Grateful Dead bassist’s former North Bay music venue listed for $5 million (original) (raw)

A patio dining area sits next to the San Rafael Creek at Terrapin Crossroads in San Rafael. Photo: Erik Castro / Special to The Chronicle

For die-hard Deadheads, a piece of crucial Bay Area music history has hit the real estate market — for just a cool $5 million.

The San Rafael restaurant and music venue Terrapin Crossroads, which was opened in 2012 by Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh, closed permanently when its lease expired in November. Now, a Craigslist post advertises the venue at 100 Yacht Drive as a 15,000-square-foot waterfront restaurant, with an asking price of $4,990,000. That includes its “157-space parking lot, boat docks and exterior patio,” as well as its kitchen and bar equipment and the Terrapin Crossroads sign.

Interested parties are invited to contact the commercial agent for a floor plan and tour.

A wall covered in Grateful Dead memorabilia at Terrapin Crossroads. Photo: Brandon Chew / The Chronicle

Set against the harbor with multiple lounges, plus indoor and outdoor seating, Terrapin Crossroads hosted live music by local and touring national acts most nights for nearly 10 years, including regular — and sometimes unannounced — performances by Lesh and various collaborators.

According to the Marin Independent Journal, the decision to shutter followed negotiations about adjacent Beach Park, which the city leased separately to the venue in 2015. As for Lesh, who at 81 continues to play to devoted crowds (often alongside son Grahame Lesh on guitar), the note posted to the venue’s website from Phil and his wife, Jill Lesh, indicated the family isn’t ready to throw in the towel on Terrapin Crossroads as a concept just yet.

“While Terrapin’s time at its current location may be coming to a close, we know that Terrapin Crossroads was never a location — it was a community,” said the couple’s statement. “We hope to see you all soon, in some form, somewhere down the road.”