Someone hand Ben Affleck a guitar, because a new live music venue is reportedly coming to Charlestown.
According to an extensive report in the Charlestown Patriot-Bridge, a new 4,000-person-capacity live music venue is a part of a massive development plan at Rutherford Avenue’s Hood Park near the Somerville line. The concert hall would be on the first-floor of a proposed five-story, 775-car parking garage, connected to some office space, and clock in at 75,000-square-feet: 25 percent reserved for restaurant use and the remaining for the entertainment venue.
“We have now identified two uses,” Colliers International’s Mark Rosenshein told the Charlestown Neighborhood Council, via Patriot-Bridge. “We still cannot share who the tenants are, but the new thing we can share is that we plan to have a restaurant there and a performance/entertainment venue with a 4,000-seat capacity. It will be an entertainment and concert hall on the first floor.”
Rosenshein also added: “This is a company that does [concerts] and that does it well. We are confident they can handle it…They have venues in other parts of the city and around the country.”
That statement leads us to believe the company is either Crossroads Presents, which in partnership with Live Nation operates venues like the Paradise Rock Club and House of Blues, or Bowery Boston, which books shows at The Sinclair and Royale.
In terms of how this proposed new venue would slot into the city’s current live music landscape, the targeted 4,000-person capacity room would fall between The Orpheum Theatre (2,700) and Blue Hills Bank Pavilion (5,200). Rosenshein said the target is to host 150 shows a year, with 50 utilizing the full capacity number and the rest hosting smaller shows of 2,500 or 1,000 seats.
“The operator doesn’t feel there is any saturation in the market,” Rosenshein said. “They see an opportunity and a hole in what is offered here. They don’t think there are many of these middle-range venues. They feel the 3,000 to 4,000-seat range is a missing piece of the puzzle.”
Read the full Patriot-Bridge article for addressed concerns over traffic impact, potential layout of this new facility, and how the venue could help local community groups.
“Absolutely we want this facility to serve the community in part and we want it to be an asset to the community,” said Rosenshein. “We think it is a meaningful thing and part of the evolution of Charlestown — having a performance space in combination with a restaurant in close proximity to the neighborhood.”
Construction is expected to begin this summer, according to the Patriot-Bridge, with a targeted completion date of July 2019.
More to come, we’re sure.