Seattle’s The Crocodile Announces Move, Expanding To Multi-Room Location

Seattle
 – Seattle’s The Crocodile

Seattle independent club The Crocodile has big plans for 2021 with a move to a new location, expanding from its 525-capacity building at 2nd and Blanchard to a three-story structure at 1st and Wall featuring a 750-capacity main room, 300-capacity small club and 96-capacity seated theater, art gallery and community gathering space. The new space will also include a street-side bar and grill and 18-room hotel, along with existing full-service kitchen and bars. 

“Venues all over the country, including The Croc, are struggling to survive and being forced to make tough choices. In addition to the challenges our business faced with COVID, we are no longer able to stay in our current home of 29 years. Luckily, an amazing opportunity came by way of the Cowen family (new building owners). Now we have time, resources and inspiration to re-build a world-class venue that expands on our tradition of being Seattle’s favorite place to see a show,” Marcus Charles, limited general partner, said in a statement. 
“It’s 30,000 square feet of food, drink, arts and entertainment,” talent buyer Hunter Motto added. “We’re going to capture that Croc spirit: fans and artists will feel they ‘have arrived’ in a historic space.”
General manager Adam Wakeling promises that venue staff will be bringing along The Crocodile’s iconic sign to the new spot and that it will be “restored and lit up again.”  

The move will keep The Crocodile in the Belltown neighborhood, which VisitSeattle.org describes as “top-notch noshing meets artsy vibes adjacent to downtown.”

Like so many other venues, The Crocodile was forced to close its doors in March in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The venue management had hoped to remain at the Croc’s original site by either purchasing the building or continuing to lease, but when neither of those options was possible, the Croc decided to embrace the new opportunity to expand. 
“This is an incredibly special situation, one in a million. We wish it was a template that could be recreated for other venues around the country. We need the whole independent live event ecosystem to survive and succeed, without it there’s no touring and we’re all sunk,” Motto said in a statement.
An announcement from The Crocodile gives a shout out to the new building owners for offering “reasonable rent” and upgrading the restaurant infrastructure, including installing a sprinkler system. 
A grand opening date for the new location has yet to be announced. Naturally, any plans to welcome fans back to live shows depend on COVID restrictions and state reopening guidelines.   
“It absolutely depends on our state regulations. The governor this week rolled back restaurant and bar openings to essentially delivery and pickup only, but hopefully that puts all business in our state back on the right track to a sooner reopening and drops the record number of cases that we are now counted in the state,” Motto told Pollstar Nov. 19. 
“We have keys to the new space and are moving everything from the 2nd & Blanchard to the new location as I email this! We feel strongly that a 2021 reopening will happen and are fundraising so we can prepay rent for a year to assure artists, fans, agents and investors that we will be operational when shows return.” 
Mock-up of the new Crocodile location
 – Mock-up of the new Crocodile location
The Crocodile is also partnering with a new nonprofit in order to help further inclusivity and diversity in the music and arts community. Marketing manager Josh Saenger said in a statement, “That means a forum for ideas, training music industry professionals, creating more expressive platforms for local artists and grant funding for a rotating art gallery.”  
The venue – which was originally known as The Crocodile Café – first opened in 1991 with a performance by The Posies and Love Battery. Highlights in the early years included Nirvana opening for Mudhoney under the pseudonym Pen Cap Chew in 1992 and Pearl Jam appeared as the unbilled opener for Cheap Trick in 1998.
After the Croc closed suddenly in 2007, Marcus Charles (who was the former co-owner of Neumos and cofounder of Capitol Hill Block Party), teamed with investors including Susan Silver (Seattle manager for Soundgarden, Alice in Chains), Sean Kinney (drummer of Alice in Chains) and Eric Howk (guitarist in Portugal. The Man) to renovate the venue and it reopened in 2009. 
Artists who have taken the stage include Billie Eilish, Lizzo, Brandi Carlile, Snoop Dogg, Alabama Shakes, G-Eazy, Death Cab for Cutie, Alice in Chains, and the Beastie Boys.  
Rolling Stone named The Crocodile No. 7 on its 2013 list of the Best Clubs in America. 
Before COVID hit, The Crocodile was doing better than ever. According to an announcement from the venue, in 2019 the club broke attendance records for the sixth consecutive year.
Reports submitted to Pollstar’s Boxoffice for sold-out shows in 2019 include a Sept. 22 gig by Lucky Daye that grossed $8,550 and an April 3 performance by Lil’ Tracy on April 3 that grossed $9,830.
Supporters of The Crocodile are encouraged to follow the venue’s progress at TheCrocodile.com, join their mailing list or follow them on Facebook at @crocodilesea or via Instagram at @thecrocodileseattle. The announcement adds, “AND…. independent music venues still need your help, please go to saveourstages.com to support the SaveOurStages Act and find out more.”