{"id":496040,"date":"2026-01-06T08:06:36","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T08:06:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/496040\/"},"modified":"2026-01-06T08:06:36","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T08:06:36","slug":"site-of-troubled-brooklyn-entertainment-complex-sells-for-110m-commercial-observer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/496040\/","title":{"rendered":"Site of Troubled Brooklyn Entertainment Complex Sells for $110M \u2013 Commercial Observer"},"content":{"rendered":"

The site of the troubled Avant Gardner entertainment complex in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn, which once included the world-renowned Brooklyn Mirage nightclub, has been sold to Five Holdings<\/a><\/b>, owner of the Pacha <\/b>nightlife brand,<\/b> for $110 million.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The site, at 140 Stewart Avenue<\/b>, has seen its share of controversy since its 2017 inception.\u00a0<\/p>\n

SEE ALSO: BridgeInvest Lends $84M for Fort Lauderdale Apartments<\/a><\/p>\n

While the 80,000-square-foot Avant Gardner and its outdoor Brooklyn Mirage club have been cited as among the world\u2019s top nightclubs, the site was besieged by scandals ranging from overly aggressive security to a spate of related kidnappings and deaths, as well as rampant drug use.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A Gothamist investigation<\/a> found that \u201cat least 1,600 people were treated at Avant Gardner for intoxication or \u2018altered mental state\u2019 from 2018 to mid-2022,\u201d including three who died from accidental drug overdoses.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

After announcing the hiring<\/a> of Avant Gardner\u2019s first-ever CEO, former NeueHouse<\/b> and Fotografiska CEO Josh Wyatt<\/b>, in October 2024, the company then announced<\/a> a $30 million series of scheduled renovations to Brooklyn Mirage, including new acoustics and sight lines and a beefed-up security team, to be completed in time for a May 1, 2025, reopening.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

But the reopening was canceled at the last minute due to the city\u2019s Department of Buildings<\/b> ruling the venue \u201cstructurally unsafe,\u201d and Wyatt was fired<\/a> later that month. \u00a0<\/p>\n

By August 2025, Avant Gardner had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy<\/a>, citing $155.3 million in debt obligations.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0This included the company receiving \u201ca debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing commitment from its existing lender,\u201d according to a statement from the venue.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAs part of its filings, Avant Gardner anticipates entering into a stalking horse purchase agreement pursuant to which the company will sell its assets to an entity formed and controlled by its existing lender (subject to a court supervised over-bidding process),\u201d the statement<\/a> read.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

By mid-October, Brooklyn Magazine was reporting that<\/a> Avant Gardner had filed an application to demolish the Brooklyn Mirage. \u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

Despite this, Gothamist reported<\/a> just two weeks later that a judge had cleared the way for private equity firm Axar Capital Management<\/a><\/b> to buy Avant Gardner for around $110 million. At the time, Axar was still discussing having Brooklyn Mirage ready for the 2026 season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But by Jan. 1, 2026, Brooklyn Magazine was reporting that<\/a>, in what seems like a true final act to this long-running saga, Five Holdings, \u201cthe Dubai-based holding company for the global nightlife brand Pacha,\u201d was expected to enter a deal with Axar to buy Avant Gardner for $110 million, and convert the Brooklyn Mirage into Pacha New York<\/b>.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

Representatives from Five Holdings and Avant Gardner did not immediately respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n

Larry Getlen can be reached at lgetlen@commercialobserver.com<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The site of the troubled Avant Gardner entertainment complex in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn, which once included the world-renowned…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":496041,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[223142,5229,88679,4282,88681,525,223143,88687,110071,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,223144,223145,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-496040","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-140-stewart-avenue","9":"tag-america","10":"tag-avant-gardner","11":"tag-channel","12":"tag-department-of-buildings","13":"tag-finance","14":"tag-fotografiska","15":"tag-josh-wyatt","16":"tag-neuehouse","17":"tag-new-york","18":"tag-new-york-city","19":"tag-newyork","20":"tag-newyorkcity","21":"tag-ny","22":"tag-nyc","23":"tag-pacha","24":"tag-the-brooklyn-mirage-acquisition","25":"tag-united-states","26":"tag-united-states-of-america","27":"tag-unitedstates","28":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","29":"tag-us","30":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115847129203884523","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496040","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=496040"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496040\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/496041"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=496040"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=496040"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=496040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}