Taxpayer loan guarantee extended to Sacramento restaurateur; The next step transforming Historic Downtown Elk Grove into another Gaslamp Quarter?
A Sacramento-based restauranteur will receive a loan guarantee for a new Historic Downtown Elk Grove establishment.
The loan guarantee is for Michael Hargis, who is in the process of opening a restaurant called Slow and Low. The facility is located on Railroad Street near the Dust Bowl tap room.
The operator, Hargis’s Slow and Low LLC, has invested $700,000 to renovate the structure at 9700 Railroad Street. Elk Grove taxpayers will guarantee an additional five-year $500,000 loan to Slow and Low to complete the project.
By guaranteeing the loan, should Slow and Low default, taxpayers can foreclose on Sacramento real property owned by its principals, Michael and Carry Hargis, valued at $400,000, and $100,000 on equipment for the new restaurant.
The loan guarantee validates Elk Grove Mayor Bobbie Singh-Allen’s recent comments saying the transformation of Historic Downtown Elk Grove into a tourist destination is underway. The mayor said the area, formerly known as Old Town Elk Grove, has to potential to be equivalent to the internationally recognized Gaslamp Quarter in San Deigo.
The Elk Grove City Council will adopt the loan guarantee tonight and is expected to have unanimous support from the five-member body. Tonight’s Elk Grove City Council meeting starts at 6 p.m.
