Track Club planned for DeSoto building
Track Club, a new nightlife spot from Phoenix-based concert and festival promotion company Relentless Beats, is slated to open in the historic DeSoto building this fall. The concept will bring an “athletic aesthetic” and EDM dance venue to downtown Phoenix.
Following news of the building’s purchase earlier this year, details about the plans for old DeSoto Central Market, at 915 N. Central Avenue, were released Tuesday. We now know a local music company, well-known developer and cocktail company will partner to bring downtown Phoenix its newest nightclub.
EQ Properties announced the start of construction on the project, which will transform the high-profile space into a 12,000-square-foot lounge and nightclub with food options and an outdoor patio.
Track Club is a collaboration between dance music promoter Thomas Turner of Relentless Beats, historic building renovator and developer Charles Duff and cocktail company Rattle & Rum.
Duff, who goes by “Chuckie,” has made a name for himself as a developer behind some of Phoenix’s nightlife favorites including Cobra Arcade Bar, The Rebel Lounge and Gracie’s Tax Bar. Duff has also worked on buildings such as the historic spaces that house Gallo Blanco, Palabra and Ladera Taverna y Cocina.
Damon Scott, founder of Rattle & Rum, is known for his projects curating cocktail menus for Dusk Music
Festival, Bonaroo and EDC Las Vegas, as well as for being a co-founder of Arizona Cocktail Week.
Track Club get’s its name from three main influences: the proximity to the tracks of the light rail only a block away, the tracks that DJs spin and the general theme of the 1980s Olympics.
“The girls might be in track jackets or track pants to keep it really fun and spunky,” Thomas told The Arizona Republic Tuesday afternoon.
The art and much of the décor will fit with the brightness and energy of the 1980s Olympics.
What to expect at the nightclub
Started in 1996, Relentless Beats is a local music promotion company lead by Thomas Turner that focuses on electronic dance music and books big label DJs for shows and festivals.
Due to the company’s EDM focus, the ticketed side of the nightclub will feature DJs and performers three to four nights a week. Hip-hop, Latin, pop, rock and other genres will also be mixed in on specific nights.
Turner is still working to develop plans, but is considering possibilities like hip hop Sundays and evenings geared towards college students on Thursdays.
“We are going to have all the biggest DJs on the planet play there, for sure,” Turner said. “We book eight to 900 acts a year and our festivals are what’s most coveted for them to play. So we are in a position to say, ‘Hey, you want to play our festival and make all this money? You’re going to play our club too.’ ”
The venue, while mixing in the historical feel of the building, will have all the bells and whistles of a Las Vegas night club, according to Turner, including LED lighting and grand production value.
“We, at Relentless Beats, are really excited about the opportunity to host events in our own venue that I’ve had the privilege to design with Chuckie, and have it be designed so we can do some things that in other venues we just weren’t able to do,” Turner said. “With this venue we intend to really turn up our production and entertainment value.”
The lounge, located in the front of the building, will feature locally driven music and arts entertainment emanating from an overhead custom crow’s nest DJ booth seven nights a week. The lounge won’t have a cover and will house the main bar focused on craft cocktails made by Rattle & Rum.
“It’s going to be a place that the bands coming to our events will go to first for a drink,” Turner said. “But at the same time it’s going to be synonymous with where you are going to get one of the best cocktails in town.”
Initially, Track Club will open with the night club and lounge, but plans for phase two already are in the works. The second phase will include adding small food items to the lounge menu and expanding the club onto the outdoor patio space.
The first phase is set to open this fall with phase two coming a few months later.