The Addition, Formerly Yoshi's in San Francisco, to Abruptly Close

In a statement by its ownership group today, it was announced that Fillmore Street music venue The Addition will cease operations almost immediately. The venue’s doors will close this Wednesday, Jan. 14.

The management team of Fillmore Live Entertainment Group (FLEG) explained that the sudden closure is due to “some financial hardships resulting from reduced revenue since the takeover in July.”

From July to October of last year, Fillmore Live operated the former Yoshi’s, rebranding it as the Addition in October and booking less jazz artists, which had been Yoshi’s specialty.

Artistic director Peter Williams, a 12-year veteran of Yoshi’s who came to the Addition just two months ago, in November, told KQED that he has no regrets. “The ownership group and Michael Johnson in particular were great, and I was thrilled to have the chance to do this,” he said.

The 28,000 square-foot, two-story club opened after construction costs of approximately $15 million, roughly half of which was supplied by a redevelopment loan. That loan added to a $4.4 million loan from the redevelopment agency in 2004, and a $5.5 million loan from the City of San Francisco for the Fillmore Heritage Center, which housed Yoshi’s.

In a post on The New Fillmore titled ‘How the Yoshi’s Deal Went Down,’ Chris Barnett details the club’s 2012 bankruptcy and subsequent restructuring, which resulted in $4.8 million of Yoshi’s redevelopment agency debt written off and other debts still unpaid.

Asked about the status of those debts, Williams said today: “I do not know the answer to this.”

According to the ownership group’s statement, Fillmore Live is “in the process of determining how to address existing liabilities of the business, and will be in touch at the earliest possible time. FLEG is also seeking a potential lead partner to take over operations at the earliest possible time, and continue to present quality headline entertainment, in addition to re-concepting the existing restaurant.”

As for the venue’s upcoming calendar—which had included jazz legend Bobby Hutcherson, comedian Kristen Schaal, Ethiopian treasure Mulatu Astatke and a hotly anticipated Autotune-free acoustic performance by R&B singer T-Pain—all shows have been canceled. “At this time, there are no plans to reschedule” select shows at other venues, Williams said.