SingleThread Leases Former Film Center

Even as the new three-screen Plaza Cinema Center gained approval for a downtown Healdsburg location, the fate of the former Raven Film Center has remained uncertain, a 15,000-square foot question mark at the south end of the Mitchell Plaza shopping center.

It now appears that the film center may be headed in an entirely unexpected direction. Vertice Hospitality, known for their management of the Michelin-starred SingleThread Restaurant, signed a 25-year lease to redevelop the former four-screen movie house in an “adaptive reuse” project that will house “multiple new hospitality concepts.”

The project will be led by SingleThread’s “next generation of hospitality and culinary leaders,” according to a July 14 press release from Vertice. However, a spokesperson shied away from making any specific predictions on what those “new hospitality concepts” could be. “As the space is quite expansive, they are considering many possibilities,” said a representative of Vertice Hospitality.

Given the multi-room layout of the former multiplex, it’s possible a Napa Oxbow-style adaptation could host several business endeavors under one roof. Or the wide recognition of SingleThread, combined with its relatively small seating capacity, suggests the added, larger space could accommodate demand.

But absent some concrete evidence or reliable information, any speculation would be simply that.

Vertice Hospitality is co-owned by real estate developer and CEO Tony Greenberg, along with restaurant chef Kyle Connaughton and Katina Connaughton, who manages the SingleThread Farm. The trio launched the successful SingleThread Restaurant in 2016, which soon earned three Michelin stars to cement its reputation as one of the best restaurants in the North Bay, if not the state.

415 Center Street was built in 1956 as part of the Mitchell Center. The building was at one time a JC Penny’s store, but that closed down in the early 1980s as Coddingtown became a regional shopping hub. 

The Mitchell Center has been owned and managed by the same family for three generations. Though CVS Pharmacy currently anchors the northern end of the shopping center, a number of large retail businesses have also been located there, including Ace Hardware, Molsberry’s and Longs Drugs.

There are two other dining establishments now in the Center Street strip mall, including Flakey Cream Donuts (possibly the oldest still-serving restaurant in town) and El Taco Grande. Flying Goat Coffee has a small café there, as well as its roasting facilities. The co-working business CraftWork is also in the mall, along with a handful of other small storefronts.

The Raven Film Center opened in 1996 as a small-screen option to the larger Raven Theater on North Street in the former Penny’s location. Purchased in 2005 by the Tocchini family, who owned several other movie houses in Sonoma County, the theater closed down with the 2020 pandemic.

“We are excited that almost three years after dimming its lights, new life will be breathed into this Healdsburg landmark,” stated property owner Mary Kellman of the Mitchell family. “We are looking forward to passing the baton to Kyle, Katina and Tony as they revive and transform the space into a hospitality venue for the community.”

Along with the announcement about the 425 Center St. lease, Vertice declared their purchase of 150 North St., an office complex on the corner of East and North. The building was sold for $4.8 million earlier this year.

It was built in 1949 as the Rosenberg & Bush Department store, which had been located on Healdsburg Ave. In the mid-1980s it was purchased by Tom and Sally Jordan; as Jordan Oil and Gas, now known as the JOG Corporation, it still operates from the same address. (This paragraph has been updated from the print version.)

Again according to the press release, “Vertice plans to collaborate with Dialog, an award-winning architectural firm specializing in net zero architecture to repurpose the property for future mixed use.”

Vertice is also the current owner of River Belle Inn, at 68 Front St. The luxury bed and breakfast was the former home of Healdsburg wine pioneer Isabelle Simi. Vertice purchased that property in October 2022 for $7.25 million.