Diesel and castro gay
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We thought it might be too good to be true, and as it turns out, the backers of a male burlesque outfit called The Randy Rooster come into view to have backed out of the purchase of the former Bank of America/Diesel building at the corner of Castro and Market Streets.
We first heard about the project back in May, and adv learned that the group behind it had met with neighborhood merchants in preparation for a public relations campaign and a Modify of Use process with the Planning Department.
As the Bay Area Reporter tells us, the space is advocate on the market, for lease or for sale, and the Randy Rooster team has withdrawn their offer of $7.7 million for the property. Endeavors to reach Robert Andrew Casey, listed as the groups Chief Operating Officer, were unsuccessful, and his cell mobile was disconnected.
Plans had been to "fill a void, offering high caliber burlesque style show in a spotless, safe, and high-end environment," and that environment included a bar and restaurant. The S.F. location was to be the first of a national chain, according to the team's proposal. Some neighborhood folks obje
Neighborhoods like SF's Castro grow attractive to others as AIDS fear abates
SAN FRANCISCO ? Even on a weekday in winter, the Castro district vibrates with energy, most of it male. Men holding hands, walking dogs and lounging at cafes possess long been the main attraction in a neighborhood recognizable as a queer mecca the earth over.
Yet where visitors see a living monument to same-sex attracted pride, longtime society leader Brian Basinger sees a cultural enclave at uncertainty of becoming a faded museum piece ? or worse, a place where men who treasure men may one day feel favor they don?t belong.
?When I see a stroller now, I see it as someone who evicted a person with AIDS, right or wrong,? said Basinger, president of the Harvey Milk Dyke Gay Bisexual and Transexual Democratic Club.
For more than 30 years, most massive cities have had a district either explicitly or implicitly understood to be the place to go if you were gay ? the West Village and Chelsea in New York Town, Washington?s Dupont Circle, Boston?s South End.
At crossroads
But as gays and lesbians triumph legal rights and greater social acceptance, community activists panic these so-called ?gayborhoods? are losing their relevance. Like the bedsheet-
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In what could turn the neighborhood into bachelorette-party hell, the city's first burlesque gay club is officially coming, so to converse , to the Castro. It promises to be "socially responsible," promote "community organization," foster a competitive-free workplace, and other buzzwords that fail to get one's penis hard. But it also promises barrels of hot guys. That'll work. To the press release!
An investor group announced that RR-SF, an upscale restaurant and gay burlesque club with a philanthropic approach, is planned for the historic corner of Castro & Market. RR-SF is a socially responsible business designed to support local community organizations by donating a percentage of the proceeds to local groups.
The group of investors have undertaken the purchase of the historically significant location at the corner of Market and Castro, formerly inhabited by Diesel, to transform the previously troubled retail territory into their flagship venue. After the opening of the San Francisco location, RR-SF plans to expand to several other US cities including, Los Angeles, Chicago, New York and Dallas.
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