Fermeture subite du resto-bar Thursday’s, rue Crescent

[ScarletCoral]

il y a 22 minutes, Spiter_01 a dit :

Are any of these buildings classified/protected? I would think the four seasons would be against any significant development that would completely block the sunlight for some of their rooms.

Rien trouvé sur le site de la Ville http://patrimoine.ville.montreal.qc.ca/
Ni sur le site du Ministère de la culture http://www.patrimoine-culturel.gouv.qc.ca/

Mais ça n'empêche pas que la Ville pourrait avoir doté certains des bâtiments avec un statut « Bâtiment d’intérêt patrimonial »

Sergakis pourrait être l'acheteur!

https://montreal.eater.com/2020/1/6/21051790/thursdays-building-sale-ragueneau-family-nakis-closure
 

The Thursday’s Building Will Likely Be Sold, Possibly to Sergakis

Or it may just morph into condos

by Tim Forster@timothyjforster  Jan 6, 2020, 1:24pm EST

After the sudden closure of Crescent Street resto-bar-club Thursday’s on New Year’s Day, it now seems likely that its building will be developed into either condominiums, or some kind of Peter Sergakis-owned business.

Various news outlets have been poking around the (metaphorical) ashes of Thursday’s, arriving at a few different possibilities, none of which are set in stone yet.

At present, the relatively large complex at 1449 Crescent Street is under the ownership of the Ragueneau family, who founded Thursday’s, but transferred the business to owner Chris-Ann Nakis in late 2018.

Nakis had also moved towards taking ownership of the building (and put in a deposit to that end). However, after seeing the business in action, she and her family’s restaurant group decided that the Ragueneaus’ $10 million asking price was too high, and they decided to abandon the purchase and return the building fully to the Ragueneau family.

After the closure, Nakis told the Gazette that she suspected that the business would reopen promptly under the Ragueneaus — however, if this were the case, it’s unclear why Nakis didn’t coordinate with them to avoid laying off dozens of staff.

Now, that mystery has been addressed, with Bernard Ragueneau telling CBC that he has no intention of reopening Thursday’s — his son, Torrance, declared to the broadcaster that they planned to sell the building.

That’s where the future of the building gets ambiguous, with a few different possibilities on the table.

The Journal de Montréal reports that sometimes-controversial bar magnate Peter Sergakis is interested in purchasing the building, although his comments to the newspaper indicate that he’s hesitant about opening a bar there. He notes that the building would need ten floors of residential space to be financially viable.

Sergakis also made the questionable declaration that a bar wouldn’t work in the space because “the 5 à 7 was something that worked 15 or 20 years ago, but not anymore”. (To be fair, while the 5 à 7 is most certainly alive and well in Montreal, Sergakis is probably correct that people don’t do happy hour on Crescent Street these days).

CBC’s article also raises the prospect of the a residential development taking over Thursday’s, even suggesting that the building could be demolished— however, in the same piece, a representative for the Crescent Street Merchants Association rebuffs this, noting that the Thursday’s building has heritage status, meaning that demolition or substantial changes would be difficult or impossible.

So, could a new bar or restaurant open in it? That seems reasonably likely, but over at CTV, Bernard Ragueneau pointed out that the venue draws hefty property taxes, to the tune of $300,000. That makes it unlikely that somebody would open up a single bar or club taking over the entire space, although it’s still possible that an array of smaller businesses could instead move in (a prospect that CBC’s reporting also raised).

The Gazette followed up its story on the closure with further reporting that put paid to the idea of Thursday’s or another bar reopening — Torrance Ragueneau told the newspaper that potential buyers for the building aren’t interested in the hospitality business, suggesting that they’re more interested in residential development.

In short: Thursday’s looks pretty dead, and while nobody knows who’s buying the building, you can probably take your pick between “condos” and “Sergakis condos”.

 

[IluvMTL]

il y a une heure, Spiter_01 a dit :

Are any of these buildings classified/protected? I would think the four seasons would be against any significant development that would completely block the sunlight for some of their rooms.

I think Carbonleo/Four Seasons previously purchased that property before they scaled back.

[vincenzo]

IMO the best thing would be for The Four Seasons to purchase and connect the hotel via an escalator to the bar and to Crescent.

[Rocco]

What a mess! 

