House of Blues building for sale

Real Estate Weekly, May 29, 1996

The impending sale had been rumored for weeks but has now been confirmed for REW by Robert Futterman, a partner and managing director of Garrick-Aug Store Leasing, the House of Blue's exclusive agent in New York.

The building was purchased from American Savings Bank for $1.8 million in 1993 and it's exterior was landmarked this past February. The asking price is about $4 million.

Futterman said the building and an attached annex comprise 29,000 square feet on four levels. Recent city requirements for entertainment facilities call for patrons waiting on line to be held inside, rather than outside of clubs, and that was one of the determining factors in giving up the site.

The company, once merely a restaurateur, is also now involved in television and radio programming, hotel operation and other events, and is simply seeking more space.

Ideally, Futterman said, any new location for the House of Blues would comprise a restaurant stage area of 40,000 square-feet and would be associated with a small hotel operation of 150 to 200 rooms.

Real estate sources report that Futterman has been exploring Times Square locations, including the Forest City Ratner project that already has an AMC Theater complex and Madame Tussaud's signed on, as well as the Tishman hotel and E-Walk entertainment component at the comer of 42nd Street and Eighth Avenue.