Gold Dust Lounge to File Lawsuit Against Landlord

Gold Dust Lounge has no plans to stop pouring to patrons

​Last night, well-known damage control-specialist Sam Singer took the mic at the Gold Dust Lounge where he bluntly delivered unwelcoming news: The bar's last pour would come March 6.

Singer, who is representing the landlord of the bar, was booed heavily by patrons who are working hard to preserve the landmark watering hole, which received its eviction notice earlier this month.

But today, the owners of the popular bar came back with some news for Singer: They plan to sue their landlord, John Handlery, over the unwelcome eviction.

"We've been saying all along that if he can't sit down at the table, the next thing to happen is some legal action," Lee Houskeeper, spokesman for the bar, tells us. "Apparently, his answer to this was sending Sam Singer -- not what we had in mind."

The Gold Dust Lounge has retained the powerful Joseph Cotchett to represent the bar. Houskeeper wouldn't give any more details about the pending claim, but said a lawsuit would be filed soon enough. Meanwhile, he says, city supervisors are looking into whether they can declare the Gold Dust Lounge a historic landmark. We contacted Supervisor David Chiu, who was at the bar yesterday, to ask him what that might mean for the Gold Dust Lounge. No word back yet.

Meanwhile, Singer sent out a missive to reporters this morning, explaining that the Gold Dust Lounge owners had signed a lease, knowing there was an early termination clause in it. "The future of the Gold Dust is not threatened; it's in their hands. They just can't continue to lease the space they are in as they agreed to move out," Singer said.

"They say the last pour is March 6 -- does that mean Sheriff Ross [Mirkarimi] will come in to evict us?" Houskeep asks.

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