With the Odyssey’s lease scheduled to expire Jan 31 and its new venue not yet approved, the owner of the popular gay nightclub is optimistic he won’t have to board the club’s Howe St doors yet.
Michael Levy says he heard from the city Jan 26 that an extension was probable. “I’m ecstatic! It’s just fantastic news.”
The city prematurely terminated the club’s lease last May to redevelop the location into subsidized housing. In October, Levy got an extension to give him more time to find a new space. Though he has now found a space on Denman St, he is still waiting for city and provincial permits.
Though Vancouver’s associate director of real estate, Jerry Evans, dismissed the idea of another lease extension last issue, he now confirms the city is considering extending the club’s lease but says no formal decision has been made.
“We are looking into the potential of an extension but we haven’t had a chance to sit down with the Odyssey and agree to the terms of the extension yet.”
“All we were asking for was that they [the city] consider things carefully, and they did just that,” says Levy, who notes that the new extension would put “us pretty much to opening day at our new location.”
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