[FrancSoisD]

On 2020-01-04 at 12:32 AM, Rocco said:

On gage combien que ça va s'appeller condos Le Thursday's?

Ce serait "la cerise sur le sundae", mais sûrement plus vendeur que Monday's! 😜

[ScarletCoral]

https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/thursdays-closure-another-reminder-montreal-nightlife-has-moved-beyond-downtown

Thursday's last call another reminder Montreal nightlife has moved beyond downtown

The Crescent St. staple closed abruptly, but the shift in Montreal's bar scene that its shuttering represents has been a decade in the making.

BRENDAN KELLY, MONTREAL GAZETTE 
Updated: January 10, 2020

 

The closing of downtown institution Thursday’s is part of a tectonic shift in Montreal nightlife. Members of the hip crowd now prefer local bars or heading out to the city’s booming southwest neighbourhoods in search of a good time.

That’s the way a few seasoned observers of the local nightlife scene see it. The geography of nightspots has shifted since the ’70s and ’80s, when there were hopping bar and resto scenes on Crescent St., St-Denis St. and St-Laurent Blvd.

Much of that action has migrated elsewhere over the past decade, notably to Griffintown, Old Montreal, St-Henri, Rosemont, the Plateau and even Verdun, the latter anything but a hot destination as recently as 10 years ago.

“This is what happens,” says Paul Desbaillets, co-owner of the pub/restaurants The Burgundy Lion in Little Burgundy and Bishop and Bagg on St-Viateur St. in Mile End.

“Old Montreal is in its resurgence. Fifteen years ago, Old Montreal was dead,” he says.

What was hot in the Plateau back then is now dead, Desbaillets says.

“The city shifts. Look at the Peel Basin. Are you crazy? Would you have seen that coming 10 years ago? It’s mind-blowing when you go down Peel and it’s not even done. The whole city is moving down. Look at the area around the Bell Centre. Never in a million years would you have thought that area would look like it does today.”

The problem downtown, he says, is that the rent is more expensive for bars and eateries.

The southwest in general has gone through an unprecedented boom over the past several years. It started in Little Burgundy, a scene kick-started by The Burgundy Lion, the critically-lauded eatery Joe Beef and the popular bar La Drinkerie Ste-Cunégonde. In the last five or six years, the strip of Notre-Dame St. west of Atwater Ave. has also taken off, with restaurants like Satay Brothers and Tuck Shop, and the hopping Bar de Courcelle.

In Verdun, Wellington St. has also been completely transformed thanks to spots like Bar Social and the restaurants Pigor and Well.

The downtown scene has been diminished in part because we’ve moved into the era of neighbourhood bars and restaurants, says Éric Le François, a 25-year veteran of the night-life scene who co-owns La Drinkerie, Bar de Courcelle and Bar Social. He suggests this move is happening in part because today, in sharp contrast to the ’70s and ’80s, people are much more reluctant to drink and drive.

“I think proximity plays a big role in the decisions people make about where they want to go out,” said Le François. “They don’t want to drink and drive and they don’t want to pay $50 for a taxi. And that’s really helped spur a boom in the amount of neighbourhood bars.”

Le François says people who live and work downtown and tourists form the core clientele for downtown bars.

Alexandre Turcotte, editor in chief of the website nightlife.ca, says the club scene is now much more spread out geographically.

“What’s really changed is that each neighbourhood has developed its own scene,” says Turcotte. “Now there isn’t just one destination. You might go to Old Montreal. You might in fact go downtown. But every different borough offers its own bars and restaurants. … Young people don’t go downtown because they feel it’s a bit tacky, a bit F1.”

Mathieu Grondin, the founder of Mtl 24/24, a lobby group that works to develop nightlife culture in Montreal, agrees that bar and club culture has moved from the centre of the city into many neighbourhoods. But the scene has also moved out of the bars, he adds.

“I think a lot of it has morphed into the loft party scene,” says Grondin. “There’s a lot of illegal spaces and that’s where a lot of the youth hang out. There have been illegal after-hours on Beaubien St. W. for the last 15 years. They’ve been closed down by the cops and then another one pops up. There’s quite a bit of that, particularly in the electronic music scene.”

But Desbaillets is quick to note that you shouldn’t write off the downtown bar and resto milieu completely. It may have faded with the expansion of other scenes, but it could bounce back.

“Downtown is full of business, people are there,” says Desbaillets. “Every time a condo goes up, that just means more people that you can serve downtown.”

