Former landlord sues Finnegans Brew Co., alleging $461K in unpaid rent and expenses

Finnegans Brew Company’s former landlord has filed a lawsuit against the brewery, arguing it has not paid $461,000 in expenses since moving out of its Minneapolis taproom and production facility last summer.

A subsidiary of Kraus-Anderson, which redeveloped the downtown block that housed Finnegans, filed the suit Thursday in Hennepin County District Court alleging the brewery breached its contract by failing to pay rent and utilities.

According to the lawsuit, the parties signed an agreement saying Kraus-Anderson would market its space to other tenants after Finnegans repeatedly missed rent payments. Finnegans was responsible for paying rent until a new tenant signed a lease.

Kraus-Anderson is seeking $461,000 plus interest and attorney’s fees. Attorneys for both parties did not immediately respond to requests for comment Saturday.

Finnegans announced last summer that it would move its operations to the North Loop to launch a new craft brew residency at Fulton Beer. At the time, Finnegans founder and CEO Jacquie Berglund said the brewery’s business took a blow after downtown office traffic plummeted in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mosaic, an event venue occupying the third floor above Finnegans’ former taproom at 817 5th Av. S., is expanding into the brewery’s former space.

Berglund started Finnegans in 2000 as a one-woman operation, with a mission to turn beer into food by dedicating a portion of its sales to food shelves across the Upper Midwest.

She didn’t open a taproom until 2018, when Kraus-Anderson built the four-story Finnegans House with space for events, live music and entrepreneurship programming. The property was a key piece of the developer-contractor’s overhaul of its old headquarters block, which was transformed into a hotel, new offices and apartments.