Neighbours, Seattle’s venerable gay dance club, filed a lawsuit last week fighting for its right to remain in a warehouse-style building in the Pike-Pine neighborhood. The bar opened there in 1983, started serving liquor a few years later, and has since made a patchwork of remodels, from go-go cages to another dance floor in the basement.
But the building’s owners, a land trust comprising several individuals, sent a letter to the bar owners in early August terminating the lease and telling the bar to vacate by the end of the month.
In the letter, landlords claim the bar violated terms of the lease signed in March of this year. It says the lease allows the tenant to use the space as a “tavern… commissary, restaurant. … and cabaret.” But, it says, “No food, however, is prepared and served on the premises. Furthermore, the current operation of the Premises as a dance club is not a permitted use.” The letter goes on to say that the club remodeled without permission and allowed liquor to be taken outside of the bar, as examples of further lease violations.
But there is no secret that Neighbours is a dance club. Leases over previous decades used similar language, the lawsuit shows. So it seems extremely unusual that the landlords would, after signing another lease in March, suddenly act surprised that Neighbours is, in fact, a dance club. An attorney for the landlords has not returned calls to comment.
“We don’t think there is any merit whatsoever to the landlords’ claims,” says Mark Kimball, an attorney representing Neighbours. He says owners were informed about how the space was used. “We believe the business is accurately described in the lease.”
Kimball would not speculate on why the bar owners were attempting to negate the lease after 25 years. He says the bar owners and the landlords are currently in negotiations. “I am extremely confident that the dispute will be resolved favorably to Neighbours,” he says.
adrain @48.. nope it was tugs in belltown its first incarnation.. tugs belmont was it’s second and the owners trouble keeping the place open and filled. it was rumoured that tugs belltown was shut down by a religulous landlord because of noise complaints so they oved to the hill but the crowd didn’t follow. between the the bar proper which served only beer and wine and the frontier room next door which served strong mixed drinks with food ( you hadda serve food in order to serve grown folks alcohol in those days, hence neighbors infamous cold cut buffet) it was a destination spot for the gays who liked to dance to great dj’s.and for giggles we’d alternate between the vogue a couple of blocks away in one direction and the watertown a block away in the other.. back then the onliest gay club you could dance in on the hill was the brass connection.
everything changes..
riz, you are amazing. i am copying all that down.
@ 50: i once found one of mark finley’s old pumps at the bottom of a pan of bbq meat balls at the neighbours buffet. true story.
I know people who used to hide cigarette butts in the hot potato salad @ the buffet and then watch as people unknowingly dug in. Also a true story.
I went out dancing in Portland last weekend and HAD FUN… I kind of forgot that could happen. Why does Seattle nightlife suck so hard.
I know that’s not a productive statement, but it is true.
I love it when riz shares stories…
sI know I’ll be flamed for this, but someone should get a queer oral history project going (no pun intended, but it does sound naughty)
it would be sOo sad to see neighbours go.. although if it does.. they better come back with a bigger.. newer.. more modernize.. venue..
there’s an empty venue across purr.. on the 2nd floor.. 🙂
Although I think the gay club scene in Seattle sucks, Neighbours would be a big loss. Then we’d be left with:
– The Cuff, with a smelly front leather bar and creepy old men with no social skills grabbing your ass
– R Place, with rude staff and bad hippy hoppy music
At least Neighbours has a decent dance floor, good music, and strong drinks. And if you go late enough (like after midnight), it’s still pretty gay.
To those who say there’s no room for gay bars anymore, I call bullshit. I’d much rather go out with friends and meet new people around me than try to meet guys hiding behind a computer screen. There are decent guys out there. Even at Purr.
I am not surprised to hear this news about Neighbors. In fact, there are eleven more individual parties threatening to file suit in District Court after Mona, the daughter of Moe Eliassiouti and Manager of the club, hired Phoenix Fire Events to do the repairs and construction that included tens of thousands of dollars for a new sound system, which they now refuse to pay for. WOW! What champs….
By denying payment to the company that provided the equipment (AV Pro) in an amount reported to be in excess of $50,000 in addition to refusing to pay the people she contracted for work, many of the unpaid crew are facing evictions, and collection calls from creditors, and Phoenix Fire Events is no longer allowed to use the production houses they built a 20 year relationship with unless the unpaid debt is made good.
All the victims of Mona and her shenanigans are suffering horribly.
While Neighbors is a longtime institution in our community, perhaps it is time they close their doors if they are going to throw the rest of us under the bus to save themselves – and their own rumored bad habits.
