Philadelphia's nightclub scene may soon be rocked by a
24-year-old dance-music impresario from Connecticut. And his mother.
James DeBerardine says the NOTO club at 1209 Vine St.
will "have all the latest and greatest of everything." His
contacts in the dance-music world will help, he says.
James and Micheline DeBerardine are transforming an aged
office building near 12th and Vine Streets into what they say will be the
city's biggest and most technically sophisticated dance venue.
The club, to be called NOTO - short for "Not of the
Ordinary" - is part of the DeBerardines' plans for Vine Street just north
of Chinatown, which also include 99 new apartments.
Promised at the dance venue are name-brand DJs from the
Las Vegas-Amsterdam-Ibiza circuit, a speaker system built by Finnish
soundsmiths, and VIP seating with flowing bottle-service champagne.
"It's going to have all the latest and greatest of
everything," James DeBerardine said in an interview.
"It's going to be phenomenal," his mother
added.
The DeBerardines' arrival from Weston, Conn., shows that
Philadelphia real estate continues to attract investors from outside the
region. But Christophe Terlizzi, regional head of KeyBank's commercial real
estate practice, said he's always troubled to see new market entrants without
institutional backing or obvious development experience.
"That's usually associated with the peak of the
market," he said.
The DeBerardines started off wanting to build a club
where James DeBerardine could score bookings through what he characterized as
high-level contacts in the dance-music world. They decided on Philadelphia
after vetting it against other cities, Micheline said.
The pair paid $6 million for the 60,000-square-foot
office building at 1209 Vine St. in February, according to records filed with
the city. Plans call for a 1,000-person capacity club with offices on the
building's upper levels.
The family later decided to buy the vacant lot next door
to build a 16-story apartment building with a high-tech automated parking
system. That plan will be presented to the Philadelphia Chinatown Development
Corp. on Tuesday, said Sarah Yeung, the group's planning director.
Anticipated in the building are two ground-floor
restaurant spaces, one to be run by Philadelphia chef Sylva Senat of Dos Tacos,
James DeBerardine said. Food at NOTO also will come from Senat's kitchen, he
said.
The DeBerardines declined to discuss their budget for the
projects.
Micheline DeBerardine said her background in development
comes from her work as a real estate lawyer in New York and her participation
in projects outside Philadelphia, though she declined to identify any, citing
nondisclosure agreements.
James DeBerardine, meanwhile, said he will be able to
attract some of the world's best DJs, thanks to his work "behind the
scenes in the dance-music industry." He also declined to elaborate, citing
his own nondisclosure deals.
The pair haven't previously discussed their plans
publicly.
But Tracy Washinsky, an event producer in Philadelphia
who has booked and managed DJs, said rumors about NOTO have been circulating
among dance-music fans, who hope it will fill a void in the city's club scene.
While smaller venues such as Recess Lounge and Rumor
exist, Philadelphia doesn't have a "power club," like Mansion in
Miami or Tao in Las Vegas, Washinsky said.
The DeBerardines selected the club's location because of
its proximity to the hip neighborhoods north of Center City, whose youthful
residents the club will target, Micheline DeBerardine said.
Aiding their efforts is the newly permissive zoning in
the area, which was remapped last year to include nightclubs among uses that
need no special approvals.
Community leaders in Chinatown planned after that zoning
change to carry northward a nightclub prohibition south of Vine, but work began
on NOTO before they could start to do so, Yeung said.
"We don't think this is the right place for a
nightclub," she said. "This is a family neighborhood."
James DeBerardine said most of the Chinatown leaders'
concerns will be addressed with the installation of state-of-the-art
soundproofing, the implementation of a security detail, and other steps.
For the talent he hopes to attract, meanwhile, he plans
to invest in top-of-the-line speakers from sound-system manufacturer Genelec of
Finland and an in-house studio for use by traveling DJs, he said.
Those are touches that could help draw the level of
entertainment needed to make the club a success, but they won't be enough on
their own, Washinsky said.
"The ability to bring in the talent has to do with
relationships - and budget," she said.
Source: Philly.com
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