The big announcement came as a shock yesterday when Brixx Wood Fired Pizza closed its doors in Unity Plaza in Riverside.

This was the last of three restaurants which closed in that facility only 22 months after opening.

Taxpayers subsidized the 220 Riverside project by a total of $12.1 million dollars.  Those dollars came from a Rev grant /Tax abatement of $4.9 million AND a infrastructure grant of $7.2 million. 

The rev grant was mainly based on the apartment and retail revenue. The infrastructure grant was to build the Unity plaza improvements. 

Here’s the question of the day:  How can the City do a better job of managing the dollars they hand out to developers?