[Rocco]

Les gens ne vont tout simplement plus 'danser'. Les bars branchés ont remplacé les clubs branchés d'hier. Les gens se couchent plus tôt. Ils débutent la soirée vers 20h et la terminent à minuit/1am. La scène 'danse' est rendue nichée aux after-hours et à la scène underground électronique. Avant, tout le monde allait danser, ce n'est plus le cas. Maintenant, les gens se partagent les dernières nouvelles de leurs réseaux sociaux autour d'un drink trendy dans l'ambiance feutrée d'un bar/lounge. Et si tu regardes la musique à la radio, ce n'est plus de la musique 'dance'. Avant, dans les 70s/80s/90s la radio c'était juste du dance et ça se transposait dans les clubs. Maintenant il n'y a plus de musique pour danser grand public, à part la scène électronique niche, les clubs ferment et on met de la musique ambiance dans les bars.

[montreal92]

Il y a 1 heure, Rocco a dit :

Les gens ne vont tout simplement plus 'danser'. Les bars branchés ont remplacé les clubs branchés d'hier. Les gens se couchent plus tôt. Ils débutent la soirée vers 20h et la terminent à minuit/1am. La scène 'danse' est rendue nichée aux after-hours et à la scène underground électronique. Avant, tout le monde allait danser, ce n'est plus le cas. Maintenant, les gens se partagent les dernières nouvelles de leurs réseaux sociaux autour d'un drink trendy dans l'ambiance feutrée d'un bar/lounge. Et si tu regardes la musique à la radio, ce n'est plus de la musique 'dance'. Avant, dans les 70s/80s/90s la radio c'était juste du dance et ça se transposait dans les clubs. Maintenant il n'y a plus de musique pour danser grand public, à part la scène électronique niche, les clubs ferment et on met de la musique ambiance dans les bars.

Exact.

Toutefois, je suis plutôt optimiste car, c'est une observation personnelle mais je crois que Montréal a une bonne scène électro/techno qui se développe et que de plus en plus de gens vont voir des DJ. Le Stereo possède dailleurs une renommée américaine pour la qualité de son line-up, son système de son et ses soirées de plus de 24h. Plusieurs petits collectifs ou label prennent de l'ampleur et créer leurs propres évènements aussi.
On rattrape la scène électronique/techno européenne. Là-bas, c'est tout ce que les gens font, danser 24h! Je pense à l'Europe de l'Est notamment. 

Modifié 11 janvier 2020 par montreal92

[vivreenrégion]

C'est pas les 30 ans et plus qui font vivre les club, ce sont les 18-25 ans. Ce groupe d'âge est beaucoup plus relax maintenant que dans mon temps. Une chose aussi qui n'existe presque plus de nos jours. Avec les cellulaires et Facebook de ce monde, plus besoin de sortir en voiture en gang pour se promener en ville dans tous les spots pour trouver où sont les autres. Me souviens très bien du temps où on allait chercher en char tous nos chum, ensuite on allait se promener en ville toute la soirée à faire les spots pour chiller avec plein de monde. On finissait la soirée à un endroit et on restait là des heures à parler. Pas de cellulaires dans le temps, et ça c'était en même temps où les club étaient très populaire. Ca commençait à se remplir a minuit. On avait 16-17 ans, chacun avait sa voiture, maintenant quand jme promène en char, des 18 ans j'en vois pu bin bin, très rare.



 

[mtlurb]

Ce que vous dites et en partie vrai mais en partie faux. Quoi que les 18-25 sont ceux qui sont présents en plus grands nombre, ce n’est pas eux qui font vivre les bars et clubs. La clientèle plus âgé 25-35 dépense plus et choisi mieux ses spots. Les gens dansent pas tant, ils jasent et regardent les autres... rien de neuf la dans. Les spots ont changés de place au centre ville, mais ce n’est plus comme avant. Il y a moins de place et beaucoup ont de la misère à survivre. Éclipse avec ses tactiques d’harcèlement font fuir la clientèle. Les gens ne peuvent plus fumer et decident de rester à la maison ou sortir moins. Tolérance zéro avec l’alcool, moins de stationnement, population vieillissante, embourgeoisement des quartiers centraux, réseaux sociaux, modes, etc etc beaucoup de facteur n’aident pas la nightlife à Montréal.