Verboten Finds a Buyer: Ex-Pacha Boss Drops $1.2M on Embattled Williamsburg Club Space

Pictured: Eddie Dean. Photo via Twitter

WILLIAMSBURG, BROOKLYN — The shamed and bankrupted club space at 54 North 11th St. formerly known as Verboten has been purchased by Manhattan club king Eddie Dean, his public-relations agency announced Tuesday afternoon.

Dean — former owner of Pacha NYC, a mega-club in Hell's Kitchen that relocated to China earlier this year — won his new, prime Williamsburg space with a $1.2 million bid in bankruptcy court, his agency said.

He plans to open a nightclub there by fall 2016.

Despite the wishes of local blog Free Williamsburg, Dean will not be turning the brick warehouse at 54 North 11th into a club for cats.

Instead, much like Verboten's former owners, Dean has promised to dedicate his (yet to be re-named) club to "the creative ethos of Brooklyn" and build it into "an outpost for the global dance music scene."

Andrew Inomata, who previously worked with Dean at Pacha, has been appointed director of the new club.

"We will endeavor to celebrate the spirit of dance music that was born at the crossroads of creativity," Inomata said in a statement issued Tuesday.

More on the pair's vision, via press release:

Their collective long-term plan for the venue is to become a creative hub for musicians and artists and tap into the maker-culture of DIY Brooklyn with arts, music, food, and community life. It is anticipated that the venue will continue to host live music concerts and DJ shows, booking globally renowned talent, as well as seek to be an incubator for up and coming talent for all genres of music.

Verboten's previous owners, John Perez and Jen Schiffer, were accused in a lawsuit filed by 16 ex-employees of creating a racist, "sexually hostile" and otherwise unprofessional environment at Verboten, both for workers and for patrons. But all that ended in March, when the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance seized and the nightclub over $360,000 in unpaid taxes.

The club's shutdown has meant extra business for neighboring late-night spots like Outpost and Good Room.

Dean, Verboten's new owner, opened three Brooklyn clubs — Faces, Ruby’s and Rock 'N' Jocks — in the 90s, before launching Pacha's first New York City outpost in 2005. He also co-founded RPM Presents, the production company that recently brought the biggest name in West Coast raves, Electric Daisy Carnival, to New York City.

“I started my nightlife career in Brooklyn so it’s only fitting that I return here now,” Dean said Tuesday.

What do you think? Is Dean the right dude to rid 54 North 11th of its curse? Let us know: simone.wilson@patch.com.