FUTURE IN QUESTION FOR SMITH’S OLDE BAR
The property that houses Smith's Olde Bar on Piedmont Avenue is scheduled to go to auction on Aug. 28.
The combination bar/restaurant/music venue has resided in the space since 1993.
A “property package” includes the notation that “Smith’s Olde Bar is currently an at-will tenant and has received a 60-day notice to vacate, which is in dispute. The Ownership is working to resolve this ongoing issue.”
There are currently shows booked at Smith’s through the end of November.
— Melissa Ruggieri
The land beneath the Masquerade may have been sold, but that doesn’t mean the charmingly grungy music venue is going anywhere.
Or maybe it does.
A day after Monday's announcement that 3.3 acres of land along the Beltline, including the Masquerade, was sold to Atlanta-based developer SWH Residential Partners LLC, a message was posted on the Masquerade's website assuring patrons that they aren't leaving Atlanta.
“We will release specifics as soon as we can,” the message stated, adding that all currently booked shows will take place as planned and bookings will be continued through 2016.
The land that houses the Masquerade and adjacent 1.32 acres in the Old Fourth Ward neighborhood was purchased from Southeast Capital Companies for $2.8 million. The plan, according to Washington, D.C.-based real estate company CoStar Group Inc., is for SWH Residential Partners and Southeast Capital to co-develop an eight-story apartment complex and 4,500-square-foot restaurant.
A new structure would certainly be a different look for the former excelsior mill that was reportedly built in the early 1900s and has functioned as a music venue catering heavily to rock, punk and hip-hop since 1989.
The three levels of the Masquerade have long been christened as Heaven, Hell and Purgatory, and the appropriately dank walls have witnessed a parade of now-superstars. Nirvana, Nine Inch Nails, the Smashing Pumpkins, Green Day and the Dave Matthews Band are among the acts that played the Masquerade in their early-career days.
In the past year, artists as varied as Run the Jewels, Newfound Glory and Childish Gambino pulled into the venue.
Last week, a pop-up concert by Atlanta rapper Future generated hours-long lines and traffic detours.
Behind the concert hall, the Masquerade Music Park has also been used for music events, most notably the inaugural year of the Shaky Knees Music Festival in 2013, which has since grown to commandeer a sprawling site at Central Park.
Despite expectations of some type of change, the Masquerade will celebrate its 25th anniversary with the Wrecking Ball ATL on Aug. 8-9, a weekend festival boasting more than 60 bands including Coheed and Cambria, Descendents, Thrice and the Get Up Kids.
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