After 30 years in Times Square, renowned comedy club Carolines on Broadway is set to close its doors at the end of the year.
The 10-year lease at FosterLane Management’s 750 Seventh Avenue is set to expire at the end of the month, the New York Post reported. Caroline Hirsch, owner of the club that moved to Times Square in 1992, told the outlet she declined to renew the lease because of a rent dispute.
Hirsch told the Post the landlord “felt they can get a lot more” for the 10,000-square-foot, 300-seat venue.
FosterLane, a Kuwaiti investment firm, couldn’t be reached for comment.
The landlord’s search for a tenant is likely to be complicated by zoning rules, which require 5 percent of its floor space to be devoted to entertainment use.
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FosterLane acquired the 36-story office tower at 750 Seventh Avenue in May 2011 from Hines Interests. The $485 million package deal also included the sale of 758 Seventh Avenue and marked the eighth largest commercial transaction of 2011.
Hirsch launched the club as a Soho cabaret in 1981, before the club caught on at the South Street Seaport in 1992. Five years later, the club shifted to a still-seedy Times Square, but cemented its status as a comedy mainstay with appearances from top comics like Jerry Seinfeld, Billy Crystal, Jon Stewart, Jimmy Fallon, Robin Williams and Conan O’Brien.
Carolines will have its last show on New Year’s Eve. The 70-year-old Hirsch told she outlet she plans to expand the Carolines brand, which already produces the New York Comedy Festival across city venues.
— Holden Walter-Warner