Lawsuits filed over downtown building leased by CapRadio and Sacramento State

Rent payments forgone by Sacramento State and Capital Public Radio for a downtown building once planned to be the radio’s headquarters have led to dual lawsuits filed in Sacramento Superior Court.

Katherine Bardis-Miry — the wife of the building’s partial owner, developer Bay Miry — served on the station’s board at the time CapRadio signed the lease for the building, The Sacramento Bee has previously reported. Former General Manager Jun Reina signed the lease in 2021 and resigned in 2023. CapRadio stopped paying rent in July 2024. The last rent payment was made by Sacramento State, which oversees CapRadio as an auxiliary, which co-signed the lease in 2023.

Attorneys for 730 I Street Investors LLC, an ownership group that includes Miry, filed a lawsuit April 1 against CapRadio, saying the station was in breach of its contract by not paying its lease.

In a dueling lawsuit, CapRadio and the California State University system accused Bardis-Miry of failing her duty as a board member to safeguard the station’s financial health by not disclosing her husband’s ownership and “by using her position for personal gain to CapRadio’s detriment.” They assert the lease is void or “subject to rescission” because California education codes say an auxiliaries’ contracts may be nullified if a board member could gain a financial interest with their approval. The station’s board also failed to “formally approve” the lease agreement, according to the lawsuit filed on Friday.

“As a direct and proximate result of Ms. Bardis-Miry’s material breach of her fiduciary duty to CapRadio, CapRadio has suffered damages in an amount to be proven at trial,” the CSU and CapRadio said in their lawsuit.

Mark Ellis, the attorney for 730 I Street Investors LLC and Bardis-Miry, declined to comment on CapRadio and CSU’s lawsuit.

Bardis-Miry has said she recused herself, skipped or arrived late to meetings when the lease was going to be discussed to avoid any potential conflicts. She resigned in October 2023, along with 14 other board members on the same day.

In 2016, CapRadio began a capital campaign to move out of the Sacramento State offices the station said it had outgrown. The station initially signed a lease at 1010 8th St., but eventually moved into 730 I St. The original building would become a performance events center and I Street would become its headquarters.

Both plans eventually fell apart as CapRadio went into a financial crisis in 2023 and layoffs ensued. CapRadio has said it plans to collaborate with Sacramento State to open the building on Eighth Street this year.

Bruce Schiedt, CapRadio’s attorney, requested a meeting last year with Miry’s attorney about the “future of the downtown lease at 730 I Street and related matters,” according to emails received via a California Public Records Request. He cited education codes guiding conflicts of interest could “impact the lease,” according to his May 2024 email sent just two months before Sacramento State stopped paying rent.

Ellis, in response to Schiedt, called any potential conflict of interest “preposterous.”

It is unclear if the two sides met before the dispute escalated toward filing lawsuits.

Who pitched CapRadio move to 730 I St?

The station had been raising money for at least a year under its capital campaign when it signed a letter of intent in October 2018 to lease space at 1010 8th Street, according to the CSU’s and CapRadio’s lawsuit.

Negotiations to sign the lease continued for that space in 2018. The station was represented by agent and broker Aaron Marchand, with Turton Commercial Real Estate, the lawsuit said. He left Turton last year and is now with real estate development company Indie Capital, according to his LinkedIn page.

Turton, on behalf of the 730 I St. building’s ownership group, submitted a proposal for the space in February 2019 to Marchand, the lawsuit said. This proposal also came weeks after the Miry couple formed their own company, called Bardis & Miry Development, LLC, the lawsuit added.

Marchand could not be reached for comment.

In the spring of 2019, Bardis-Miry submitted her resume to apply for the CapRadio board. She did not disclose her husband’s ownership of 730 I St. on her application or during her interview with the board, according to the lawsuit.

She was appointed to the board during the July 2019 board meeting, according to meeting minutes.

After her appointment, the board met again in October 2019. The minutes show then-general manager Rick Ethchyson asked Bardis-Miry to step out of the meeting as discussions began on the 730 I St. building. The document does not say why Bardis-Miry was asked to leave.

Meetings in which discussions arose about 730 I St. do not show Bardis-Miry disclose her proprietary interest, the lawsuit said. She was absent during a May 2021 meeting in which the lease was discussed, according to minutes reviewed by The Bee. The lease became effective March 2021.

The board did not “vote to authorize anyone from CapRadio to execute” the lease, the lawsuit said.

CapRadio and the CSU also contend the lease is “not fair or reasonable” in comparison to other similar space in downtown Sacramento. Renovations for the structure, which fall to CapRadio, cost about $11 million, the lawsuit says.

That amount is double what the building’s ownership group paid to acquire the structure, which sat vacant for 10 years, the lawsuit says. The space, on the city’s register of Historic & Cultural Resources, was a former Bank of America building that once also served as the Sacramento Police Department’s headquarters.

The CSU listed eight causes of action, which include “constructive fraud.”

Sacramento Superior Court listed upcoming court dates in May 2026.

This story was originally published April 10, 2025 at 5:00 AM.