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Monday, November 26, 2007

Showbox Rumor

posted by on November 26 at 18:59 PM

The never-ending rumor about the Showbox on First Avenue between Pike and Union is that the lease is up and the club is being booted—and in come the condos. Yawn.

However, today’s rumor was a bit more startling: The club had been flat out sold.

I just talked to a high-level staffer at the music club and he said “I haven’t heard that.”

I asked him if the club was still in owner Jeff Steichen’s hands, and he said: “Yes.”

I’ve got a call in to Steichen to see if that’s accurate.

The King County Assessor’s office shows no sign of a recent sale.

Update: Another staffer just told us that it’s, “Just a rumor,” and it’s coming from the fact that the club’s lease will be up in 2009, and there’s talk that they may just consolidate their business at their SoDo location near the stadiums.

RSS icon Comments

1

Yawn.

Posted by Mr. Poe | November 26, 2007 7:15 PM
2

Isn't showbox on some sort of protected list? It's been there since the 20's or so, hasn't it?

Posted by catalina vel-duray | November 26, 2007 7:19 PM
3

noooo! best small venue for big name acts in seattle!!

Posted by Cale | November 26, 2007 8:00 PM
4

Rumors are now reported as news?
This is the gateway to "Fair and Balanced".

Posted by Zander | November 26, 2007 9:17 PM
5

Spooky. I was just driving by the showbox on 1st ave this afternoon, thinking how out of place that block will look with all the new construction. Then I thought about how smart it was that they had that new location down in sodo, so they can still do shows when their building is inevitably torn down to make room for something new.

Posted by Justin J | November 26, 2007 9:57 PM
6

Next thing you know they'll tear down the crocadile and I'll riot.

Posted by Andrew | November 26, 2007 10:07 PM
7

It better not be torn down, that's a wonderful place.

Posted by Lythea | November 26, 2007 10:08 PM
8

That applies to the Croc too...two of my favorite places to see music.

Posted by Lythea | November 26, 2007 10:10 PM
9

If/when they shut down the Showbox "at the Market," Seattle will officially, undeniably suck.

Posted by Explorer | November 26, 2007 10:41 PM
10

Jeff is not the owner of the property. correct? He's the owner of the business, which leases from the owners, correct?

Posted by gnossos | November 26, 2007 10:59 PM
11

The Croc really IS for sale.

Posted by theregoesseattle | November 26, 2007 11:08 PM
12

Just further speculation for the rumor mill, but there was talk last fall about a House of Blues venue opening up locally and how it would fuck over so many venues b/c of the exclusive tours that are so often HOB sponsored.

Posted by christopher hong | November 26, 2007 11:19 PM
13

The current Showbox is one of the best venues on like 5 continents. Nary a bad seat, tons of bars, great dance floor.
If it gets torn down, this town's soul will be at risk. Grrr.

Posted by treacle | November 26, 2007 11:29 PM
14

@12,

Oh no, yuck.

Hasn't HOB had problems with violence and shootings? Now that's a Nickels anti-club crusade anyone could get behind.

Posted by keshmeshi | November 26, 2007 11:33 PM
15

@10,

Correct. By "club" I meant the business, not the property. I believe the property is owned by someone else, and Steichen's business is a tenant there.

So, indeed, my assessor check wasn't so meaningful.

Posted by Josh Feit | November 26, 2007 11:50 PM
16

I thought the HOB was coming as part of the paramount/same building.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the showbox. It is such a great size for a venue. You can easily get close to some of your favorite acts or chill at the bar and still have plenty of spots to watch with good views.

So where do we need to stand to help save it?

Posted by drew | November 27, 2007 12:06 AM
17

@15. Thanks for the clarification.

I checked the property records also and it shows an LLC owning the building.

I noted that the property was purchased in 1997 and transferred in 2003. Which leads me to another rumor. When the 2003 transfer happened the rumor all around the neighborhood was that the building was purchased by folks with the Deja Vu chain as a fallback in case they lost their spot on the other side of 1st and Pike. As far as I know, it's just rumor.

Posted by gnossos | November 27, 2007 1:07 AM
18

in fact, it's not rumor that Deja Vu owns the property according to PI:

http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/night/archives/104880.asp

Posted by gnossos | November 27, 2007 1:37 AM
19

Seattle = The New Downtown Bellevue!

Posted by Just Me | November 27, 2007 6:21 AM
20

You really like to use the phrase "got a call in to"

Posted by reallynow | November 27, 2007 8:48 AM
21

@20,

Awesome.

Posted by Josh Feit | November 27, 2007 8:49 AM
22

put it on the historic register post haste.

it qualifies, and is the last burlesque theatre left in town after the travesties of the music box & the colliseum.

best place to see a band in the city, hands down.

Posted by max solomon | November 27, 2007 9:02 AM
23

What's the point in reporting unverified rumors?

Posted by Trevor | November 27, 2007 9:08 AM
24

Have you heard that Vulcan has bought the Space Needle and will be moving it so Paul Allen can build his Pocket Lint Museum Project?

Posted by NapoleonXIV | November 27, 2007 10:28 AM
25

@24: That's not possible. I know for a fact that the Space Needle is the secret lair of a big, gay mad scientist.

Posted by Greg | November 27, 2007 10:33 AM
26
Posted by :: shawn :: | November 27, 2007 11:25 AM
27

I am not sure how they would be able to keep the schedule that they have with just the SoDo local. They inherited a non-compete clause that states that they cannot have ticketed events on days that there are events at Safeco or Qwest. That severely impacts their ability to schedule nat'l acts.

Posted by polymnia | November 27, 2007 3:37 PM

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