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Friday, December 1, 2006

The Vogue

posted by on December 1 at 16:25 PM

Last night, after a tequila tasting at Liberty, I headed to the Vogue to see my favorite goth-rock British punk band of the 1980s, New Model Army. (My search for MP3s was, as an erstwhile colleague put it, “flawed in its execution,” so you’ll have to take my word for it: They rule. People even danced.)

Anyway, while I was waiting for the show to start, I struck up a conversation with the club’s owner, who told me they’ll be moving out of their current space on 11th Avenue between Pike and Pine at the end of the year because their landlord just raised the rent a whopping $3,000 a month - nearly double what it is now. Given that the space next door is about to be taken over by brand-new condos (developed by the same company that’s buying up the Linda’s block) the rent hike seems like a not-too-subtle message to the current tenants: The Vogue isn’t the kind of place wealthy singles fresh from suburbia are going to want right outside their bedroom windows. The club may reopen as part of Capitol Hill Arts Center early next year; the person who answered the phone at CHAC said the group would announce details as soon as they’d figured out specific arrangements.

RSS icon Comments

1

landlord's an idiot, i can't imagine what fool would move into that spot willing to pay $3,000 a month in rent.

jebus.

Posted by seattle98104 | December 1, 2006 4:31 PM
2

By "next door space", do you mean the gorgeous empty building that corners on Pine? Say it ain't so, that place should be it's own complex of art spaces, not more condofication.

Posted by Beachhead | December 1, 2006 4:47 PM
3

Yeah, but what's this got to do with the viaduct?

Posted by It's Cool And Everything, But... | December 1, 2006 4:54 PM
4

I thihnk it's the Trace Lofts that are moving in there, however, I think they are keeping the building, not knocking it down...if that makes you feel any better.
http://www.tracelofts.net/

Posted by :: shawn :: | December 1, 2006 4:54 PM
5

Northwest Actor's Studio, just down the block from Vogue, is facing problems with the landlord too.

Posted by sickofit | December 1, 2006 4:57 PM
6

OMG -- what does this mean for Barbie and Purr next DOOR!!??!!

Posted by gaymethboi | December 1, 2006 4:57 PM
7

No - the Trace is at 12th and Madison. Not sure what's going in there, but I think they are tearing the building down.

Posted by ECB | December 1, 2006 5:04 PM
8

"The Vogue isn’t the kind of place wealthy singles fresh from suburbia are going to want right outside their bedroom windows."

Bu - but, what are those wealthy singles fresh from suburbia going to think when they discover they've moved into an ENTIRE NEIGHBORHOOD full of people who go to places like The Vogue?

And whose to say at least SOME of those WSFFS wouldn't want to move into those condos precisely BECAUSE places like The Vogue exist in the neighborhood?

Posted by COMTE | December 1, 2006 5:05 PM
9

It's not Trace Lofts -- that's further down the street, I think.

The development planned for the Vogue block is a mixed-use condo/retail project called James Blunt Beautiful Terrace -- www.jamesbluntbeautifulterrace.biz. It's aimed at young city-dwellers who seek urban amenities with a sophisticated edge and gorgeous cheekbones.

Posted by option arm | December 1, 2006 5:07 PM
10

Time for the gay & hipster community to pick up stakes and find a new rundown community they can fix up.

Posted by him | December 1, 2006 6:17 PM
11

I vote for Tacoma!

Posted by Fuck This Shit | December 1, 2006 6:56 PM
12

I miss the days when people who had decided to say fuck you to society didn't complain about the neighborhoods they lived in. Suck it up and move to White Center, Erica. This "I want to be a rebel... but I still want to enjoy all the comforts of suburbia... while disdaining suburbanites who want to move into my neighborhood" crap has to end.

Posted by R | December 1, 2006 8:51 PM
13

I lived at the Monique Lofts from 2001 to 2004, just across the street and up the block from the Vogue. I grew up in Redmond, and have lived in Seattle since 1995, during which time I lived downtown at Tower 801, on 103rd just off Aurora, in the U District, on First Hill. Lots of different neighborhoods. I never encountered a more difficult neighbor to live with than the Vogue.

During the summer, the Vogue would keep their front door open until closing, letting music at pretty much full volume out onto the block. This happened night after night, and the music was loud. This made it difficult to sleep.

"Bu - but, what are those wealthy singles fresh from suburbia going to think when they discover they've moved into an ENTIRE NEIGHBORHOOD full of people who go to places like The Vogue?"

Bullshit. All kinds of people live along the Pike Pine corridor. Some go to the Vogue, others Wild Rose, others to the Comet, and some to none of those establishments. The Vogue and other night club operators in mixed use neighborhoods have a legal obligation to control noise after 10 PM. The Vogue repeatedly failed to do so.

Boo hoo, poor me, I know. Still, losing sleep night after night grew pretty frustrating after a while. We moved to a quieter neighborhood.

Posted by Tom Harpel | December 1, 2006 8:52 PM
14

Hey "M"--

When did wanting to continue to live and work in the neighborhood in which you've invested your life become a "fuck you" to society? I've lived and worked in the Pike/Pine for twenty years now, but the building my bar is in is about to be torn down for more fucking condos, and chances are we won't be able to find an appropriate place to move the business, due to the increasing lack of affordable spaces in the neighborhood.

