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Sweets Ballroom Leasehold Comes to Market

OAKLAND, CA-The 81-year-old Downtown concert venue here is located on the second floor of the J.J. Newberry building at 1933 Broadway. The seller acquired the whole building in 1998, completed a $2-million restoration, and then sold the building while holding onto a long-term lease of the concert space.

By Brian K. Miller | Updated on July 27, 2005

OAKLAND, CA-The owner of a 33-year-old leasehold for the historic Sweets Ballroom is offering it for sale at $4.25 million. Located within the J.J. Newberry building at 1933 Broadway, the 12,000-sf art deco ballroom and concert venue seats about 900 and once hosted the likes of Frank Sinatra, Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington.Local resident Matthew Fox acquired the property in 1998 to prevent it from being torn down and replaced with an office building. With developers Phil Tagami & Len Epstein, who now own the building (and are looking to sell it), Fox spent $2 million restoring the art deco ballroom and concert venue, which includes an 8,000-sf sprung wooden dance floor, a 1,000-sf bar/lounge area and a 2,000-sf balconied mezzanine. Historically, concert production companies have attempted to own and master-lease venues to succeed in an increasingly competitive industry, and Sweet’s Ballroom fits nicely in that business model. The listing broker, Martin Harris of Zephyr Real Estate in San Francisco, says Fox hopes to attract a buyer who will bring world-class acts to Oakland. “We plan to see if there’s interest by companies like Bill Graham, House of Blues, Anschutz Entertainment and Another Planet Entertainment,” Harris tells GlobeSt.com. “It could be a real popular venue if it’s run by the right people.

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