A change in ownership of Tempe's Bandersnatch Brew Pub will shut down the bar's brewery and has several employees skeptical of the business' future, The State Press learned Thursday.
Bandersnatch will officially change hands Monday as Joe and Addie Mocca have sold the 28-year-old business to the owners of Scottsdale's Martini Ranch.
The Moccas were worried that the city of Tempe would claim eminent domain of the property at 125 E. Fifth St. and tear down the building, Addie Mocca said.
"That's exactly why we sold to them," said Addie Mocca, 51, who along with her husband has owned Bandersnatch for 16 years. "[The city] is going to come and tear it down whether I sell or not."
The new owners, Matt Engstrom and Barrett Rinzler, have guaranteed the Moccas that they will keep the popular gameday-bar operating under the Bandersnatch name "indefinitely," Engstrom said, and employ all of the pub's current staff who wish to work for the new owners.
But Bandersnatch's current manager, Andrea Claus, an English literature junior at ASU, said the Moccas couldn't afford a fight with the city to keep the business open and that the pub's employees are nervous that Engstrom and Rinzler will sell out to Tempe simply to make a profit.
"What it boils down to is the guy with the most money wins. They had the money, and Joe and Addie don't," Claus said, holding back tears.
She said the Moccas informed the staff of the sale Tuesday morning during an emotional meeting.
"We're all pretty upset by this," Claus added. "I know it's cliché, but to know Joe and Addie is to love them."
Neil Calfee, the principal planner of Tempe's Community Design and Development office, said that while the city does have a conceptual plan to tear down the building that currently houses Bandersnatch by 2020, it has not threatened the Moccas with eminent domain and did not play a role in the pub's sale.
According to Calfee, eminent domain means the city can "acquire a property in the name of a public good," but that Tempe would first attempt to buy the property before taking legislative action.
"We have looked at various schemes for that location," Calfee said, including the construction of an outdoor plaza on the current site with a new building on its west side. "But [Bandersnatch's] sale is a completely private matter, and we are not in any way involved."
Beginning Monday, the pub will be closed for renovations, which include the removal of the pub's brewery and some interior walls. The pub will re-open in time for ASU's Oct. 4 football game against the University of Southern California at Sun Devil Stadium, Addie Mocca said.
"We're trying to take the history of Bandersnatch, bring in some audio/visual elements and market it to ASU students," said Engstrom, 34, a 1994 finance graduate of ASU.
He added that it's up to the new ownership to prove to Bandersnatch employees and customers it is dedicated to making the pub a success and that he will have a meeting with employees today to quell any skepticism.
"I don't want to leave those people [employees] out in the cold," Engstrom said. "We'll keep Bandersnatch open indefinitely until the City pulls the trigger, and then I've got five other clubs around the Valley for these people to go to."
Bandersnatch brewmaster Joe Bob Grisham said he is considering opening a new brewery with the Moccas, but not in Tempe.
"There's no reason to come back here," Grisham, 41, said. "These people [the City] have no respect for business owners."
Reach the reporter at joe.watson@asu.edu.
