San Francisco venue Mezzanine will close indefinitely in 2019
The building owners have refused to renew the prominent club's lease
Prominent San Francisco venue Mezzanine has announced its impending, indefinite closure for late 2019.
Announced on Twitter, the nightclub shared that due to the building landlord's refusal to renew their lease, the venue will be forced to shut its doors in October 2019. Mezzanine has been a pillar of the city's nightlife scene since 2003, serving as a home for many high-profile artists like LCD Soundsystem, Lady Gaga, De La Soul, Snoop Dogg, and also specifically for electronic music talents like Simian Mobile Disco, Pendulum, Rusko, Paul Oakenfold and many more.
“I was disappointed that the owners of the building didn’t give me an opportunity to renegotiate a new lease," Mezzanine owner Deborah Jackman explained in a statement. "I was further disappointed that my request for a three-month extension, so that we could close out 2019 was rejected. What I find most disturbing is that Mezzanine, like so many other cultural institutions, has fallen victim to corporate greed and commercial development.”
Mezzanine, an independently owned venue, boasts an in-house all female booking team and 35+ employees. The building owners reportedly plan to replace the venue with commercial office space in hopes to "maximize the rent at a 600% increase", according to the same statement.
Despite pushing to finish out the year in 2020, Mezzanine will see its last New Year's party occur next month, which already has The Knocks, Hotel Gardua and Sweater Beats locked in to play. Additionally, they plan to host a "Sweet 16" party in April of 2019.
"We have 10 months, and I’m going to make sure we have the most fun that we can," Marketing manager Chris Sanders said in an interview with SF Weekly. "We’re going to go after some artists that have outgrown Mezzanine — but hopefully have some attachment to us — that will come and play and help us celebrate what we’re now gong to call our ‘Bittersweet 16’ in April and have a whole month celebration for that. I just got off the phone with Christian Martin from Dirtybird, and they’re devastated and they’re going to make sure we have a bunch of great events with them before we close.”
See the statement below.