Amid a continuing 2020 pandemic, two of downtown Grand Rapids’ most popular live music hot spots are now seeking buyers. Learn more at Local Spins.
Packed House: The crowd at 20 Monroe Live during a 2019 Wilco concert. (Photo/Anthony Norkus)
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With an asking price of $16.5 million for 20 Monroe Live and $15.5 million for The B.O.B. (Big Old Building) right next door, The Gilmore Collection put both properties up for sale this week.
The move comes just as Michigan battles a resurgence of COVID-19, a stubborn pandemic that’s kept the 2,600-capacity 20 Monroe Live concert hall closed since March.
“We have a lot of money tied up in the real estate and want to pull it out,” said Greg Gilmore, head of The Gilmore Collection, which owns both properties and several West Michigan restaurants.
Gilmore revealed that his company had actually finalized arrangements to sell 20 Monroe Live previously with a closing set for March 2020, “but COVID killed the deal.”
Concert Spectacle: The Flaming Lips firing up 20 Monroe Live. (Photo/Anthony Norkus)
Built adjacent to The B.O.B., 20 Monroe Live opened in early 2017 in partnership with operator Live Nation and quickly drew high praise for its sound quality and ambience.
Over a three-year period, 20 Monroe Live – covering 42,760 square feet – boasted tour stops by a litany of national touring artists, including Trombone Shorty, Jack White, Vince Staples, The Flaming Lips, Umphrey’s McGee and more. There were hopes, Gilmore said, that it could reopen by the end of March 2021.
Gilmore said sale of 20 Monroe Live wouldn’t affect involvement with Live Nation, which holds an existing lease on the venue. If sold, he said he anticipates both buildings would continue to operate as entertainment and concert venues.
The four floors of the B.O.B., meanwhile, have hosted big crowds and events since the late 1990s, with several restaurants and entertainment venues (including Dr. Grins Comedy Club and H.O.M.E.). The Gilmore Collection overhauled the 72,000-square-foot, former Judson’s grocery warehouse to create the entertainment complex in 1996.
Venues and restaurants inside and just outside The B.O.B. have been open in limited fashion over the past several months, but a new ban on indoor dining in Michigan takes effect today.
The property listings by Pure Real Estate Brokerage on the Commercial Alliance of Realtors site note that both buildings can be purchased together “as a package deal.”
Marquee: 20 Monroe Live officially opened in 2017. (Photo;/Anthony Norkus)
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