East Sacramento pizzeria OneSpeed appears to have a five-year reprieve on a move

Reports of OneSpeed’s demise have been greatly exaggerated. The East Sacramento restaurant won’t close down at year’s end after all, according to owner Rick Mahan.

Mahan previously announced his pizzeria would be forced to close when its lease at 4818 Folsom Blvd. expired at the end of the year. Landlord Sheree Johnston told Mahan she planned on demolishing the building to build a multiuse space, he said, after closing her own store East Sac Hardware earlier in the pandemic.

But after reviewing OneSpeed’s 2012 five-year lease agreement, Mahan found two five-year tenant renewal options, each with 5% rent increases. He exercised the first in 2017, and it’s set to expire in January 2022. The second option, which would span from February 2022 to January 2027, is still fair game, provided OneSpeed is current on all payments, which Mahan said is the case

Mahan confirmed the option’s validity with multiple lawyers and met with Johnston shortly after, he said. He hasn’t heard from the landlord, who did not respond to a request for comment.

“She wasn’t very happy with that, but I think that what I have is what I need. That’s what I’ve been told by contract attorneys,” Mahan said. “I’m pretty sure she’s not going to invite me back, so we’ve got these next five years.”

OneSpeed has entrenched itself as an East Sacramento family favorite and one of the region’s top pizzerias since opening a decade ago. Considerably more casual than Mahan’s other restaurant, The Waterboy, it was named one of The Sacramento Bee’s 50 Best Restaurants earlier this year.

This story was originally published May 7, 2021 at 7:20 AM.