Following a year of venue closures and corporate buyouts, Mezzanine is the latest San Francisco nightclub to take a hit in 2018. The popular venue, which has operated in SoMa since 2003 and hosted high-caliber acts like Snoop Dogg and Lady Gaga, announced on Tuesday that it will shutter in October 2019.
According to its press release, the building’s owners refused to renew the club’s lease, and are working with Colton Commercial & Partners to convert the property into commercial office space with rents reflecting a 600-percent increase.
Mezzanine is the largest woman-owned club in San Francisco. Quoted in the press release, owner Deborah Jackman said that the building’s owners turned down a request for the venue to stay open through the end of 2019 to finish out its year of programming. “What I find most disturbing is that Mezzanine, like so many other cultural institutions, has fallen victim to corporate greed and commercial development,” she said.
“Basically, this building has been in my family since 1978 and their rent hasn’t changed in 20 years,” said David Chritton, who co-owns the Jessie Street property with Todd and Scott Chritton. “Basically, they can’t afford to be here at this site. They’re not making what this site should be. It’s just economics.”
Chritton declined to comment further on the claims in the Mezzanine press release.