Track Club, a Las Vegas-style nightclub with a cocktail bar twist, will open in late September/early October in the former home of DeSoto Central Market.
The project is the brainchild of Arizona electronic dance music promoter Thomas Turner of Relentless Beats and local entrepreneur Chuckie Duff, who helped develop spots like Gracie’s Tax Bar and Cobra Arcade Bar. Damon Scott of Arizona Cocktail Week is also involved.
Turner tells Phoenix New Times that he and Duff have wanted to collaborate on a nightspot for a couple of years. Track Club is the end result.
“Chuckie approached me around two years ago about doing a club,” Turner says. “It initially was going to be at this massive building at 20 West Jackson, so we started designing a super venue with all these things: a main room with a pool, a patio with a secondary venue, and a seven-day-a-week bar.”
When Duff purchased the 12,000-square-foot building housing DeSoto Central Market, which closed last summer, those plans changed.
“Chuckie said, ‘Hey, we could open this a lot sooner with fewer complications, and he was right. It’s a great building in a great spot in downtown,” Turner says. “So we quickly shifted gears and started designing [Track Club].”
According to Turner, Track Club will consist of three parts: a 3,000-square-foot cocktail bar up front, a 1,000-person capacity nightclub in the rear of the building, and a large outdoor patio area.
“We’ll have a lot going on with reasons for people to come through, day or night,” Turner says.
The crow's nest-style DJ booth under construction in the bar area of Track Club.
Benjamin Leatherman
“There will be entertainment seven nights a week, like DJs spinning deep, sexy house or Afrobeats,” Turner says. “Some nights there might be a mini-Blunt Club on a Wednesday or maybe some tastemaker-style shows.”
The nightclub, which will be located in the two-level space inside the main room of the DeSoto building, will include high-end sound and visuals. Giant LED screens will adorn the walls around a DJ booth located on the east end of the room.
“It's going to be encased in LED screens, Turner says. "We'll have cryo, lasers, and a really big light show ... it's going to be a really big production.”
Meanwhile, the second-floor mezzanine level and balcony will be transformed into VIP seating area with tables, booths, and bottle service. The ground floor will be for general admission.
Track Club’s patio will be developed during the spot’s second phase later this year and “will have sort of a day club atmosphere,” Turner says.
The main room inside the DeSoto building, which is being transformed into a 1,000-person nightclub.
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“We'll be more VIP- and nightclub-friendly. It's not a live room; we're going to be programming for nightclub stuff. But there's always a chance live music could happen here, too,” Turner says. “Based on the inventory of rooms in downtown [Phoenix], there will always be nights when other venues will be filled and bands need a place to play.”
Relentless Beats has promoted EDM shows in downtown Phoenix for going on a decade, including gigs at spots like Monarch Theatre, Bar Smith, The Van Buren, and The Pressroom. So is having their own dedicated club the next logical step for the company?
"Absolutely, especially for the nightclub portion of it. At places like Monarch, we used to sell things out all the time and almost overfill it at time. So it was time to have a bigger room to host people,” Turner says. “But the EDM lifestyle in places like Las Vegas includes VIP areas, hosts, and a different level of experience for a lot of people who were interested in attending. So we wanted to have that while at the same time, accommodate more casual [EDM fans] who value a more economically priced ticket but still get to share in the experience.”
Track Club. 915 North Central Avenue, Phoenix. Opens in late September/early October.
