Along with the high-profile bankruptcies of airlines like Spirit and tour operators such as MixxTravel, the last few months also brought with them a number of real estate failures.
In September, the hotel company behind five properties in New York, Los Angeles, and Miami suddenly filed for Chapter 11 protection. Guests who arrived at hotels like The Tuscany and Hotel 27 in Manhattan discovered that no staff were available to check them in and had to find accommodation at last-minute prices of over $1,000 per night.
Over in the Brooklyn borough, the Brooklyn Mirage open-air nightclub that opened in 2017 is facing an even worse fate after the limited-liability company that owns it filed for bankruptcy last August.
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Mirage nightclub “not safe enough to open for the public”: Department of Buildings
As first spotted by the Real Deal, the nightclub that was once a symbol of East Williamsburg’s potential was not permitted to operate last summer after failing to meet a timeline for an annual inspection deadline.
Now, parent company Avant Gardner filed for a demolition permit with New York’s Department of Buildings (DOB) to tear down the 32,000-square-foot space at an estimated cost of more than $1.5 million after running up debts north of $155 million over the last few years.
Related: Popular hotel chain files Chapter 11 bankruptcy, guests stranded
“DOB had numerous objections to the performance space, both safety related and technical in nature, that prevented the project from being code-compliant and safe enough to open for the public,” the agency’s spokesperson said to local news outlet The Brooklyn Paper. “This wasn’t a question of red tape, but rather a list of legitimate issues with the constructed space.”
The nightclub’s reputational challenges began after two separate guests were found dead in a nearby creek within several weeks of each other in 2023 and then another patron death occurred in 2024.
The Brooklyn Mirage faced legal and financial problems
Amid challenges attracting guests, the nightclub began running up major debts and soon found itself unable to meet its obligations to creditors.
A hearing on a sale to sell the company to an affiliate with one of the creditors has been scheduled for the end of October. Creditors have also called for a trustee takeover amid allegations of widespread executive mismanagement and fraud.
Avant Gardner fired the Brooklyn Mirage’s CEO Josh Wyatt in May 2025, and a few weeks later, new chief executive Gary Richards was overheard complaining about how hard it is to sell the company at three-star Michelin restaurant Per Se.
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In the years immediately after opening, the nightclub hosted a number of high-profile names including Drake, David Guetta, and Tiësto. DJ Magazine also named it as being among the country’s top 100 nightclubs at the start of 2023.
“The decision to file for Chapter 11 relief follows several months of financial distress, culminating with Avant Gardner being unable to open its newly constructed Mirage event space for the 2025 season,” the company said in a statement back in August, while posting on social media that it was still aiming to “bring the Mirage back for 2026 and beyond.”
Related: Iconic New York castle hotel files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
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