Irving Plaza To Get Multimillion-Dollar Upgrade, Close For Eight Months

Alive Coverage – Irving Plaza

New York City’s Irving Plaza is to close this summer for eight months as part of a major multimillion-dollar makeover with numerous renovations throughout the building.

Improvements at the 150-year-old Union Square building will include revamps of the lobby area and the music hall, new bars on all levels of the venue, a new downstairs VIP lounge, and the remodeling of the mezzanine including a new box-seating section configuration located on the mezzanine. 

 

“We’re thrilled to embark on a dramatic renovation of one the world’s most treasured music venues,” Live Nation Clubs & Theatres executive vice president Arich Berghammer said in a statement. “When we unveil these experiential upgrades – both artists and fans will enjoy an unparalleled musical experience.” 

Building owner representative Mark Chroscielewski added, “The Polish Army Veterans Association has developed a deep bond with Live Nation, which goes beyond a landlord/tenant relationship. It is fitting that in the year that Poland celebrates its 100th anniversary of regaining its independence that District 2 and Live Nation have entered into an even closer long-term relationship to upgrade Irving Plaza to its original elegance and grandeur.”  

The famed, always-busy venue’s recent boxoffice reports to Pollstar include The Marcus King Band in November (1,080 tickets sold, $30,664 grossed,) Honne in October (1,080, $25,243) and Elephante in October (1,121 tickets, $20,648).

Live Nation Clubs & Theatres continues to invest aggressively in the space, adding new venues to its management portfolio, building new rooms from scratch (such as the Fillmore New Orleans) as well as investing in existing buildings.

“One thing we do when we do go into the market, a perfect example is the Summit and Marquee in Denver,” Live Nation Clubs & Theatres President Ron Bension told Pollstar previously. “Once we were approached by the owner to take the buildings over, we put $2 million into them.  We took the Summit from a dark, poor visibility, club into – I’m pretty confident to say – the best club of its size in the marketplace. We put our money where our mouth is and did that with both.

“The Masonic in Cleveland is another example. Those shows had nowhere to go in the Cleveland market. We worked with the Masonic folks, we put some money in, they put some money in, they restored the interior of the music space. And now they just had their first two shows and now have a full slate of shows lined up.”