When embattled developer Ken Matteson recently sold the iconic Sonoma Cheese Factory and Sonoma's Best Market & Deli to a mysterious Delaware limited liability company, neighbors worried he was simply moving assets from one company to another to avoid the prying eyes of creditors and federal investigators.
But an investigation by The Press Democrat found that wasn't the case.
Anidel Hospitality, led by San Francisco tech entrepreneur Chris Fannini, has purchased the two properties and other assets, a company executive confirmed to the Press Democrat.
“This exciting acquisition marks the start of a new chapter for these historic places and a renewed passion to be ambassadors for the local communities and the crafts made there,” the company said in a statement to the paper.
The spokesperson also confirmed that Fannini controls a limited liability company that purchased two properties in May, as well as another entity, I Heart Sonoma LLC, which purchased 11 Sonoma-area parcels the same month.
All 13 properties were owned by Ken Mattson's anchor firm, KS Mattson Partners.
Mattson, who did not respond to requests for comment, is the subject of an FBI investigation which searched his Castle Road home on May 24. He is also facing lawsuits from several entities, including his longtime business partner, Tim LeFebvre. Mattson is countersuing LeFebvre and their former company, LeFebvre Mattson LLC.
Fannini is co-founder and chief technology officer of Weebly, a San Francisco-based tech startup that helps customers build websites, blogs and online stores.
“Sonoma holds a special place in my heart,” he said in a statement. “It's a vibrant community and my family and I have long considered it a second home. My team and I are excited to revitalize these iconic places and create a welcoming space for the community.”
The company also named John Wittig as managing director and Francesca Hewson as vice president of operations. Hewson is a familiar name in Sonoma County, having spent nearly eight years at White Oak Vineyard & Winery in Healdsburg, including a stint as general manager. She also ran the Alexander Valley wine nonprofit Taste Destination 128 for two and a half years and worked for John Ash & Co. in Santa Rosa for nearly five years.
The emergence of Mr. Fannini, 39, as the mystery buyer may ease local fears that Mr. Mattson's management problems could lead to mass foreclosures, vacant properties and employee layoffs, but it remains to be seen what impact his troubles will have.
In his civil lawsuit against Matteson (filed in Sacramento County Superior Court last Friday, the same day Matteson sued LeFebvre in Sonoma County), LeFebvre claims his lifelong friend defrauded LeFebvre and his companies out of “at least $100 million,” much of which was used to purchase more real estate.
Mattson has significant debt on real estate loans, most of it from Socotra Capital, a Sacramento hard-money lender that charges high interest rates and demands short-term repayments.
I Heart Sonoma purchased 10 parcels between May 2 and May 9 from Ken Mattson's company, KS Mattson Partners, and one parcel from Willis and Linda Rice, who had previously purchased land from KS Mattson Partners.
Mattson's company also sold one parcel each to two other new LLCs, both registered in the names of the property addresses involved: 1190 E. Napa LLC and 2 W. Spain LLC. The former is Sonoma's Best at 8th Street East and East Napa Street, and the latter is Sonoma Cheese Factory on the downtown Plaza.
All of the companies use Sonoma post office boxes as mailing addresses, and some have not yet registered with the California Secretary of State's office, a requirement for businesses doing high-value transactions in the state.
The new LLC purchased the 13 lots for an estimated total of about $22 million, according to property records. Records show that while KS Mattson Partners made a substantial profit on the actual business (the company pumped a lot of money into renovations), it broke even or lost money on the 11 residential lots.
When the Press Democrat profiled Mattson and LeFever in March 2023, the pair owned at least 116 properties in the Sonoma area through more than a dozen limited liability partnerships and limited partnerships among more than 100 companies they had founded at that time.
Due to his complex corporate web, many have speculated that Mattson himself, or perhaps LeFevre Mattson, may have bought the Sonoma property, which was then sold to hide his assets.
According to a statement from the company, Fannini has been a “devout San Francisco resident for 17 years” and grew up in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, where he founded a web hosting company while attending Pennsbury High School and later founded one of the area's first internet service providers.
Fannini attended Pennsylvania State University's School of Information Services and Technology, then moved to San Francisco and founded Weebly with two classmates before returning to Penn State to finish his degree.
According to Fannini's press release, more than 12% of the US population visits a Weebly-powered website every month.
Fannini, known as an investment “angel” who provides financing for lodging and retail businesses, said his first real estate purchase in Sonoma County was a property high up on Trinity Road in the Mayacamas Mountains above Sonoma Valley, which he purchased with other parties in May 2022.
Meanwhile, Mattson's popularity is fading: He has come under intense scrutiny since May 9, when LeFebvre warned multiple people that money they thought they had invested in an IRA fund created by Mattson had been diverted to a personal account opened by Mattson.
Since then, investors interviewed by the Press Democrat have detailed a variety of issues with Matteson's management of their funds, including monthly investment distributions (separate from IRA funds) that suddenly stopped arriving in March or April, and 1031 real estate exchanges that Matteson arranged on their behalf in which the investors' names were not yet on the property deeds.
The FBI searched Mattson's $6.5 million home outside Sonoma on May 24.
Phil Barber can be reached at 707-521-5263 or phil.barber@pressdemocrat.com. X (Twitter) @Skinny_Post.
