Manchester, NH trying to take popular coffee shop by eminent domain

MANCHESTER, NH - Next order up. That's the speed at Eighty Eight Coffee Company. The Manchester hot spot is busy with a dining area of students and a line approaching the door, however it all could be gone. The city is trying to take the property by eminent domain.

"My parents have owned the property since 99'. In 2023, they reached out to us to say they wanted this property as part of the Cemetery Drain Brook Tunnel, and coincidentally they were looking at an easement on my parent's property as well," said Corey Tong, one of the owners of the coffee shop.

Sewer overflow project

The project aims to tackle water quality and sewer overflow issues in the Merrimack River. The city needs the building to develop the underground drainage system.

"We were planning to hire other people, but after the eminent domain, we couldn't afford to do that," said Tong. His wife runs the shop along with his brother Marc. "My mom even comes in sometimes on the weekends to help out," Tong said.

WBZ reached out to the mayor's office for comment. All they said was that they had agreed to terms on the sale of the property. While this is true, the owners are still negotiating, as the offer does nothing to compensate for the extensive losses to the coffee shop inside.

Costly move for coffee shop

"The business is definitely something else. We have been established here for nine years. We have a clientele. We are busy. We have a full commercial kitchen that we can't really move with," said Tong.

Tong believes it will cost them more than a million dollars to move and buy another property.

"A good solution is if the city would purchase us a building and move us, that would have been great," said Tong.

Their struggle is reaching other business owners. Some of them came into the shop on Friday to order a coffee and speak with the Tong family. They are concerned about the precedent this could set.

Customers are just as passionate. While WBZ was there, there wasn't a customer that ordered a drink that didn't ask about their future. It is clear that a fight is still brewing.