Baltimore Business Journal
A longtime music venue in Federal Hill has hit the market, marking yet another change in the city’s music scene.
The 8×10 music hall along the neighborhood’s busy Cross Street is available for $450,000. The sale includes the venue’s fixtures and licenses, but it does not include the property. The building at 10 E. Cross St. has housed a music venue since 1983, with brief stints under different names and ownerships.
Current owners, husband-and-wife duo Brian Shupe and Abigail Janssens, want to retire after several years of running the business, said Jim McGinnis, owner of the Restaurant Broker, which listed the property.
The small venue has a 200-person capacity and boasts around 4,000 square feet of space between three floors, with two bars, a large stage, a balcony and a lounge area for artists. A sale will include everything associated with the business, such as the sound and video systems, security systems, fixtures and a liquor license that has a music permit attached.
The listing states that the current owners have a combined annual salary of $70,000 and notes that the new owners can continue earning money from ticket sales and the bar.
“This is a particular type of listing because it’s a music venue,” McGinnis said.
The broker believes an independent music group could buy the business and take it to the next level. McGinnis said the landlord would extend a lease to a qualified tenant.
State property records show that Rather Properties LLC owns the venue’s building. The LLC is tied to Mother’s Federal Hill Grille owner Dave Rather, who bought the property for $400,000 in the early 2000s and turned it into the Funk Box club for a time. The venue reverted back to its original name, 8×10, a few years later.
The 8×10 music venue’s potential sale is the latest change in Baltimore’s music scene. The Crown Baltimore in the Station North Arts District closed over the summer after 11 years. Live music venue and restaurant Tin Roof closed its Baltimore location in May and the nearby Rams Head Live is also set to close later this year.
Longtime music venue hits the market for $450K
