NEW YORK — A pair of real estate developers have reportedly inked a preliminary deal to acquire the infamous Hustler Club in Manhattan on 12th Avenue.
Developers Jack Guttman and Steve Schwartz plan to tear down the gentlemen's club and about seven other adjacent buildings to make way for a 240,000-square-foot office property, according to the New York Daily News.
But the plan to tear down the structure is awaiting an announcement to name the anchor tenant of the building, which is proposed to attract TV and film tenants. But once that's done, the strip club's days would be numbered.
The move to sell the Hustler Club comes after it was found the club owes more than $2.1 million in sales tax on $23.8 million worth of lap dances it sold between June 2006-November 2008.
A state high court decision involving Nite Moves, an adult cabaret, sealed the fate for the multimillion-dollar tax bill against the Hustler Club.
The New York's Division of Taxation, following an audit in 2005, said the admission charge and fees for private dances at Nite Moves should be subject to sales tax.
Later, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear Nite Moves case, which would have settled whether dancing in strip clubs is art.