The 2,245-square-foot bar located at 4631 N. Seventh Ave. was listed for sale on commercial real estate marketplace LoopNet in late July. The asking price is $1.6 million and includes a 994-square-foot building next door.
The bar is best known as the former location of Char’s Has the Blues, a legendary live music hotspot that featured performances by local R&B, funk, soul, and blues musicians for 35 years. Some of the Valley's biggest names in these genres — including artists like Laydee Jai, Larry Bailey, and Chuck Hall — lit up its darkened interior seven nights a week.
Since April, the property has been home to Smith’s on 7th, a bar and cocktail lounge offering a different sort of nightlife experience.
According to its co-owners, Smith's on 7th bar will continue to serve up libations for years to come, even after it gets a new landlord.
A unique property with a history in the blues
The property, originally built in 1944 as a residence, is one of the more recognizable buildings in Phoenix’s Melrose District. Trevor Von Behren with Matthews Real Estate Investment Services, the Scottsdale-based brokerage handling the sale, says it's one of Melrose's more unique-looking properties.
“It catches your eye and stands out from other buildings in the area,” he says.
The property has been grabbing people’s attention for decades. After functioning as the Ruth Sussman School of Ballet in the 1960s and ’70s, it became a series of restaurants and bars.
Its best-known stint began in the mid-1980s when the late Charlene Rymond and her husband, Jim, acquired the property. After hearing local blues and R&B artists like Hans Olson, the couple renamed the place Char’s Has the Blues and began regularly booking local bands and musicians from the genre.
Over the next 30-plus years, it served as a go-to spot for live music in Phoenix, hosting such renowned local artists as Olson, Bill Tarsha, Big Pete Pearson and the late Small Paul Hamilton.
It remained known as Char’s Has the Blues despite evolving into more of a funk, soul, and R&B joint and being sold twice in the 1990s — first to Ab Lattouf and later to Phoenix and New Jersey businessman Peter Chedid and his family.
Local guitarist Kenny Brown, who performed at Char’s Has the Blues from the mid-'90s onward, told Phoenix New Times in April that the bar was an iconic part of the Valley music scene.
“That place had soul,” Brown told New Times in April. “It was always like a family gathering at Char's.”
Enter David Cameron
In 2020, Char’s was forced to close due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Months later, the Chedid family sold the property to local entrepreneur and developer David Cameron and San Diego-based real estate broker Peter Valleau for $460,000, according to Maricopa County records.Cameron embraced the property’s history, reopening it in early 2022 as Chars Live after an extensive and meticulous 18-month interior renovation.
Initially, Chars Live made a big splash with its return, showcasing local soul, funk, blues, and R&B artists. The business struggled to recapture the same fervor as its glory days, though, and within months, Cameron attempted a course correction by also booking bands and musicians from other genres.
Chars Live’s fortunes remained unchanged. In November 2023, the bar was listed for sale with an asking price of $495,000, reportedly including its No. 6 liquor license, website and various furnishing and equipment.
Five months later, Chars Live officially closed and the business was sold to longtime Phoenix bartender Brandon Smith and Flagstaff restaurateur Tommy Glynn. In April, the pair opened Smith’s on 7th, an urbane and arty neighborhood bar and cocktail lounge.
Cameron has continued to own the property, at least for the time being.
The property located behind Smith's on 7th at 650 W. Coolidge St. is also included in the sale.
Benjamin Leatherman
Smith’s on 7th ‘plans to be there for a long time’
Despite its property being up for sale, Smith’s on 7th won’t be looking for a new home anytime soon. Von Behren says the bar currently has a five-year lease with the option of renewing it for another decade. Smith echoed this fact recently on social media. Last month, he commented on a Facebook post by the Arizona Preservation Foundation about the property’s sale, stating that the business will remain there for the foreseeable future.
“If someone does buy the building, they will have a great tenant that plans to be there for a long time,” Smith stated.
Cameron, however, won’t say why he’s selling the former home of Chars Live. He’s declined multiple requests from Phoenix New Times for comments regarding the property.
