| Harvey Specter | 05-18-2016 11:33 PM |
Vancouver city council denies Drai’s night club at Trump Tower for bar liquor licence
Big blow for Trump tower. Quote:
There’s an old saying that what goes on in Vegas stays in Vegas.”
That was the assurance from a representative of developer Joo Kim Tiah to Vancouver city councillors that a proposed nightclub at the Trump hotel and tower would not resemble its raucous sin city counterpart.
Trump hotel representatives were at city hall Wednesday to defend their liquor licence application for a Drai’s pool bar and nightclub plus patio. But after hearing about the party zone reputation of the Drai’s nightclub in Vegas and concerns from nearby residents that loud bass and drunk patrons would spill out into the streets, councillors denied the hotel’s application.
Among those opposed to the club was Coun. Kerry Jang, who had this to say about the hotel’s approach: “I’m feeling I’m kind of getting the wool pulled over my eyes and I don’t appreciate it.”
Earlier in the hearing, Bert Hick, a representative of developer Joo Kim, described the planned Drai’s venue as a “very high end bar” that will also be used for dining, corporate events, banquets and weddings, and distanced it from something you’d find on Granville Street.
“Cheap drinks, cheap entertainment, cheap drunks,” is how Hick described that party district, which he claimed served 17 to 25 year olds.
In contrast, Trump hotel general manager Philipp Posch (pronounced posh, and fittingly so, noted Coun. Tim Stevenson), described the future Trump clientele as a fair bit older and far more refined. “We like to call them the new five-star generation,” he said.
While wealthy people and older folks can absolutely get drunk (and presumably rowdy), that’s probably less likely when they’re being charged $15 to $19 for a cocktail with hand-carved ice cubes and fresh herbs, he said.
“We’re not going to cater to a crowd where you come in and you get a $2 Jell-O shot and a $6 beer,” said Posch, who later said that he considers himself as a luxury hotelier.
“I don’t want to be dealing with a crowd of people that are running around with Canucks Jerseys — God bless the Canucks — and a cup of Molson Canadian — Go Canada — like we see on Granville Street. That’s not who we are,” Posch (who is from Austria) said carefully to laughter from councillors.
In response to concerns about noise, Hick and Posch said tower residents who had paid $2 million to $4 million for a suite and guests at a hotel with rates of $400 to $600 a night would not tolerate late partying.
Many Las Vegas visitors will be familiar with the name Drai’s. For those who haven’t heard of the party space, Jang took a few minutes to describe what he discovered about the nightclub via a link on the Trump hotel site.
“The first thing I found was ‘Drai’s Animal House’,” Jang said, proceeding to list some of the musical acts booked at the club. “Ludacris, Party Favor, Bassjackers — I don’t even know what that means. … debuts of rappers Machine Gun Kelly and A$AP (here Jang read the name out phonetically, as in A-dollar sign-A-P) Ferg.
“I’m not seeing a mature clientele there,” Jang continued. “If Drai’s has a reputation, I’m sure he would want to keep that going.”
Before the vote, Jang said he’d never seen such a lopsided response from residents, who almost unanimously came out against the nightclub. Both Vision Vancouver and the Non-Partisan Association councillors were split on the vote, with councillors Geoff Meggs, George Affleck and Melissa De Genova in favour of the nightclub and the remainder opposed.
The developer will have an opportunity to resubmit an application for the space, said Andreea Toma, the city’s chief licensing inspector. Reducing the venue’s size from 380-plus seats or seeking a food primary licence were two options, she said.
In a separate vote, councillors unanimously approved a 150-person lobby lounge for the hotel.
The denial of a licence for Drai’s will dash the hopes of many applicants who came out to a Trump hotel job fair. A claimed 10,000 Vancouver residents applied to work at the hotel, according to a spokeswoman. Given Vancouver has about 485,000 people aged 18 to 65, that’s about two per cent of the working aged population.
mrobinson@postmedia.com
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