Long-time music venue and bar Cosmic Charlie’s will be moving from its campus area strip-mall location in University Plaza on Woodland Avenue to the flourishing Warehouse Block on National Avenue, owners announced today. It has been at the Woodland Avenue location since September 11, 2009 and will continue to operate there through the end of September. Owners hope to have the new venue opened by mid-October or November at the latest.
The new building, located at 723 National Ave. in the recently rebranded Warehouse Block, will share a parking lot with the soon-to-be-open collaboration between Mirror Twin Brewing.
Co-owner of Cosmic Charlie’s, Mark Evans is hoping to make the new Cosmic appeal in ways that goes beyond just the live music.
“I just want people to be able to come down, drink beer, and have a good time,” said Evans, who is also co-owner of the Louisville-based promotions company Vectortone. Vectortone also manages bookings for new Lexington venue The Burl and Louisville-based venue Zanzabar, among others.
One key feature of the new building Evans hopes will contributes to this – in addition to more parking space – is the presence of windows, something the Woodland location doesn’t have.
Evans also stated that many of the venue’s clientele are from the Kenwick neighborhood, which runs adjacent to the Warehouse Block area, and he is excited to bring Cosmic closer to its audience.
The venue will have a similar capacity Cosmic Charlie’s staples such as Grateful Mondays and late-night trivia are slated for return.
The new building is owned by Walker Properties, a local company run by brothers Greg and Chad Walker and their father Randy Walker. Walker Properties has been developing the area since the 1980’s, and has developed many properties on North Ashland, Walton Ave. and National Ave., including National Boulangerie, Crossfit Maximus, Latitude Artist Community and Kentucky Mudworks.