Avant Gardner, the sprawling Brooklyn complex that houses the troubled Brooklyn Mirage, has officially filed for bankruptcy. Bloomberg reported the news first, quoting Gary Richards, who has been acting as CEO following the ousting of previous CEO Josh Wyatt after Brooklyn Mirage was scheduled to reopen but didn’t in May, as citing a “significant liquidity crisis” as events were postponed, cancelled, and moved to other venues (including, in some cases, in the indoor portion of Avant Gardner) amidst Mirage’s continued closure. Here’s more from Bloomberg:
AGDP Holding, the parent company of Avant Gardner LLC, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Delaware with around $155.3 million in funded debt obligations, according to court filings.
Richards also pointed to “increasingly aggressive collection activities” from certain financiers and contractors in court documents dated August 4. Avant Gardner took on financing arrangements in the months prior to bankruptcy to complete the renovation, with certain deals now subject to dispute.
Brooklyn Mirage has also announced the news themselves in their first official social media statement since May, when they postponed their Memorial Day Weekend shows. It reads, in part:
Avant Gardner’s Great Hall and Kings Hall event venues are to remain open and operating as usual during the Chapter 11 process, continuing to serve the vibrant community of artists and fans that have made Avant Gardner a world class performance destination.
It also quotes Richards:
The Avant Gardner event complex is a truly special music venue that has provided cutting edge experiences over the years for artists and fans from all around the globe. Everyone I speak to has had the best sets and very special memories at the Brooklyn Mirage. Two months ago I was brought in as CEO to rebuild the Comapny’s culture and turn the business around. I believe this Chapter 11 restructuring is the most viable path forward – it will allow us to stabilize Avant Gardner and focus on building for the future.
Read that statement in full below.
Reports have been circulating for the past month that Richards (who also DJs under the name Destructo) was looking for a buyer for Avant Gardner as it was “bleeding money,” with an anonymous Avant Gardner team member telling Brooklyn Mag in July, “if they don’t get bought, they’ll definitely have to file bankruptcy,” adding, “The company is so broke that certain employees are missing months of back pay and they’re not paying any holiday incentive wages. As far as speculation goes from me, this summer is a wash.”
More recently, a social media post from DJ Nora En Pure about her cancelled August 22 show read, “as many of you know, Brooklyn Mirage won’t be opening this summer.” Brooklyn Mag ran another quote from an anonymous Avant Gardner employee, which read, “Things are honestly way worse than people realize. Brooklyn Mirage definitely isn’t opening this year, and it’s looking very likely it won’t open next year either. The whole thing is a disaster.”
Brooklyn Mag also pointed to the Mirage’s application for a Temporary Place of Assembly Certificate of Operation on the Department of Buildings website having been moved to June 1, 2026 as further evidence the venue had given up on this summer’s season.