David Benda
Redding Record Searchlight
Published 11:00 AM EST Feb 1, 2020
Susan Lloyd’s new bar is going to miss the Super Bowl.
She’s been working for five years to open Karma’s House of Spirits on Lake Boulevard, so waiting a bit longer doesn’t faze her.
“What’s another week and a half?” Lloyd told me Thursday afternoon inside Karma’s as work to get it ready went on.
What make’s Karma’s unique is that the bar will share space with Lloyd’s CPA practice. Both businesses are featured on the monument sign out front.
“This way I can keep my eye on both businesses,” the 57-year-old Lloyd said. “I work extremely long hours as a CPA, so I thought I might as well keep them on one property, keep the overhead low.”
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Just north of Auto Zone, the building for about 15 years was home to The Sports Bar before it closed in 2015. Lloyd purchased the property in August of that year.
Before The Sports Bar, the business was called Instincts and before that, Oakwood, which opened in 1991. Longtime North State residents might remember when the property was home to DeArmand’s.
Lloyd said her research revealed that the building was built in 1963 and first opened as a restaurant and bar called the Green Barn.
“I was looking all over. Even though the building was really in bad shape and needed some tender loving care, there’s not much on this side of town … not a lot of competition,” she said, adding that the large parking lot also was a selling point. “I’m trying to make it an environment where you will be safe, a community place to have fun with good food.”
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Karma’s liquor license is under the name Pay It Forward Enterprises.
Lloyd wants to establish a nonprofit to help veterans make the transition from military to civilian and hopes her customers will help her to pay it forward. She says the inspiration for the nonprofit is her son, a retired Army staff sergeant, and his struggle finding a living-wage job after his service.
Lloyd wants to dedicate a portion of her profits to the nonprofit.
Karma’s will be open seven days a week and offer lunch and dinner specials. Lloyd wants to hold a grand opening on Feb. 29.
“The bar can be a leap year baby,” she said.
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Site work starts on new Bethel campus
As traffic improvements continue to pave the way for Bethel Church’s $96 million new campus, crews have started clearing trees and vegetation where the campus will sit, at Collyer Drive and Twin Tower Drive in northeast Redding.
Charlie Harper, project manager at Bethel, said the site is being cleared so workers can start grading this summer. Construction will start in spring 2021.
“We were told that if we wait until the year we want to start construction, it doesn’t leave us enough of the building season to do the foundation,” Harper said. “So we are going to do that this summer and the site will be closed down for the fall and ideally we will be able to start construction in 2021.”
Bethel will build the new campus in phases, starting with the 2,600-seat sanctuary that on weekdays will be home to the church’s School of Supernatural Ministry, Harper said.
“Building the sanctuary first requires us to do all the parking and all the traffic work. The sanctuary is the thing that pretty much drives the parking lot count and all the traffic,” Harper said.
Harper estimates that the entire project could take about four years to build.
Modern Building Inc. of Chico will be the general contractor. The company also is building the Block 7 project in downtown Redding and the Kennant Court affordable apartments on north Lake Boulevard.
Bethel’s footprint in Redding has exploded over the last 20 years. Today the megachurch has 11,000 members and draws people from around the world. Bethel Music is an award-winning Christian music label that is in the process of relocating its headquarters to downtown Redding.
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Advance Redding, a nonprofit formed by Bethel Church, operates the Redding Civic Auditorium through a lease agreement with the city. The church’s School of Supernatural Ministry also holds classes at the Civic.
The connection between Chick-fil-A and Madayne
Late last year, owners Ahab and Jessica Alhindi sold their Madayne Eatery & Espresso locations in Redding. YAKS opened in the former Madayne spot in Hilltop Landing, or the Chuck E. Cheese’s center. The Chicken Shack will open in the former Madayne on Eureka Way in west Redding.
The owners posted on social media that they were pursuing another exciting business opportunity.
That would be Chick-fil-A. The Alhindis are the franchisee for the new Chick-fil-A that is opening in front of the Mt. Shasta Mall at the corner of Dana Drive and Hilltop Drive. Tea Bar & Fusion Café also will be in the new building.
When I emailed Ahab Alhindi about a potential opening date and more information about the new location, he thanked me for reaching out and said all media inquiries go through Chick-fil-A’s public relations team. I emailed the company and had not received a response by Friday.
Meanwhile, I first met Ahab six years ago when I wrote about Bethel Church and its impact on the North State’s economy. I called it the “Bethel Effect” and spoke with church members who had to come this area and opened a business, including the Alhindis.
Community leaders and merchants told me then that the church is an economic force. And that clout has only grown since my story ran in 2014.
Bethel’s new $96 million campus is one of the largest capital investments I’ve seen in my 30 years in Redding.
Former Redding City Councilwoman Francie Sullivan in 2018 said if not for Bethel, United Airlines would not have started flying to Los Angeles out of Redding.
Stay tuned.
David Benda covers business, development and anything else that comes up for the USA TODAY Network in Redding. He also writes the weekly “Buzz on the Street” column. He’s part of a team of dedicated reporters that investigate wrongdoing, cover breaking news and tell other stories about your community. Reach him on Twitter @DavidBenda_RS or by phone at 1-530-225-8219. To support and sustain this work, please subscribe today.
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