The curtains will fall on the Brooklyn Mirage for the rest of the summer after the venue’s troubled owner filed for bankruptcy Monday.
Avant Gardner LLC took the drastic step after it faced ongoing financial snags and failed to reopen the prized East Williamsburg open-air concert hall in time for its 2025 season of shows – as newly minted CEO Gary Richards claimed he had no choice but to plunge into a reorganization.
“Two months ago I was brought in as CEO to rebuild the Company’s culture and turn the business around,” Richards said in a statement. “I believe this Chapter 11 restructuring is the most viable path forward.”
The company faced a mountain of bad publicity and scrutiny over safety after two ravers were found dead near the Mirage in 2023. Each died after leaving separate shows at the isolated location.
The venue has also been criticized as a haven for hard drugs even as Avant Gardner has argued it has strict protocols in place.
The business was dinged up after chaos unfolded the same year at the Electric Zoo festival – a three-day event operated by Avant Gardner. The annual set of shows didn’t take place last year and hasn’t been scheduled for this year.
The Mirage was supposed to open in May after a massive renovation, but was dogged by delays and will remain shuttered for now, according to the company.
The other venues in the sprawling complex, the Great Hall and Kings Hall, will still be operational, but the closure of the Mirage has been “catastrophic” for the company’s finances, Richards said in a court filing, according to Bloomberg.
The Mirage is expected to reopen by next year, the company said.
Avant Gardner, which is owned by co-founder Juergen “Billy” Bildstein, owes various vendors more than $10 million, including a cool $1.8 million to South African DJ Black Coffee Entertainment, according to the Chapter 11 filing that paints a bleak financial picture.
The company hopes to borrow up to $45 million to go toward the Chapter 11 proceeding and keep operations going, the filing shows.
Meanwhile, the company has up to $500 million in liabilities and only at most $100 million in assets.