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Churchill’s Pub in Little Haiti hits market
Storied bar that hosted punk rock shows has been shuttered since onset of the pandemic
Little Haiti real estate investor Mallory Kauderer is looking to offload Churchill’s Pub, the legendary bar known for its raucous punk and heavy metal shows.
Arthur Porosoff and Joseph Phelps with the Porosoff Group at Compass Florida are marketing the 5,000-square-foot live music venue at 5501 Northeast Second Avenue in Miami and an adjacent 7,000-square-foot parking lot at 5431 Northeast Second Avenue. The asking price is $4.6 million, according to an offering obtained by The Real Deal.
The two properties are in an Opportunity Zone, which offers investors tax breaks on their capital gains if they invest in projects in underserved areas.
Churchill’s has been shuttered since the onset of the pandemic in early 2020. Last year Kauderer won an eviction lawsuit against the bar’s previous operator, District Live Agency, court records show. Kauderer is also fending off foreclosure lawsuits in Miami-Dade Circuit Court filed since last year by more than a half a dozen lenders for allegedly defaulting on loans tied to the Churchill’s site and other properties he owns in Little Haiti.
One lender, Little Haiti Gateway Development, won a foreclosure judgment last October against Kauderer’s entity that owns the Churchill’s property. However, Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Michael Hanzman canceled a foreclosure sale scheduled for January and reversed the judgment at the lender’s request so that it and Kauderer could negotiate a settlement, court records show.
Kauderer told TRD that he is currently finalizing lease negotiations with a new tenant. He declined further comment.
In 2014, he paid $800,000 for Churchill’s and the parking lot, records show.
The listing includes Churchill’s liquor license. The property is in Little Haiti’s entertainment district, which allows alcohol sales until 5 a.m., Arthur Porosoff said.
“They are negotiating a lease,” Porosoff said. “We will see what happens. There are other major operators in the nightclub business who have seen the property.”
The best use for Churchill’s is as a bar, but the parking lot could form part of an assemblage with a corner commercial property at 201 Northeast 54th Street that is not owned by Kauderer, Porosoff said. “The current zoning allows 65 units per acre,” he said. “So it could be a small apartment building.”
Nearby, New York-based SVP Realty is seeking to redevelop Design Place, a 512-unit multifamily community at 5045 Northeast Second Avenue. However, SVP’s plan to build a 5.9 million-square-foot mixed-use project called Sabal Palm Village at Flagler Trail has faced numerous delays amid staunch opposition from local residents and affordable housing activists who claim the developer is gentrifying Little Haiti.
Built in 1946, Churchill’s offered Miamians a steady diet of weekly live shows featuring various music genres for more than 40 years. Churchill’s, named after Great Britain’s iconic prime minister Winston Churchill, hosted shows by Marylin Manson, Social Distortion and Iggy Pop, among other famous acts. The bar was also one of the few venues in the city where local rock bands could perform.