Skewers buys building that once
housed Hero’s, St. Stan’s Brewery

By Kevin Valine

May 19, 2017

The building that once housed Hero’s Sports Lounge and St.
Stan’s Brewery in downtown Modesto and has been vacant for more than two years
has a new owner with a familiar name.

Skewers Kabob House has bought the building and is having it
remodeled, said Brad Morad, who owns the downtown Mediterranean restaurant with
his father, Jonathan Moradkhan.

“We have one year left on our existing lease,” Morad said,
“but our target date to move to the new location is by end of this year.”

He said Skewers has a good relationship with its landlord
and the rent is affordable, but buying made sense. “We are going to be property
owners,” he said. “It secures our future more than renting. (And) it’s just a
beautiful building.”

Morad said the new building is 16,500 square feet, which is
slightly more than twice the size of the restaurant’s current site. He said the
brewery is coming out and will be converted into a banquet hall that seats 200.
He said Skewers plans to take on more staff in its new building, from 23
employees to 30.

Skewers which celebrated its 14th year in business last
month —won’t be moving far from its current location at Ninth and J streets.
Its new home is at Ninth and L streets, across from the DoubleTree hotel.

Morad said once Skewers moves it could use its current
location as a banquet hall until the lease expires, or he and his father could
open another restaurant at that location.

Linny Goodrich — who is one of the partners who owns the
building that now houses Skewers — said the partners are waiting to see what
plans Skewers has for the building before looking for a new tenant once the
lease is up.

Stockton resident Larry Mariani had owned building that
housed Hero’s and St. Stan’s and said during the more than two years that it
was vacant he had to deal with graffiti, squatters and other problems. “It was
a shame,” he said, “because it was a nice place.”

Mariani said he sold the building for $1.4 million. Morad
confirmed the purchase price.

The building made the news last year when a Southern
California businessman sued Modesto, claiming the city’s land-use regulations
were too restrictive and muddled and prevented him from opening an adult
cabaret featuring strippers in the building. The businessman later abruptly
dropped his lawsuit and his plans to purchase the building.

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