The guy who runs DC’s 9:30 Club said it’s not too late to let him pick up the tab on Silver Spring’s proposed music-hall project.
In a Sep 11 letter to county council prez Mike Knapp, Seth Hurwitz, whose company also runs Columbia’s Merriweather Post Pavilion, argued that the county’s deal to build a music venue for rival rocker Live Nation wasn’t a done deal.
“It’s clearly not too late to reconsider,” Hurwitz told Knapp. “You can still redirect millions of dollars to what we expect government to invest in: education, public safety, social services and transportation -– not a nightclub.”
And then Hurwitz said it straight up: “My offer still stands to build the music hall with my own money,” to the tune of up to $10 million.
Hurwitz originally pitched the privately funded construction of 9:30 North in September 2007 through a series of letters to MoCo exec Ike Leggett (D). But by then, Leggett said Hurwitz’s overtures were too little, too late.
If current plans roll, the state and county will cough up a combined $8 million to build the 2,000-seat venue, which the county will own when all is said and done. Live Nation, which also runs NoVa’s Nissan Pavilion, inked a lease in January and will run the planned Colesville Road joint. The land — and its historically designated Art Deco facade — will be donated by the Lee Development Group, which currently runs the site as a street-level parking lot.
But before anyone does anything, the county council must consider proposed zoning changes that would make construction happen. The first proposed change would allow the music venue to fulfill public-space requirements for a larger, adjacent project. The other change would give the Lee Development Group up to 15 years to build that adjacent project.
County council member Valerie Ervin (D-District 5) said her colleagues were leaning towards approval of those zoning changes. “I have confidence that there’s an understanding of the importance of the Fillmore [music hall] to Silver Spring,” she told The Penguin Wednesday during a groundbreaking ceremony for downtown’s civic building.
“The will of the body is to move forward,” Ervin added.
The council’s planning, housing and economic-development committee mull over the details on Sep 29.
Photo: The Colesville Road site of the proposed music-hall project. Credit: R. Pace/SSP.
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I’m starting to think we should consider the Huwitz of the 9:30 club fame. Either way, I want music for Silver Spring.
I could stomach the Fillmore as public space requirement for the future Lee development because of the highly urban site. I could then stomach the right to develop their property with-in the next 15 years because property owners have the prerogative to develop their property when it suits them anyway.
But giving them a pass with no formal approval process for their future development is too much. Every property owner has to go through that hurdle, it’s the only way the public has a say on how their home (Silver Spring) get’s developed. Also I hear Live Nation is in talks with the Jemal group for some kind of venue near the convention site and the 9:30 club is a local joint.
I know why the Lee group is wary of developing because of getting burned in the late 80’s with their Lee building, but they are grown up capitalists, they shouldn’t hold Silver Spring hostage because they want the government to protect them if they fail again.
After reading the letter I think we really have to consider what type of budget shortfall the county is in. Giving away 8 million to a company in Los Angeles is not going to help our schools, hospitals, libraries, or traffic problems. We all want a good music venue in DTSS, but it shouldn’t be paid for with tax dollars.
We have waited long enough. Approve the zoning changes and move on. The zoning changes are appropriate, because they only apply when a developer donates land that is used to create a public amenity, which, under the bill, the Music Venue will be. Not too many devlopers are are going to donate a $3mill piece of property to the county without wanting something in return.
Silver Spring desparately needs this project to push the revitalization effort forward and to create true synergy with Discovery and AFI. This project will be a huge boost for DTSS and make it a entertainment destination not only locally, but nationally. The funding is place, so let’s get it done and rock and roll withouth further delay!!
Read the legislation. The plan still has to go through an approval process. CC, you and others who feel the same way need to write the council and tell them to pass the ZTA and SRA,
Hurwitz is more interested in keeping competition away from his 9:30 club. The council should call his bluff and ask him to put up a $4 million bond if he is serious about his offer.
It’s time to move on build the damn thing. Live Nation is not going to wait forever and I understand they will not extend the agreement again (due to expire in October or November).
“Mike” you are right. Having been corrected on the Lee group needing no approval process to develope their parking lot (http://www.thayeravenue.com/), I take back my earlier note and say to the County Council…
“come on guys”. Especially in this crappy economic climate.