The former Trip’s Place and Gatsby’s nightclubs sold at auction on Wednesday for $609,000, and a neighboring building sold for $168,000.
The dormant properties at 1813, 1815, 1817 and 1819 N. Charles St. were all sold by the Estate of Anthony Dwight Triplin, Sr., the former club owner, who died in 2014 at age 64. The auctioneer, A. J. Billig, held two auctions back-to-back, starting with the interconnected nightclub properties at 1813, 1815 and 1817 N. Charles St. The sales were conducted both in-person and online.
Part of Baltimore’s Station North Arts District, the properties at 1813, 1815 and 1817 N. Charles St. have housed a series of nightclubs over the years, including Gatsby’s, Trip’s Place and Club Choices. In recent years they were operated as Trip’s Place & Gatsby’s, “The Adult Entertainment and Party Experience.” The assemblage consists of three- and four-story brick and stucco buildings, joined on the interior.
The sale included an active liquor license for all three properties, as well as furniture, fixtures and equipment. The city’s zoning board has previously approved a zoning exception for after-hours live entertainment and dancing for 1815 and 1817 N. Charles Street. Transfer of the seven-day liquor license is subject to the approval of the city’s liquor board.
The property is zoned TOD-4 for Transit-Oriented Development, a category that permits a wide range of uses. The lot size is 7,170 square feet, and the three addresses contain 17,232 square feet of space above grade and 4,800 square feet of space below grade. Set up with multiple entrances for two separate operations, the interior includes a large open area for live entertainment, seven bars, five DJ booths, dance floors, VIP lounges, offices, an owner’s apartment and storage space.
“This place has been around for a long, long time and a lot of money was made here,” auctioneer Dan Billig told more than a dozen people who gathered on the street and sidewalk in front of the club property, which still bears a Gatsby’s sign over one door.
“You have an excellent opportunity to buy it, continue it as a nightclub, redevelop it into something else in an area where property values are increasing [and] redevelopment is taking place,” he continued. “You have an excellent opportunity today.”
The sale drew a high bid of $580,000 and the buyer’s premium of 5 percent brought the price to $609,000. The purchaser was a group headed by Megan Elcrat and Ami Dang of Baltimore.
Elcrat is the founding principal of Present Company, a 14-year-old architecture firm with offices at 2209 Maryland Avenue in Old Goucher. She also teaches at the Maryland Institute College of Art and, with her husband, architect Phillip Jones, operates Co_Lab Workspace & Books, a co-working space and design-oriented bookstore in Old Goucher. Dang is a Punjabi-American vocalist, sitar player, songwriter and producer.
Elcrat and Dang said after the auction that they plan to open a club on the premises and fill other spaces with “artistic and cultural” uses that would fit in with and take advantage of the properties’ prime location in the Station North Arts District. They said they may collaborate with others as they firm up their plans.
The three-story brick building at 1819 N. Charles St., which had a barber shop on the first floor, drew a high bid of $160,000, and the buyer’s premium brought the price to $168,000.
The building contains 4,176 square feet of space above grade and 1,224 square feet of space below grade and is zoned C-2, for commercial use. The lot size is about 1,728 square feet. The buyer was an online bidder whose identity was not disclosed.
Before the sale, Billig announced that the nightclub facility would be sold to the highest bidder over $500,000, and the barber shop property would be sold to the highest bidder over $100,000. The properties were sold in “as is” condition, and the successful bidders have 45 days to complete their purchases.
