Threats follow announcement Borderlands Brewing will be replaced by comedy club

TUCSON, Ariz. (13 News) - Members of the Rio Nuevo District received death threats after news of Borderlands Brewing Company’s downtown location is being replaced by a comedy club operated by Live Nation.

While Borderlands says they feel “misplaced” and “overlooked,” Rio Nuevo and Peach Properties say they have done everything to support Borderlands, and Borderlands has been aware of the negotiations with Live Nation for at least the last month.

Borderlands has been a staple of downtown Tucson since 2001, and they had a month-to-month lease, according to their landlords.

On Feb. 13, 2025, Peach Properties, Rio Nuevo and Live Nation toured the Borderlands’ location.

Peach Properties managers, Patricia and Ron Schwabe say shortly after the tour, they informed Borderlands’ owners about the early negotiations.

“I mean they were aware at that point and we continued to keep them updated in the last couple months since then,” Patricia Schwabe said.

Rio Nuevo voted this week to support Live Nation’s comedy club. The business district will invest $2.1 million in construction costs, which will be used to help transform Borderlands into the comedy club. The construction will cost a total of $8.5 million.

“We were excited to get one and it’s a huge economic boost for our downtown,” Edmund Marquez, Vice Chairman of Rio Nuevo told 13 News. “It’s going to generate close to $11 to12 million a year for our economy.”

Rob and Patricia told Borderlands’ owners they could no longer stay at the location, but they offered to help them.

“[The Borderlands Owner] even asked us if we had buildings that were move-in ready, bars that were ready, kitchens,” Patricia told 13 News. “I mean we had a whole discussion about those possibilities.”

While Rio Nuevo and Peach Properties are optimistic of the comedy club, some people expressed their feelings harshly. Rio Nuevo received death threats, leading them to send employees home early.

“It’s sad that we’ve received some threatening emails and voicemails,” Marquez said. “We’re just trying to do the best we can with our state dollars to make sure the Tucson economy thrives, and this one just got narrated in a negative way.”

Peach Properties told 13 News they also received “nasty” messages and voicemails, and they were caught off guard with Borderlands’ statement.

“They misled people to believe that they were not aware of anything and I think that’s what created a lot of this emotional reaction, this negativity,” Patricia said.

“It’s being characterized as they’re being kicked out,” Ron added.

Borderlands owner Es Teran told 13 News he would have preferred to collaborate with Peach Properties and Rio Nuevo before plans with Live Nation were finalized.

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