When the music’s over: Club stages its public swan song tonight Everything must go in order for the space to be ready for Forever 21. ODD FELLOWS INDEED
THIRD STREET PROMENADE The sounds of hip-hop and rock ‘n’roll in what had become a favorite hot spot among celebrities and Hollywood production companies will fall silent after this weekend.
After 14 years of business, Gotham Hall — a nightclub and special events center that has hosted countless birthday parties and Hollywood wrap-up events — will close its doors to the public for good early Saturday morning.
“This is so emotional for me,” said Renee Mizrahi, who along with her husband, Albert Mizrahi, owns the nightclub at 1431 Third Street Promenade, as well as the building in which it is housed. “This (business) has been an inspiration to me.”
Tonight is the final night Gotham Hall will be open to the public, hosting a special event on Saturday.
Things were silent Wednesday afternoon in the spacious multi-room night club as event planners were preparing for yet another private special event that evening.With a decor of purple, gold and green walls, purple felt covered pool tables, and artistic glass art light fixtures, Gotham Hall has the feel of a gothic palace.
Beginning next month, crews will begin constructing what is expected to be the flagship store for popular teen clothing brand Forever 21. With an average of 30 store openings per year, Forever 21, which started in 1984 in Downtown LA as “Fashion 21,” currently operates 355 stores nationwide, including one in Santa Monica Place. The store in the mall will likely close upon the opening of the flagship store.
Forever 21’s debut on the Third Street Promenade also translates into farewells for Fossil and Skinny Minnie — two clothing stores that currently occupy the first floor of the Gotham Hall building on the 1400 block of Third Street Promenade. Each of the three businesses must be out of their spaces by the end of the month.
Representatives from Fossil and Forever 21 did not respond to requests seeking comment.
The promenade is the only store location for Skinny Minnie, a novelty T-shirt company whose business is generated primarily from selling its merchandise to other stores, including Fred Segal on Broadway.
The company will most likely not seek a new store, said Spokesman Eric Lopez on Thursday.
“We’re probably just going to close,”he said. The store is currently in the midst of a clearance sale, with merchandise being sold up to 50 percent off.
Gotham Hall is planning a liquidation sale of its own.
On Feb. 18, at 11 a.m., virtually every item in the nightclub, from the glass art light fixtures to tables, from couches to ottomans, and from flat screen televisions to speakers, will be auctioned.
The Mizrahi family had owned a sizable portion of the buildings along the promenade for the past 50 years, when son Albert Mizrahi, who owns the Eastman Furniture company, decided to jump into a property owning venture of his own when he purchased the Gotham Hall building.
The building was constructed in the 1880s and was originally the lodge for the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
Albert Mizrahi fell in love with the 20,000-square foot space above Fossil and Skinny Minnie, and purchased the building at a time when about six of the original Odd Fellows members were still alive.
Claiming such a large building turned out to be a sound business decision, considering the immediate success Gotham Hall experienced upon its opening. The owners originally planned to construct a pool hall after seeing firsthand the popularity of pool halls in New York City. But over time, the concept slowly evolved for Gotham Hall to serve as a special events venue.
“It was like a phenomenon,”Renee Mizrahi said on Wednesday.
Over the past few years, Gotham Hall has hosted wrap-up parties for silver screen productions such as “A Series of Unfortunate Events” and “The Wedding Singer.” Hit 1990s television show “Beverly Hills 90210” held its release party at Gotham Hall and rock band Tenacious D has also rocked the walls of the nightclub.
The Mizrahis have acquired a long list of loyal clientele, with some major local companies hosting their holiday parties at Gotham Hall year after year. On the club’s Web site is a section dedicated solely to testimonials from big name clients.
“The Club Room at Gotham Hall was the perfect place for our Super Bowl/Survivor Premiere Party,” wrote a production manager from the Survivor Entertainment Group in 2004.
Promenade businesses have also utilized the facility to launch their grand openings. Hear Music Starbucks, adjacent to Gotham Hall, held its launch party in 2004.
“Your staff could not have been more professional or helpful,” wrote a marketing specialist for Hear Music in 2004.
Retirement doesn’t appear to be in the future for Renee Mizrahi. The mother of four children, including a 10-year-old son who has Type 1 diabetes, will begin charity work and raising money for diabetes awareness.
“I’m going to take everything I learned in event planning and (apply) it to my work in the future,” she said.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 9, 2007. Read the original PDF.