed a response to the lawsuit. However, Policy Kings posted a message on its Instagram page Friday stating that it was ceasing operations. That post and all the earlier Policy Kings messages were later removed with a new message on Sunday featuring a picture of the locale’s founder, Deandre Ridgel, and a poem that sounded a message of seeming defiance…