Texas chain buys Blush strip club
Firm has no plans to make changes
Blush, Downtown’s only strip club, is under new ownership.
A subsidiary of RCI Hospitality Holdings, a Houston, Texas-based operator of adult entertainment venues and sports bars and restaurants, has acquired the Ninth Street club for $15 million from ownerAlbert Bortz.
RCI closed on the purchase this week, clearing the way for it to take control of a venue that has operated in the heart of the Cultural District for decades.
Blush Gentlemen’s Club & Sports Bar, formerly known as Club Elite and the Edison Hotel, has been in business close to 50 years, making it Downtown’s oldest strip club.
It is considered a legal nonconforming use under the city’s zoning laws.
Under its deal, RCI purchased the club for $10 million and the real estate in which it operatesfor $5 million.
The real estate consists of a five-story building at 135 Ninth St., where the club occupies three floors primarily, and a two-story building at 901-903 Penn Ave. At 16,000 square feet, Blush has a full liquor license, serves food, and operates seven days a week.
It is the only adult entertainment venue left in what was once Downtown’s red light district. That was until the 1980s, when the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust mounted an effort to clean it up, replacing sex and porn with plays, concerts and other cultural activities.
RCI has no plans to make major changes to the recently remodeled venue.
“We’re pleased to have Blush join our portfolio of quality establishments in top metro markets,” said Eric Langan, RCI’s president and CEO. With its ability to generate $3 millionplus annually in adjusted [earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization], Blush is a profitable, cash-flowing No. 1 club in a market that is home to great sports teams, leading universities, and well-established and emerging industries.”
RCIoperates strip clubs in New York, Miami, Charlotte, Houston, St. Louis and other markets under brand names such as Rick’s Cabaret, Club Onyx, Jaguars and Tootsie’s Cabaret.