A Japanese restaurant and events space with a retractable glass roof and rooftop lounge will move into the former home of OUTPUT at 74 Wythe Ave. in Williamsburg.
A representative for the developer, Joshua Kaiser presented the plans for the new venue to Brooklyn Community Board 1 at last week’s public hearing.
OUTPUT opened in 2013 and was known for its no-hassle door policy and late-night dance parties that sometimes drew the ire of neighbors over the noise levels.
The dance club closed last January due to “multiple existential challenges” that included “rapidly shifting social trends, unfavorable market conditions and weakening financial outlooks,” OUTPUT’s staff explained in a statement at the time.
Ten months later, plans are moving forward on a Japanese izakaya, cocktail lounge and events venue totaling 18,000 square-feet with a capacity for over 700 people.
“The core business is an events driven business we’re intending to appeal to corporate events and social events, weddings, Bat Mitzvahs, banquets of all sorts,” Kaiser said. “We’re transforming the core of the building into a ballroom.” Watch Kaiser’s full community board presentation:
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The venue and rooftop will be open until 2 a.m., but Kaiser assured residents that the music on the terrace, as well as throughout the building, would not be loud.
“The former tenant was not popular for their sounds,” he said. “We have taken out a $1.5 million sound system. We’re replacing it, and have full intention to have largely ambient sound projected in all of these rooms. These are meant to be events that you can attend and have a conversation and be heard when you speak.”
Kaiser said that in an effort to reduce traffic buildup on Wythe Avenue, his group added three additional entrances on North 12th Street: one for staff, another serving the events space and a third connecting to the cocktail lounge. “We’ve diverted 70 percent conservatively of traffic that was stopping on Wythe Avenue and moved it to a side street,” he said.
Kaiser said his group hoped to offer the space to nonprofits to host fundraising events, and he said they look forward to being an “active participant in the community” and to hire locally.”