Harpos concert hall in Detroit goes up for sale

[Airforceguy]

The legendary Harpos Concert Theatre on Detroit’s east side is for sale for an undisclosed price.
Designed by Charles Agree — who also designed the Grande and Vanity ballrooms, as well as the Whittier Hotel — in 1939, the former Harper Theater, 14328 Harper at Chalmers just off I-94, has had a special place in the hearts of heavy metal, rap and hip hop lovers around metro Detroit for decades. But fear not, metalheads. Ruzvelt Stevanovski, the Harpos owner, plans to use proceeds from any potential sale to improve the 2,000-seat venue and continue operating it.

After showing movies when it first opened, the theater was converted into a dance hall and then, more than four decades ago, a concert hall, said Brad Margolis, the broker for Southfield-based Farbman Group handling the marketing of the property.

"The owner is looking to stay and continue running it," Margolis said. "He’s looking for some money to inject into renovations and upgrades to do more shows, looking for Harpo’s to continue the legacy it has, remain a concert hall and kind of revitalize it. If someone came in and wanted to change the use, he’s not interested in that." An email was sent to the venue on Tuesday morning. Over the years, it has hosted countless artists ranging from Motörhead to Snoop Dogg, Megadeth to Outkast.
To get a great feel for the place [[and its place in the annals of the region's metal scene), read this Detroit Metro Times feature — which branded Harpos as "Detroit's most notorious metal club" — with interviews with a host of people with ties to it from over the years.
The pandemic shut Harpos, as well as venues across the state, down for over a year but my colleague Kurt Nagl reported it would reopen June 11, 2021, with a show by Corey Taylor, lead singer of the band Slipknot.

https://www.crainsdetroit.com/real-e...ue-harpos-sale

[Richard]

I do not get it,he wants to sell it and stay there while using the funds from the sale to renovate it,but the new owner of the building has no input as to what happens to it as far as it’s use,as a way to raise capital?

[GPCharles]

It's called a sale/leaseback.

[Richard]

It's called a sale/leaseback.

Conditional sale,where the buyer would have little control over the property,what happens if the then tenant after investing the money does not generate enough revenue?

As an owner then you are stuck as to other options as to a return on your investment ,so you sink or swim with your tenant who is the one in control of the property.

If he owns the property he could get private money,hard money,and do the renovations then flip it to a conventional mortgage based on added value.

Unless it is based on it needs more work then the value of the property once repaired and is seeking somebody like Mr Gilbert who could or would swing it for the write off.

My family was involved with concert venues,Aerosmith,Jim Croce,Nazareth,Led Zeppelin etc.

When It goes good,it goes good,but it is like anything else,unfortunately when you start dealing with Rap There seems to be a level of violence that follows it,when that happens,you are done.

Plus it takes a lot of up front cash to pull off a concert,it’s very high risk but also can come with high reward,if somebody saw the value in it,it would have already been done years ago,location is irrelevant,so the first question an investor would have going in would ask why is it like it is?

Its not like it was in the 70s n 80s where if you had a largish club where the drinks made the profit,it’s all controlled now.

The likes of Taylor Smith will cost $1 million just to book for the night and unless you are going to have 25,000 to 45,000 people showing up,you cannot even book.

You can have less popular where your place has a capacity of 1000 and you would be lucky to clear $20k after expenses,but you are not doing it every night.

The city has over 13 established venues you would be competing against,the Masionc is concert ready and they are struggling.

Outside of that it is a cool building and a part of the cities history I hope it becomes successful again.

[CassTechGrad]

I went there when it was a Disco in the 1970's. It had a dance floor like the one in the film Saturday Night Fever with the lights underneath. That iconic disco floor from the club in Brooklyn called "2001 Odyssey" sold for 1.2 million at auction in 2017.

[GPCharles]

In general, you would only do a sale/leaseback with a tenant that had excellent credit and finances.

[Gistok]

Harpos is in one of the roughest areas of the east side. Anyone who drives around the area will notice very few businesses that are not boarded up in that stretch of Harper Ave.

I bet the owner needed to do some work on fixing up the place after decades of having a "rough crowd" as patrons, but no bank would lend him the money to do so. So this was his only option... if he can find someone willing to buy it with all of the stipulations.

[Richard]

Crains puts it as 14328 Harper.

Loop net puts it at 14320 - 14328 and lists it as fully leased retail like it is not even zoned as entertainment or venue.

Wayne county is still living in 1950 when it comes to property searches and ability to do due diligence.

It’s listed with a well known broker locally,but no where else on the web like every other property for sale in the country.


Like I posted before,if you have a property in the city that needs a lot of work and the city is in your butt,list it for sale,you do not really have to sell it,just provide the illusion and it stops enforcement actions and buys you time.

Not saying that’s what’s happening with this property but there seems to be a common pattern in the city,either listing properties with secret purchase numbers or listing at prices so high,it’s almost cheaper to buy property in Manhattan.

From 2017
Baltrusz maintained ownership of the club for more than a decade, bringing in 75 to 100 major shows a year. He did his best to keep his patrons safe around the club, up to and including hiring burly bikers and security dogs, but after losing two lawsuits for incidents that happened outside the building, he and his partners were forced to file bankruptcy. They operated for over a year under bankruptcy, but after some additional legal issues, Baltrusz lost the club.

Ron Baltrusz: They converted our [chapter 11] to chapter seven, or whatever, and the bank came down and shut us down. I was gone. I lost everything and my two partners lost everything that we had. That was it. I was done. The next owners bought it from the bankruptcy court: a mother and two sons.

https://www.metrotimes.com/music/the...l-club-7493658

[Hypestyles]

crowd fund it.. offer shares to the public to own a piece of the place.

[Maof]

It was a mess in the late 70's/early 80's. The bathrooms were consistently overflowing. Your shoes stuck to the floors/carpeting from copious amount of spilt drinks and overflow from the bathrooms. From what I've read in recent years, things haven't changed. Most likely needs a complete overhaul.