Ownership of Tin Hall has changed once again, this time back into the hands of previous owner Fred Stockton and his partner Joe Duong. On Aug. 16, MHI McGuyer Homebuilders ceded control of the historic dance hall in Cypress over to Stockton—who partnered with Duong—after being under the ownership of former owner Mark Martinez since October 2014. “[Martinez] had the first right, and I had second right and his time ran out,” Stockton said. Stockton was the initial owner of Tin Hall and helped to revive the dance hall in 1991 after it was closed for five years. He said he is working with Duong to assess what parts of the buildings can be moved to a new Cypress location. The two are still working on plans, having only had ownership of the building for roughly two weeks, but the partners said they plan to turn the buildings into a restaurant in Cypress. They do not plan to return Tin Hall to its former dance hall status. “The chances of us going back into the dance hall business are slim to none—it was solely my possession for about 25 years, and they are fun to talk about but no one goes to them,” Stockton said. Stockton said he was confident in his and Duong’s partnership to find success in a future Tin Hall. Duong owns and operates popular burger restaurant The Shack and new grilled cheese eatery Melt. “I know the bar business, and Joe knows the restaurant business,” he said. “Throughout the years, myself and Joe have become good friends. We bring something old and something new.” Martinez initially purchased the land in October 2014 with Tin Hall on it from Stockton but soon sold the property itself to MHI McGuyer Homebuilders, who agreed to let Martinez keep ownership of Tin Hall if he would look for a new location. Martinez previously said he has been looking for potential locations in the past year and planned to move Tin Hall to a 20-acre tract of land near Dry Creek. He partnered with a commercial developer who had plans to build a retail center on-site in an attempt to lower the cost. Tin Hall would have occupied the back 10 acres, and the retail development would have taken up the other 10. Progress slowed when Martinez struggled to find the water capacity necessary to service Tin Hall and the retail development. On Aug. 16, the situation changed once again when the homebuilding company tired of waiting for Tin Hall to move locations and ceded control back to Stockton. Stockton said he too will have to contend with gaining access to water supply.