Landlord wants to ‘find the right fit’ for former Horn Barbecue Elk Grove spot
A prime piece of central Elk Grove commercial real estate is available for lease. Its landlords are taking their time choosing its next tenant.
9700 Railroad St. in Elk Grove was listed for lease after the building’s landlords repossessed the space from its most recent tenant — Horn Barbecue — in January.
It’s the second time restaurants in the space have closed in less than two years. And both owners are now embroiled in six-figure lawsuits.
Scott Kingston, senior vice president of Turton Commercial Real Estate, has been personally handling the property as its broker for more than five years, which he said is a unique case.
“I’ve been doing this a long time, and I don’t really ever actively ask to be involved with anything,” Kingston said. “I told Sara (Lebastchi, with D&S Development, the company that owns 9700 Railroad St.), ’Listen ... I want to help you with this. This is really special, really cool.’“
According to Kingston, developing Railroad Street was a major turning point for elevating Elk Grove’s historic district. The space where a “dirt road” sat less than a decade ago now has a successful brewery, new-build apartments, a budding restaurant space and aspirations for more community space, Kingston said.
However, the development team’s forward momentum seems to have been stalled following issues with two restaurant tenants in a row. Slow & Low — owned by restaurateur Michael Hargis — and Horn Barbecue — co-operated by Hargis and Bay Area star Chef Matt Horn — both closed their doors before the end of their respective 10-year leases.
In response, Kingston and the D&S team are being meticulous in choosing the next restaurant to reside inside 9700 Railroad St.
“It’s an interesting market where, as much interest as we think we have, that doesn’t mean anything,” Kingston said. “We’re going to be patient and wait to find the right fit, versus just somebody that sent us an offer ... (D&S Development wants) somebody that they know is going to succeed, where we don’t have to do this again in two years.”
Struggles at Railroad Street
The large restaurant space has been available for restaurant usage for five years. Kingston said the first time he leased out the space, it only took two phone calls to find a taker.
“Normally, that’s not the case in our business,” Kingston said. “It’s like, you spend months or years trying to do these projects.”
The broker said Hargis signed a lease for Slow & Low to move in soon after 9700 Railroad St. became available. However, the restaurant did not open until 2024, and it closed just six months later. Kingston said the business did not work out for “a variety of reasons.”
In June, the city of Elk Grove sued Hargis for more than $457,000 through foreclosure on a business loan the city provided him for Slow & Low in 2023. The Bee previously reported that Hargis defaulted on his $500,000 loan less than a year after receiving it and the restaurateur quickly racked up debt.
The suit is still ongoing, with an initial case management conference planned for August. Hargis also has a separate lawsuit in progress regarding loans for his other restaurants, LowBrau and Beast + Bounty, which he has since sold or closed.
To keep the barbecue concept running, Hargis partnered with Horn in 2025 to expand the popular Oakland-based eatery to Elk Grove. But just months later, in January, D&S Development took back possession of the building, according to Kingston.
“Unfortunately, I think some of (Horn’s) past decisions caught up with him, and he stopped paying rent and stopped really honoring the (lease) agreement that was signed,” Kingston said. “If you’re the owner of the building, unfortunately, you can only do that for so long before we have to say, ‘Hey, we need somebody to be paying rent, and if it’s not you, then we need to find somebody else.’”
Horn was reportedly evicted from his Lafayette restaurant in February. The chef said the closure was temporary while issues with an alcohol permit were smoothed out, according to The Mercury News. In January, Horn opened a barbecue outpost in Fresno, though it was not listed on the restaurant’s website as of Monday.
Like Hargis, Horn is also facing legal disputes over six-figure sums. The Mercury News reported the chef has multiple ongoing lawsuits, including a $200,000 claim from a former employee who alleges they helped Horn launch his business.
A new opportunity
Now, with 9700 Railroad St. back in D&S Development’s hands, the team is back at square one in finding a tenant.
“It’s a special building, and I think we’re going to find something really great for it,” Kingston said.
While Kingston and the D&S Development crew remain open-minded for the type of restaurant they would be interested in housing in the 6,500-square foot unit, they are adamant that they will only accept an experienced restaurateur.
The team hopes to secure a new tenant in the coming months, but opening could take much longer, according to Kingston.
“Keeping it exactly the same is probably not the best bet,” he said. ”If it were me, I’d find a way to visually make it distinctive and make sure it’s clear that ... the new tenant has nothing to do with the prior tenant, that just because one person did this doesn’t mean that the next person is going to do the same thing.”
