On April 24, 2025 it was announced that Peach Properties, Rio Nuevo, and Live Nation had come to an agreement to displace two beloved downtown Tucson businesses, Borderlands Brewing and Playformance, in favor of a national comedy chain backed by Live Nation. 

According to a statement by Borderlands, "this decision was made without a chance for us to collaborate or even be part of the conversation."

Borderlands and Playformance have been vibrant, community focused cornerstones of Downtown Tucson for over a decade. Replacing these with a national chain is a massive loss for Tucson culture - at a time when community focused gathering spaces are more important than ever.

This announcement comes mere months after a pick-up only Starbucks opened in another historic building in downtown Tucson.

It's time for dedicated locals to speak up and tell Peach Properties and other venture capitalists that we will not stand for the displacement of local buildings in favor of soulless chains.

While this single decision is unlikely to be reversed, we demand that Peach Properties and Rio Nuevo preserve the integrity of downtown Tucson by prioritizing local business in each and every decision.

Since past and current behavior by these groups suggests that this demand will not be met, we also want to make clear that we will not patronize any chain that replaces a locally owned business. We will do our best to make sure these chains do not succeed and will invest our resources in the local economy that makes our city truly vibrant and exciting for residents and visitors alike.