<\/p>\n
Peelander-Z performs at Elysium during SXSW on March 16, 2011.<\/p>\n
Jay Janner\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n
The building that houses Austin music venues Elysium and The 13th Floor has been listed for sale on the commercial real estate website LoopNet.com,\u00a0as first reported by the Austin Chronicle.<\/a> The asking price for the 8,200-square-foot property at 701-713 Red River St. is $4.1 million.\u00a0<\/p>\n According to the listing<\/a>, this is the first time the property has been offered for sale in more than 80 years. Elysium has been operating in the space since 2001, while 13th Floor moved onto the street in 2022.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Peelander-Z at Elysium at SXSW 2011.<\/p>\n Jay Janner\/American-Statesman<\/p>\n The news comes days after longtime Austin music venue Valhalla announced it will be forced to close its doors in late October.<\/a> The building that housed the metal club \u2014 which has been serving heavy grooves for almost 17 years and pasta for five \u2014 has been sold and will be reborn as a franchise of the Tennessee-based chain Gus’s Fried Chicken<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n In June, club owner John Wickham, president of the Red River Cultural District board, alluded to coming troubles. RRCD businesses going on the market have created \u201ca time of uncertainty,\u201d he told the Statesman.\u00a0<\/p>\n He hoped the city could find some sort of incentives for landowners “to keep and foster those live music venues that do so much to promote the cultural vitality of Austin.”\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The building at 701-713 Red River St. has been in the family of current owner J.B. Branton Jr. since the 1920s. The building across the street that houses Valhalla was owned by the same family. Branton told the Austin Chronicle he hopes the building will remain a music venue. \u201cWe call ourselves the Live Music Capital, and if there aren\u2019t live music venues we can\u2019t really call it that,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Wickham noted that the tight cluster of venues in the cultural district is crucial to Austin festivals like South by Southwest.\u00a0<\/p>\n “Without those venues, you don\u2019t have those festivals. Without the festivals, we don\u2019t get the tourism and the hotel money. It\u2019s a cycle,\u201d Wickham said at the time.\u00a0<\/p>\n Jake Garcia from The 13th Floor told the Statesman he had \u201cno information to share at the moment,” while Wickham and Nicole Klepadlo, executive director of the Red River Cultural District, did not respond to a request for comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n What is Elysium?<\/p>\n Chameleon Lime WhoopiePie performs at the Sounds from Japan showcase at Elysium at South by Southwest on Friday March 17, 2023.<\/p>\n Jay Janner \/ American-Statesman<\/p>\n Elysium has been hosting Austin\u2019s alternative music and lifestyle scenes since it opened and is the only goth club in the downtown area. Bookings lean toward smaller local and touring industrial, electronic, darkwave and synthpop bands. The club also programs drag shows and DJ nights and has hosted popular SXSW events like Korean music showcases and Japan Nite.<\/p>\n What is The 13th Floor<\/p>\n Customers order drinks at the bar at The 13th Floor on Sunday, Aug. 23, 2026 in Austin.<\/p>\n Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n Named after Austin\u2019s legendary \u201960s psychedelic band led by Roky Erickson, shows are booked by Jake Garcia of standout local band The Black Angels. Consequently, the club has some of the best rock programming in town.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Erickson\u2019s lyrics on a neon sign next to the bathroom now feel somewhat ominous: \u201cYou\u2019re gonna miss me.\u201d<\/p>\n Iconic rock dive Beerland operated out of the space for almost 20 years from 2001 to 2019. A club called the Green Jay moved in briefly before Garcia and Nick Yaklin opened The 13th Floor in 2022.\u00a0<\/p>\n Andrew Jackson, from\u00a0 left, singer Jake McCoy, Bram Howard and Rhys Woodruff of the Austin band, Leche, perform on the patio at Beerland during SXSW on March 16, 2018. The club famously shunned official festival events, opting to book its own programming.\u00a0<\/p>\n Jay Janner\/American-Statesman<\/p>\n A building with a rich and storied history<\/p>\n In May, the Red River Cultural District launched an online series called Cultural Currents that explores the street’s history.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The property had an early life as a blacksmith shop and wood-frame house built by a formerly enslaved person named Jordan Diamond in 1867. Another former enslaved person, Emma Hartsfield, also lived on the property with her white husband and biracial children after purchasing the lot in 1885. The lot was home to The Hungry Man Cafe from 1937 to 1942, and it housed other restaurants, shops, apartments and clothing stores throughout the 1940s and 1950s. Part of the space became the short-lived playhouse Waterloo Social Club in 1971 before being transformed into a music club less than two years later.<\/p>\n In 1974, Bunch King Brittain bought and remodeled the club, opening Waterloo Country. That rebranded to a popular gay country-western bar called Austin Country, which was open for a decade before closing around 1982.<\/p>\n J\u2019cuuzi performs at Elysium during Red River Cultural District’s Free Week Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.<\/p>\n Mikala Compton\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n The space was then home to the Cave Club in 1986, Planetarium in 1988 and Sanitarium and Hip Hop Club in 1992. Club Kilimanjaro came in 1993 and Cowboys in 1995. The Split Rail opened in 1996 but closed after one year and was replaced by the Atomic Cafe which was open until Elysium took over in 2001.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n This is a developing story.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Peelander-Z performs at Elysium during SXSW on March 16, 2011. 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