Tuesday, September 8, 2009
News Midtown neighbors try to dethrone the Gidewons' nightclub empire
Posted by Scott Henry @ScottTheHenry on Tue, Sep 8, 2009 at 5:21 PM
Zebrawood paneling on the walls. Chrome trim everywhere you look. Hundreds of custom leather couches, dozens of VIP alcoves and banks of hi-def TVs. A liquid nitrogen A/C system. And more than 100 feet of thick marble bars — black marble in one room, white in another.
This is how the Gidewons roll.
The first family of Atlanta nightlife, the exotic and enigmatic clan behind some of the highest-rolling clubs the city has ever known, is getting ready to make another splash in the local club scene — a $4 million splash that includes two new high-end nightspots spread out over nearly 20,000 square feet of pricey real estate smack in the middle of Peachtree Street's booming Midtown Mile.
A tour of the unfinished space and a description of the amenities confirm that the two adjoining — but not joined — nightclubs will have few rivals in terms of luxury and VIPishness. Yet club owner Michael Gidewon, 36, doesn’t seem worried about going too up-market during a recession. “The people we’re going for — professional athletes, recording artists — aren’t really affected by the economy,” says the fashionable co-founder of the mega-clubs Vision, Compound and the Velvet Room.
But Gidewon is very concerned about another segment of the population — specifically, the 1,400 Atlanta residents who’ve signed an online petition aimed at keeping him from opening the clubs' doors and the hundreds who’ve shown up to neighborhood meetings calling for his defeat.
Continue reading 'Midtown neighbors try to dethrone the Gidewons' nightclub empire' >>
(Photo by Joeff Davis)
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