Longtime downtown music venue Starlite Room for sale in ‘tougher’ times

Iconic live music venue Starlite Room is for sale. CTV News Edmonton's David Ewasuk has more.

A legendary Edmonton music venue is for sale.

And the longtime owners selling the downtown building that’s the home of The Starlite Room are looking for a buyer who will let them keep operating it as a stage for live acts.

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Tyson Boyd, The Starlite Room’s owner-operator, said he would like to treat the potential buyer of the establishment that started its live music life first, as The Bronx 35 years ago, “as a landlord.”

“It has had a formula that has clearly worked,” Boyd told CTV News Edmonton on Monday. “We would like to honour how it has existed previous to now and moving forward.”

The asking price: $3.8 million.

The recent COVID-19 pandemic continues to hang over the live music business -- not just in Edmonton but everywhere, says both Boyd and Eric Alper, a Canadian music industry publicist.

“It’s certainly getting tougher to find those people who do want to have an independent club,” Alper told CTV News Edmonton.

“We’re seeing study after study that show that the next generation of music lovers, Gen Z, they’re smoking less, they’re drinking less, and they’re going out less. The competition for their free time and their entertainment dollar is fierce, because you’re competing with home, you’re competing with streaming services and gaming and movies and television all the time.

“Not only are we seeing a decline in people going out since COVID, but we’ve seen a decline support for live music in general, with fewer people that are willing to spend money on tickets for independent artists.”

Boyd said operations of The Starlite Room have come to a point where “it’s become hard for us to carry on without a little bit of help.”

“The simplest answer is we are looking to sell the building in order to save the business,” he said.

Alper said given rising real-estate prices, it’s getting “easier and easier” for owners of such clubs to close them and develop the property as something else.

“But if this club closes, you’re going to see a decline in the amount of money that’s being spent in that neighbourhood in the city, because these people – not only do the artists, but the fans – spend money on alcohol and food and parking and merchandise and staff and hotels in the area, too, so it’s really an economic hub.

“Whether you’re a small venue like the Starlite or a massive venue like the arena, it’s dollars and cents. This money is going to be not necessarily spent elsewhere. (Potential customers are) just choosing not to maybe spend money period.”

Despite the challenges, Boyd said there has been interest shown by potential buyers.

“I have seen a couple of inquiries come in. They’re just directed to the realtor at this point, but there is interest, for sure,” he said.

“I’m very hopeful. I do believe that there will be a buyer. It’s just a question of who.”

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s David Ewasuk