Raven Film Center building part of redevelopment acquisition by SingleThread and Vertice Hospitality groups

The management company behind Michelin-star recognized SingleThread in Healdsburg has acquired two properties for redevelopment as part of expansion efforts in downtown Healdsburg.

One of the buildings is the former home of the Raven Film Center, which closed during the early days of the pandemic, and is conveniently located adjacent to the Michelin-starred SingleThread restaurant on Center Street.

“We’re so excited,” said Katina Connaughton, Vertice Hospitality Management chief agricultural officer. “It’s such a wonderful space and the community has felt so deeply about it and is deeply connected, and to be able to go in there and breathe new life is just a great opportunity.”

The second building is at 150 North Street, which is across the street to the south of SingleThread. This building was purchased as a sale lease-back, meaning the owner who the building was purchased from will remain in the space until their lease expires in 2024.

Planning for both buildings will continue throughout the rest of the year.

Vertice CEO Tony Greenberg, who is also a real estate developer, said they had been discussing acquiring the former movie theater with the owner around the time of the pandemic. The broker for the property had approached the hospitality group and was looking to revitalize the space.

“The more we thought it over, we realized we had needs, we were expanding,” Greenberg said.

Healdsburg has been without a movie theater since the Raven Film Center shut down in 2020. The 15,000-square-foot property was built in 1956 and was owned by the same family for three generations.

Vertice will have a 25-year lease on the property.

While planning is still in the early stages, chief culinary officer Kyle Connaughton said they won’t be revamping it into another movie theater due to AVFilm, which founded the Alexander Valley Film Festival in 2015, already developing a movie theater in downtown Healdsburg.

“We have this empty building that’s been built as a theater and it doesn’t have that life anymore,” Kyle said. “There’s an evolution as to how people are having that kind of entertainment so it really presented an opportunity.”

The second building was purchased for $4.8 million, according to Greenberg.

The tenant currently in the building will be there until their lease expires in 2024, giving the team ample time to finalize plans for the space when it’s ready.

A news release announced that Dialog, an architecture firm with offices in San Francisco and that specializes in net zero architecture, will collaborate with Vertice to “repurpose the property for future mixed use.”

“It’s a big responsibility, and it’s one that we want to take on thoughtfully, and we want to be good stewards of these properties,” Greenberg said of acquiring both properties. “It’s about getting together with our team, understanding what the community needs, what visitors to Healdsburg need and then relying on the architectural and design team to help us map that out.”

You can reach Staff Writer Sara Edwards at 707-521-5487 or sara.edwards@pressdemocrat. com. On Twitter @sedwards380.