Seattle concert venue The Crocodile announced plans to relocate and expand into a new multi-use space in 2021. The new facility will include a 750 capacity showroom, a 300 capacity club, a 96 seat comedy club/movie theater and an art gallery, as well as a streetside restaurant and 18 room hotel.
“It’s 30,000 square feet of food, drink, arts and entertainment,” said The Crocodile talent buyer Hunter Motto. “We’re going to capture that Croc spirit: fans and artists will feel they ‘have arrived’ in a historic space.”
The Crocodile originally opened in the Belltown neighborhood of Seattle in 1991 and hosted concerts by local icons Pearl Jam, Nirvana and Death Cab for Cutie, along with many others from around the globe. The venue closed in 2007, but with the help of Marcus Charles, reopened in 2008 and has held numerous concerts such as Beastie Boys, Mike Gordon, Ben Harper, Alabama Shakes, Brandi Carlile, Lizzo, Billie Eilish, Snoop Dogg, Alabama Shakes, Gary Clark Jr., The Wood Brothers, Tom Morello, Grace Potter & the Nocturnals and others, including Amanda Shires who performed there in March before the venue ceased holding concerts due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“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,” Charles said. “Luckily, an amazing opportunity came by way of the Cowen family (new building owners). Now we have time, resources and inspiration to rebuild a world-class venue that expands on our tradition of being Seattle’s favorite place to see a show.”
The Crocodile will remain in Belltown, relocating to the three-story building located at 1st and Wall, the former home of the restaurant El Gaucho. Built in 1954, the facility was used as a lodge for The Sailors’ Union of the Pacific. In the 1960s and 1970s, it was operated as the Trade Winds Palm Room Nightclub and Piano Bar and became an event hall in the early-1990s hosting concerts by Radiohead, Bikini Kill, Built to Spill and others. In 1996, the building currently owned by the Cowen family was converted into the fine dining restaurant El Goucho, which recently relocated to the nearby Union Stables.
The new facility will have at least one familiar aspect carried over from the original location: The Crocodile’s icon sign.
“Oh hell yes!,” said general manager Adam Wakeling when asked about the sign’s fate. “And we’re going to get it restored and lit up again.”
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