I think that everyone is missing the bigger picture here, it’s not just another bar closing, it’s Capital Hill that is closing. The whole Capital Hill area is changing and the Gay Ghetto is disappearing right before our eyes (remember when Pride Parade was on Broadway?)and as for Gay life in Seattle, coming form Salt Lake City, this place is Heaven. Single or not, don’t blame the night life or lack of it, for your unhappiness. The sad thing that is happening to Seattle Gays is that we were so bent on being accepted by everyone that we are loosing our uniqueness. We are becoming the norm and all the fun, silly, odd and risqué things that make us GAY will fade away until there are no Gay bars, shops, cafes and such. We will be mall shopping, church going, child rearing, same sex families with nothing separating us from the mass public except our sexual prefrences.It is happening all over the world where large communities of Gay and Lesbian live, been to BC Canada lately? you can’t tell who’s Gay or not, and all the city gets into Gay Pride weekend! The times are changing and so are we and our community will never be what it was 15, 10, or even 5 years ago.
..yay for bad hippy hoppy music !
The Stranger should definitely set up a Neighbors memories page. Mine include watching the president of the Student Bar Association at the UW Law School (now a governor of the State Bar Association) strip in a cage.
my, my, my….all you complaining queens are still as bitchy as ever! Despite your respective ages..it must be genetic lol!
I have enjoyed listening to the music, dancing occasionly, and oggling the youngsters for some time now! Neighbours was always fun for me. No one ever was dragged in there in chains and cuffs…oh wait! I remember one night…TEAR THE FUCKER DOWN !! I was humiliated but came frequently lol
Man on man were will I find twinkies if it goes..this really sucks ;O(
I very rarely – if ever – set my eyes on anything to do with “The Slog” (except for those few times people tell me I’ve once again been ‘mentioned’) but I couldn’t resist commenting on all this.
I worked at that place on and off for the past 15 years. There have always been problems – but at the last minute it was presented with a stay of execution, as it were. It is also no secret that it has always been the club that every gay person in Seattle loves to ‘hate’ – yet 9 times out of 10 those same people could be found there dancing like there was no tomorrow. Yes, it’s yet another gay venue on Capital Hill to close and I’m pretty sure it won’t be the last.
I do have many a fond memory of nights there. I also have many memories from my time there that I wish forever erased from my mind. So it may shock some of you to know – I welcome it’s demise. Personally I feel it is a tad overdue.
With regard to the woeful cries of “where will we go”, the mists of bars past “that were so much better” and the complaint that nightlife in Seattle is “dead” I say this: There is always somewhere to go; the past will always seem better from the vantage point of today; you have no one to blame for your ‘dead’ nightlife but yourself.
Life goes on – things change – so what. We are all blessed with gift of ‘choice’ or ‘free will’. If you don’t like something – change it. Or if you do like it – fight for it. If there isn’t a ‘nightlife’ you like – start one – or quit your bitchin’.
That’s all. I can’t believe I’ve wasted this much time posting a comment here. There are so many other productive things to do with your time besides post anonymous negativity just because you can.
M.
Hey Dennis,
I know for a fact that, AV Pro has been paid in full. I also have seen the gazillions of checks written to the contractors Phoenix Fire hired.
You should get your facts straight!
There are very few people other than Phoenix Fire themselves and perhaps you who will agree that the money spent was worth it. Do you see the big difference? I know I can’t. Does the word gauge ring a bell!
Neighbours is still paying to correct post Reno mistakes. Does accountability have any meaning to you? Neighbours should be suing you guys for peats sakes.
If it comes down to fact, then it is you guys who threw Neighours under the bus!
Feel free to rely on your version – rumored bad habits. We are putting our money on the facts.
P.S Mona was your customer. She signed your checks. If this is how you treat a customer then I urge everyone to think twice about hiring this company for anything.
I am so sick of people who try to shove their speculations down everyone’s throats. Guess that’s why we have lawyers and courts to protect us from whiners and liars like you.
Hey Dennis,
I know for a fact that, AV Pro has been paid in full. I also have seen the gazillions of checks written to the contractors Phoenix Fire hired.
You should get your facts straight!
There are very few people other than Phoenix Fire themselves and perhaps you who will agree that the money spent was worth it. Do you see the big difference? I know I can’t. Does the word gauge ring a bell!
Neighbours is still paying to correct post Reno mistakes. Does accountability have any meaning to you? Neighbours should be suing you guys for peats sakes.
If it comes down to fact, then it is you guys who threw Neighours under the bus!
Feel free to rely on your version – rumored bad habits. We are putting our money on the facts.
P.S Mona was your customer. She signed your checks. If this is how you treat a customer then I urge everyone to think twice about hiring this company for anything.
I am so sick of people who try to shove their speculations down everyone’s throats. Guess that’s why we have lawyers and courts to protect us from whiners and liars like you.