The concert company that runs Brooklyn venues the Music Hall of Williamsburg and Rough Trade NYC is planning a venue that can accommodate 2,000 in an industrial part of Williamsburg.
The party facilitators plan to build the cavernous club in a sprawling former steel factory on Frost Street between Debevoise and Morgan avenues. The concert hall is going to draw big-ticket acts, an executive predicted.
“We have venues for musicians at every stage of their careers,” said James Glancy, owner of Bowery Presents. “This will be our venue for shows that are moving on to larger audiences.”
The venue will have a similar layout as the Music Hall of Williamsburg, with a large open theater ringed by a balcony and smaller bars, as well as an enclosed outdoor courtyard for smokers.
The company can build the venue without special permission according to the area’s current zoning regulations. Bowery Presents honchos appeared before the neighborhood’s Community Board 1 on Tuesday night to get its blessing for a liquor license.
The blocks surrounding the venue are a mix of warehouses and housing. Some neighbors at the meeting of the panel said they are concerned that the venue will inundate their streets with cars and drunken music lovers.
“It is hard enough to park around here as it is,” said Jonathan Ellis. “Another 2,000 people here is a lot.”
The board’s votes are strictly advisory, so even if it disapproves of the booze permit, it is still up to the state liquor authority to make the final approval.
The owners expect to open the venue later this year.
