RALEIGH - Less than three months after they began adding a jolt to the emerging downtown warehouse district, three nightclubs shuttered under the cover of darkness as a dispute brews between the clubs' owner, its landlord and a cadre of unpaid contractors.

RD Raleigh of Rochester, N.Y. -- which in September opened SoHo East, The Hurricane and Blazin' Saddles at 327 W. Davie St. -- packed its things Sunday night and hit the road, another scrape for a downtown sector that has stumbled before.

The owner bolted the building, known as The Depot, as questions loom about who is responsible for payments related to the expensive interior design of the clubs.

Subcontractors who did electrical, plumbing, air conditioning and other work say they haven't been paid. Meanwhile, the clubs' owner, landlord and general contractor are pointing fingers.

The closure leaves about 40 people unemployed. It also casts more question marks over a district that some said had arrived.

The warehouse district has long been pegged as downtown's next destination sector, flanked by the city's growing financial and government districts and its rising convention center to the east, the Glenwood South entertainment district to the north and N.C. State University just beyond the Boylan Heights neighborhood to the west.

The former home of industrial and automotive suppliers and meat and soda distributors has been transformed in recent years with the opening of clubs, restaurants and bars such as Humble Pie, Mosquito, Deep South and White Collar Crime.

But recent closures and delayed development have slowed the sector's rise beyond a dance-drink-dine destination. Glance Gallery, which sold local art at 311 W. Martin St., shuttered in June. A plan by Raleigh's Contemporary Art Museum to build galleries with residences, shops or offices at 409 W. Martin St. is months behind.

The area's most promising development, a light rail terminal, was iced after federal funding for the project fell through, causing potential investors to speculate elsewhere.

"We had thought that there would be a number of projects under way by now," Mayor Charles Meeker said. "There's activity on Hillsborough Street, but not in the warehouse district."

The Depot is among the closest things to an entertainment anchor in the district.

It was built in 1920 for the Southern Railway, and its owner, N.C. Railroad Co., remodeled the 17,000-square-foot brick building with cobblestone parking lot in 2003. It planned to lease it to a commercial tenant. But The Depot sat empty after potential deals fell through.

Restaurateur Scott Howell disagreed with N.C. Railroad Co. about sharing interior-construction costs and ended up opening a restaurant at a different Davie Street location in 2004. The next year, Red's Beach Music considered leasing space but ultimately moved to Capital Boulevard.

Then Ronald A. Davis signed a lease for about 14,000 square feet of space in the winter of 2006, with plans to open his we've-got-a-bar-for-everybody concept in May. The Hurricane was the sports club. SoHo East was for the upscale crowd. And Blazin' Saddles was the country-western saloon featuring a mechanical bull, "swill whiskey shooters" and "the area's hottest bartenders."

They joined Ess Lounge, which still operates in The Depot.

Davis' clubs opened in September -- under a temporary permit from the city -- riding an expensive advertising blitz.

But subcontractors were still awaiting payment.

"We did our job, and we want to get paid," said Don Luther, whose company, C&D Plumbing of Knightdale, was one of the contractors on the job. Luther says he's still owed about $50,000, and that other contractors are owed at least $260,000.

Disputes between tenants and contractors are common. But Luther says the building's owner, N.C. Railroad, owes him money.

But Kat Christian, a spokeswoman for N.C. Railroad, said Davis was responsible for paying the subcontractors. "We agreed to reimburse him some upfit costs once the terms of the lease were met, but the terms of the lease have not been met: that rent would be paid," she said.

Davis declined to comment. His lawyer, Benjamin R. Kuhn of Raleigh, says Davis' former general contractor, Universal Developers of Raleigh, is responsible. Kuhn said Universal was paid "substantial sums" to pay the subcontractors. Universal officials did not return calls seeking comment.

"We truly regret any hardship or impact this closure may have on our employees, patrons, the North Carolina Railroad and others," Kuhn wrote in a statement.

(Staff writers Sue Stock and Frank Norton and news researcher Brooke Cain contributed to this report.)