Gold Dust Lounge Update: Landlord Says He Won't Negotiate Lease on Popular Bar

Some things shouldn't change!

​Owners of the popular Gold Dust Lounge are not giving up hope to keep the iconoclastic watering hole open in Union Square. They are asking the community to stop by the dive bar on Powell Street tomorrow to hear their ideas for how to preserve the landmark bar.

And if that's not good enough reason to be there, they are also rolling back alcohol prices to 1933 -- 25 cents per cocktail.

"We have some ideas, we can work this out," said Lee Houskeeper, spokesman for the bar. "We will pay more money."

But money isn't talking in this case. John Handlery, landlord of the building, told SF Weekly that he's already got a new tenant in mind -- and no, it's not The Limited. He said he is waiting for all the paperwork to be signed before he announces who will move into the space, which was built in 1908.

When asked if there was any room to negotiate with the Gold Dust Lounge, Handlery said bluntly: "Probably not."

"Change is sometimes challenging," he told us. "But I think, in the end, it will be an asset to Union Square and it will create jobs."

Still, Houskeeper said he hopes tomorrow's event -- which will includes city supervisors as well as Herb Caen's son, Christopher Caen -- will help influence talks between the owners and the landlord again.

If not, "then we 'll look for something else next week," Houskeeper told us.

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