Double Door co-owners close the door on plan to revive music venue in Uptown
With renovation estimates spiking more than 200% and a pattern of changing behaviors among concertgoers, Double Door co-owner Sean Mulroney was left with little choice but to close the door on the music club’s anticipated revival at Uptown’s Wilson Theatre.
“The price tag just didn’t make sense,” Mulroney shared with the Sun-Times after his Feb. 23 announcement that the project — in the works since late 2018 — would not be moving forward.
“Our original cost estimates were $2-$3 million, but post-COVID, with the increase in everything and the fact that it's a historic building, costs moved up into the $9 million range,” Mulroney said of the skyrocketing figures for the significant renovations that were necessary to ready the space, which had been a vaudeville theater and bank during its 117-year history.
So far, about $1.5 million has been invested into the project, including the cost of the building.
It’s the latest hurdle for the beloved venue, first established in Wicker Park in 1994, that was a go-to for homegrown acts like Liz Phair, Veruca Salt and The Smashing Pumpkins and has been once again trying to find its footing in Chicago’s music scene for nearly a decade since being booted from its original location on Milwaukee Avenue in 2017 following a series of disagreements over the lease.
By 2024, things seemed hopeful as Mulroney and partner Peter Bruce (who owns the building) had raised about $1 million in capital from private investors and were successful in securing an additional $5 million community development grant from the city of Chicago. With the progress, the team hosted a few small-scale concerts and opened the doors to public tours during the Chicago Architecture’s Open House weekend that year.
But there were challenges in closing the gap on the additional funding needed. Because Double Door had not been active for years, with no recent tax records or revenue, it was considered a new business, which can be viewed as high-risk to some lenders.
“It’s a shame because it’s a stunning facility,” said Double Door co-owner Sean Mulroney of the space that was to have been the new home of the music venue. “While the inside would have been spectacular, the size would only have been a little bit bigger than the [original] Double Door in terms of capacity, except the cost was exponentially more.”
Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times file
Mulroney went to nine banks with the same pitch and received the same response. “It came down to the amount of funds I'd have to basically guarantee either through equity, sale of parts of the business or loans, and it wasn't in the stars for me,” said Mulroney. Access to the $5 million grant eventually expired, and the team worked “down to the wire” to try to find alternatives.
“It's a shame because it’s a stunning facility. But the thing is, with these old theaters, they're really, really expensive to redo,” he said. “While the inside would have been spectacular, the size would only have been a little bit bigger than the [original] Double Door in terms of capacity, except the cost was exponentially more.”
That meant he’d be looking to book programming on at least five and up to seven nights a week to even try to break even, but it wasn’t a sustainable plan. “There’s competition — less people are touring and less people are buying tickets,” Mulroney said. “And given the climate we are in economically and the change in behavior of young folks who can’t afford to always go out and are drinking less, the amount to redo a historic building for that purpose was not feasible financially.”
The Double Door setback comes at the same time that another historic venue revival is gaining traction. On Feb. 21, Ald. Daniel La Spata (1st), posted avideo on social media previewing “a new era” for the Congress Theater, which has been closed since 2013. It comes after developers secured a$25 million federal loan backed by city funds. Unlike the indie Double Door, though, the Congress has considerable corporate backing as it is operated by AEG.
“I wish the city would look at us and go, you’re bringing 62 jobs and $8 million in revenue to this community every year, maybe we can give you a hand a little more than the $5 million,” he countered. “But at some point, the little guys can't afford it and I'm a little guy.”
The same lack of access to funding amid inflated costs has been affecting bottom lines for a number of independent entertainment venues across the city; as Sun-Times recently reported, only one in four is currently profitable.
Even so, Mulroney has not given up hope. He still plans to bring Double Door back to life in a new spot in the near future, given a different venue and financial scenario. “I still am looking for another home for the Double Door, and there are some very good possibilities,” he said, noting he’s zeroing in on the Logan Square and Avondale neighborhoods.
In the meantime, Mulroney has partnered with Gallery Cabaret, the long-running bar and performance space in Bucktown, helping to revive it after current owner Mike Strandberg briefly closed shop the past two months to re-evaluate operations. There’s a soft opening planned for March 1, with events planned through April. “I'm going to start putting some of my people in there and some bands. I’ve got all of these ideas I want to try out,” said Mulroney, aiming to hold true to Double Door’s original formula.
The venue was known for its eclectic lineups, and what set it apart was how it treated every band like a headliner on a national tour, Mulroney said.
“'If the talent loves it, that comes across to the audience. And there's no better feeling in the world than walking in the room with a band that's on stage and realizing that all those people are having as good a time as I was.”