Music spot makes way for condos
The Hemlock Tavern, a longtime San Francisco bar and concert venue, is closing to make way for condos.
The venue at 1131 Polk St. will close after its 17th anniversary on Oct. 6, the company wrote on Facebook.
The company’s brand and liquor license are being sold to Dolmen Property Group, which plans to develop 54 new condos on the site. A city permit to demolish the existing building was issued in July.
Dolmen Property plans to reopen Hemlock Tavern in the new building, said Philip Lesser, a real estate consultant who
previously worked on the project. He said the new project would provide much-needed housing while maintaining an entertainment space.
“A whole lot more people can live there,” Lesser said.
The new version of the Hemlock Tavern won’t be affiliated with the current management.
“The Hemlock Tavern, in its current physical and metaphysical configurations, will cease to exist,” the tavern said in its post.
Don Alan, manager of the Hemlock Tavern, said the venue has seen lower concert attendance.
“We’ve been losing money for the last eight months, 10 months,” he said. “We’re going into debt. It’s been clear to me, we either need to reinvent the Hemlock in some way or sell it.”
Other longtime San Francisco businesses have closed in part because of new construction. The 30-year-old Brainwash restaurant and laundromat in South of Market shuttered last year. It blamed business disruptions from a new housing project built next door.
The Elbo Room, a bar in the Mission that has been open for almost three decades, is searching for a new location because new condos are planned at its current site at 647 Valencia St.
A small room in the back of the Hemlock Tavern, which holds around 100 people, has long served as an important venue for the local music scene — hosting a diverse roster of popular and obscure acts alike.
Around 15,000 bands and artists played a total of 5,000 shows at the venue since October 2001. Prominent artists include Beach House, Cat Power, PJ Harvey, Ty Segall and Reggie Watts.
Dolmen Property Group didn’t respond to requests for comment. It bought the building for $3.4 million in 2016, according to property records.
“Live music — it’s a difficult thing to do in a small scale,” Alan said.
More San Franciscans are “looking to see bands that are further along in their development, not the raw energy of a band on their first round of gigs,” he said.
San Francisco Chronicle staff writer Aidin Vaziri contributed
to this report.