Summer Sale
Gay Nightspots Set to Change Hands
by Matthew S. Bajko
The city’s gay nightlife is set to see some new faces as two dance clubs go up for sale this summer.
The property with the biggest name cachet on the block is the EndUp. Back in January, the owners of the club, located at 401 Sixth Street, listed the SoMa party venue for $1.8 million.
- The Miss Triple Crown Pageant, held recently at The Triple Crown. photo: Georg Lester
The sale is now in escrow, according to real estate agent Lee Julien, who despite being retired still handles the majority of gay bar sales in the city. If everything goes as planned, the transfer of the liquor license should be completed by the fall.
Julien declined to reveal who the new owners would be, but he did say that the EndUp would continue to court gay nightlife denizens as it has since it opened in 1973.
“The buyers are gay. They have no intention of changing the concept at all,” said Julien, who handled the sale for the owners of the EndUp, which is housed in an old hotel with an outdoor patio shaded by Interstate 80.
Ensuring the famed dance space would stay in LGBT hands was a key concern for the owners. Sydney Leung, one of the people who bought the EndUp in 2005, has held on to the bar until he and his partners found the right buyers.
“For me, it has been a wonderful five years, and we are looking for the right owner to continue the tradition that is the Endup. If we can’t find the right owner, I will continue to run the Endup,” Leung said.
Another dance space that courts the LGBT market, Triple Crown at 1760 Market Street nearby the LGBT Community Center, is also up for sale. Proprietor Larry Metzger, who also owns The Mix in the Castro, has listed the 2,560 square foot dance club and restaurant space with a selling price of $375,000.
According to the property listing, the club’s revenues total $900,000. The mid-size nightclub has three areas: a windowed bar on one side, a seating section with dark walls and undulating leather benches on the other side and an area with tables and chairs near the DJ and stage.
“I think the Triple Crown will move along; it is priced very well,” said Julien, adding that several potential buyers have expressed interest in the site.
- The popular Sunday beer bust at the Eagle Tavern
Metzger took over the space five years ago and first ran it as a supperclub. In 2009 he remodeled the interior and put in a new sound system to go after more of a dance party scene.
So far he is still waiting for the right offer, and while he hasn’t made selling it to another LGBT person a priority, Metzger said whoever takes it over would be foolish to ignore gay clientele.
“They would be silly not to include LGBT people in some of their events or allow them to do their parties there. It is a natural fit, with it being so close to the community center,” said Metzger, who hopes to find a buyer by August and have the sale closed by Labor Day. “We are still looking for offers.”
Another property available for purchase is The Eagle Tavern, located at 398 12th Street. The couple that has owned it the past 12 years, Joe Banks and John Gardiner, said they would like to see someone take over the large bar with outdoor patio space.
The two also own the Hole in the Wall bar down the street on Folsom. Like the EndUp owners, they want to find a suitable LGBT person to take over the Eagle, which is famed for its Sunday beer busts. So far they have not found the right buyer, and for now, they aren’t pushing any sale of the property.
“We are still trying to figure things out. We are trying to figure out what happens this summer and go from there,” said Gardiner, adding that since January they have had some interest in the place. “I don’t want it to become something else. They have to do something with it for our community.”
“There is a difference between bars and nightclubs like the EndUp and Triple Crown,” said Julien. “Part of the problem is nightclubs are not just bars. It requires a different sort of operator.”
For anyone wanting to break into the gay nightlife scene, the properties may be the last established nightspots to be put up for sale any time soon, said Julien. Most of the gay bars in the Castro district have already changed hands in the last five years.
“All the operators I know are happy with their cash flow,” said Julien. “People call me all the time wanting to buy gay bars. I really don’t have any to sell right now.”
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