Yesterday the Boston Business Journal ran a story about the House of Blues building on 15 Lansdowne St. being sold to a New York developer, causing a bit of a panic on social media.
Many feared this could mean the 2,400-person live music venue across from Fenway Park’s Green Monster would become residential units or redeveloped into some sort of different use outside of live music and concerts.
But that won’t be the case. We’re told the sale of the building is merely a “real estate transaction only,” and there will be “no change in operations” at the House of Blues as we currently know it. That’s according to an informed authority on the matter, who we just spoke to this afternoon.
“The building has been sold, not the operations,” stressed our source.
According to the Business Journal, New York real estate firm Bay Management Corp. purchased the 58,000-square-foot Lansdowne Street building from owner Patrick Lyons for $24 million. “We love Boston and we love that neighborhood,” Bay Management Corp.’s James Nicholson told the Journal. The official address of the property is 15 to 27 and 35 to 41 Lansdowne St.
More from the Journal:
The seller, Patrick Lyons of the Boston-based Lyons Group, bought the building in 2002 for $13.75 million. The building was home to the Avalon and Axis clubs before the building was gutted and transformed into a House of Blues venue in 2009. (Live Nation owns the House of Blues chain, operating a dozen live venues throughout the country.)
Lyons’ company is affiliated with many of the Hub’s best-known restaurants and bars, including Alibi Bar & Lounge, Back Bay Social Club, Bleacher Bar, The Estate, Game On, Harvard Gardens, Kings Boston, Kings Dedham, La Verdad, The Lansdowne Pub, Lucky’s Lounge, Scampo, Sonsie, Sweetwater Café and Towne Stove & Spirits.
The House of Blues is operated by Live Nation and booked locally by Crossroads Presents, which also books the Paradise, Brighton Music Hall, Orpheum Theatre, and other rooms around town.
Notable upcoming shows at the House of Blues include G. Love & Special Sauce tonight, Zed’s Dead on Sunday, and St. Vincent on February 27. View the venue’s full calendar here.