Big Changes in Store for the Black Cat’s Bar on 14th Street

Music fans, get ready to say goodbye to Black Cat’s Red Room bar as we know it. The Washington Post reports that big changes are in store for the beloved Logan Circle concert hall, just as it celebrates its 25th anniversary this weekend.

Black Cat’s Dante Ferrando plans to cede the street-level first floor to retail tenants — perhaps something more in line with new 14th Street neighbors like Madewell, Shake Shack, SoulCycle, Lululemon, and Jeni’s Ice Cream. The gentrification survival strategy involves moving the Red Room hangout and Backstage performance hall upstairs by the end of this year.

Ferrando tells the Post that the bar just isn’t the hangout it once was, and his speculation on why is fascinating: he calls out everything from online dating to the city’s smoking ban to “hipster bars” to 24/7 work culture.

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