I work two jobs, and my boyfriend works just as hard for us to be able to live in a rather crappy overpriced apartment in my beloved neighborhood where the rent just keeps going up and up. It's been happening for years, and I'm sure will continue to do so, but more than likely we won't be able to stay much longer.

Seattle continues to lose people who make valuable contributions to the life and culture here. Grant Cogswell? Art Chantry? Just two examples of hard working, fascinating artists driven from Seattle by its increasing yuppification.

I guess choosing a life in art and entertainment rather letting money be our driving force could be considered a fuck you to society. That's tragic.

And in defense of Ms. Barnett, I don't think pursuing a career in political journalism is a fuck you to anything. It's as noble a calling as anything else.

So, M, no fuck you to society here, just a fuck you to you.

Posted by Mark Mitchell | December 1, 2006 9:52 PM
15

I stopped reading at *tequila tasting* and comment on that:

It's high time tequila lost the bad rap given it by frat boys downing shot upon shot of tequila falsa.

I've hosted tastings of single malt scotches where I've slipped in a mediocre los altos añejo, and everyone thought it was a well aged Islay.

Save the cheap tequila for charo negros, find an añejo or reposado bottled in arandas (ask for a charo negro not a beso negro which is something quite a bit different though no less enjoyable), and drink it neat, no lime, no salt, no nada. It's the drink of a pueblo who know what tierra means. The french talk of terroir. The jalisciense live it.

Lo lamanto si esto es recargadatito.

Muerto a Calderon! Viva AMLO! Nos todos somos Oaxaca! Donde carajos esta mi jarrito?

Posted by kinaidos | December 1, 2006 9:59 PM
16

Wait - the building at the corner of 12th and Pine is being turned into condos? I know, no surprise there, but DAMN. I agree with Beachhead @ #2 - I've always thought that building needed to be an arts center.

Posted by genevieve | December 2, 2006 12:12 AM
17

Tom @ 13 you and your three legged cat are not real.

Posted by Lanik | December 2, 2006 11:59 AM
18

Tom, you are stupid, and this is why: Why would someone who does not like noise move to a neighborhood with a bunch of clubs, bars, restaurants, and college campuses? You should have lived in a quieter neighborhood in the first place. Let's hope the people who move into the new condos are not like you. Unfortunately, they probably WILL complain about the noise, and then all the clubs and bars and restaurants in the neighborhood will eventually get shut down.

Posted by Stacey | December 3, 2006 9:58 AM
19

Tom Harpel, you are stupid, and this is why: Why would someone who does not like noise move to a neighborhood with a bunch of clubs, bars, restaurants, and college campuses? You should have lived in a quieter neighborhood in the first place. Let's hope the people who move into the new condos are not like you. Unfortunately, they probably WILL complain about the noise, and then all the clubs and bars and restaurants in the neighborhood will eventually get shut down.

Posted by Stacey | December 3, 2006 10:02 AM
20

Hi Stacey. I argue that it is the Vogue who is stupid for deciding to operate a business in a mixed use neighborhood that repeatedly violated noise ordinances. Why doesn't the Vogue move their club to a neighborhood where they are permitted to exceed 100db (or whatever it is) after 10 PM?

Posted by Tom Harpel | December 3, 2006 8:01 PM
21

...oh, and of all the clubs in that neighborhood (Vogue, Comet, Wild Rose, at the time Bad JuJu), the Vogue was the only one with a problem containing the noise. And now I'll go away.

Posted by Tom Harpel | December 3, 2006 8:03 PM
22

the vogue has always been a sleazy pit - with blow jobs and butt eating in the john and many drugged out/freaked out people on the sidewalk

good bye, no lost love

yes, go to tacoma

Posted by Sam | December 4, 2006 4:33 AM
23

Actually Sam, I've had the complete opposite experience at the Vogue and go there precisely because (from this girl's perspective) it's _not_ a "sleazy pit", especially when compared to the Pioneer Square meat-markets.

Posted by Kb | December 4, 2006 10:14 AM
24

According to Shawna, the Vogue recently looked around at other vacant locations close-by to rent and came up with several, at affordable rates (as low as .50/square foot). The problem was that none of the landlords are offering long-term leases. They'd love to have you rent their spaces right up until they boot you out for those condos.

Oh, and so Tom Harpel lived in the Monique lofts? As one of the lowlife Vogue trash I've often looked up across the street and wondered about those units.

http://www.loftsseattle.us/monique/403/403.htm

Wow. Old growth wooden beams; Sub-Zero wine coolers conveniently divided between Red and White; playful 60' catwalks for extra storage space. "Safe and secure in this rooftop retreat, you’re just an elevator ride away from Capitol Hill’s vibrant Pike Pine Corridor." And you can buy one for, oh, under a million dollars.

Sweet. If you can afford it.

Posted by ronski | December 4, 2006 3:41 PM
25

Ronski: where I lived on the third floor, units were between 500 and 1000 square feet and did not feature cat walks. It was nice, just not that nice.

Posted by Tom Harpel | December 5, 2006 1:39 PM

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