Dubai's home, Redwood Trust, up for auction again; price reduced by $2 million
Redwood Trust, the downtown building that once housed Palma and is now the home of Dubai, the former Velvet Rope, is up for auction again.
The starting bid is $1.2 million, a steep decline from the $3 million owner/developer Nicholas Piscatelli asked for in 2004.
It is expected Dubai won't be affected.
The deadline to submit bids for 200 E. Redwood is Thursday 5 p.m. Bids are submitted online at the property listing on Freedom Realty Exchange.
The building at 200 E. Redwood has had many names and owners over the last 100 years. Midnight Sun posted a brief history around the time Dubai was reviewed.
Piscatelli bought the historic building in 2000 and spent $2.5 million to renovate it.
He opened a megaclub, Redwood Trust, that year and closed it in 2004, when he unsuccessfully tried to sell it for $3 million.
Several clubs have opened there since, starting with Palma and later the Velvet Rope, but none have owned it.
The most recent attempt to sell comes a few months after the renamed Velvet Rope, Dubai, opened to the public.
Dubai promoter Tracye Stafford said the club will remain open with or without a sale. "No matter what happens to the building we'll be there," she said.
Piscatelli's real estate agent, Leo McDermott, said Dubai has a one-year lease that shouldn't be affected by new owners.
Photo: outside the new Dubai (Colby Ware/Special to the Sun)
Erik Maza is a features reporter at the Baltimore Sun. He writes for several sections of the Sun paper and contributes weekly columns on music and nightlife. He also writes and edits the Midnight Sun blog. He often covers entertainment, business, and the business of entertainment. Occasionally, he writes about Four Loko, The Block, the liquor board, and those who practice "
