It was unexpected to hear that exclusive private club SoHo House is planning on opening its long-rumored second Los Angeles location in the Arts District, and on top of that in the building where the Downtown Rehearsal studios—a practice space for musicians—takes up the majority of the space. If ever there were a single, symbolic move that captured what's happening in the increasingly posh neighborhood, musicians being booted from their rented studios by an expensive, members-only club with a rooftop pool is probably it. Unfortunately, no one was more surprised at the news than Downtown Rehearsal management, who, according to The Hollywood Reporter, had no idea that the club was moving in.
A letter written by the rehearsal space's management, addressing the "hundreds" of musicians who rent out space, explains that they were blindsided by both the imminent end to their tenancy at the 1917 building and the arrival of SoHo. "This is news to us," DR general manager Mike Daugherty writes in the note. They found out SoHo was coming in after reading about it in news outlets.
Daugherty adds that management figured something was afoot when they weren't having any luck renewing their long-held lease, but they weren't sure what the issue was. "We simply could not get a response to our proposals to extend [our lease] last year. We now understand why." They were recently told by the building's owners that they are in the process of selling the property. DR doesn't know when they'll have to leave; they just know that their time in the space is limited.
Downtown Rehearsal has been in this building since 1989, long before the now-rapid fancification began in the AD. (They have another location in Boyle Heights that they don't seem worried about losing.) Since they hadn't been able to get any information on renewing their lease, they've been looking for a new location "for some time now," but they haven't found a replacement locale quite yet. Here's the full letter:
· Soho House Downtown L.A. Plan Could Displace Nervous Local Musicians [THR]
· New Arts District SoHo House Will Replace Actual Artists [Curbed LA]
· SoHo House Coming to the Arts District, Bringing Rooftop Pool [Curbed LA]
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