Owners of the Elbo Room, the darkly-lit bar and music venue in San Francisco’s Mission District, learned Tuesday morning that their lease will be extended to Jan. 1, 2018, putting off its impending closure for two more years.
Since 2014, the Elbo Room’s landlords, Dennis Ring and Susan Rokisky-Ring, have been moving forward with a project to tear down the 80-year-old building and replace it with condos. But the project has not only met resistance from the bar’s dedicated patrons, it’s also run into delay after delay from the city.
“They might as well keep us there and keep everyone happy,” said Matt Shapiro, who owns and operates the Elbo Room with partner Erik Cantu.
This year has been quite the roller coaster of emotions for Shaprio and Cantu, who were told back in April that their lease would expire in November. But just a few months later, they learned that the condo project was running into delays; the Rings informed the pair that they could stay open through 2016.
