Popular LGBTQ+ club Legends finds new home in downtown Raleigh. What to know about the move
After decades on West Hargett Street, a well-known LGBTQ+ nightclub in downtown Raleigh is moving to a new location blocks away.
Legends Nightclub, which has welcomed individuals for 34 years, will leave its spot at 330 W. Hargett St. this year, Trevor Keller, a manager and booking director for the club, told The News & Observer over the phone. The club will reopen at 316 W. Cabarrus St., hopefully in time for Pride Month.
The hope is for a “seamless transition,” Keller said, with the club opening on Cabarrus Street just one week after its final day on Hargett Street.
Raleigh Magazine was first to report on the move.
Staying in the Warehouse District was a priority for the club, Keller said, and the new location needed to have enough room to accommodate the club.
What will the new Legends be like?
The club on Cabarrus Street will be similar in size to the current space, but the layout is shifting. There will be less interior space at the new location, but its outdoor patio will be larger, providing opportunities for entertainment, Keller said.
Legends contains distinct sections, such as a dance floor, game room and the Spotlight Theater, and those will carry over to the new club, he added. But overall, the space will feel more open.
Over the past three decades, Legends has been modified and augmented. That’s not the intention for the Cabarrus space.
“This new building will be our forever home. This is going to be the final product. Nothing will be, you know, an afterthought or an add on,” Keller said.
While they’re “pulling out all the bells and whistles” to create the new Legends, Keller said the club’s regulars will be able to find some Easter eggs in its new home.
“People are worried about the character,” Keller said. “That’s what I’ve heard about, is, we’re not going to have the same kind of character. But, you know, everything builds up character as time goes on.”
Why is Legends moving?
The commercial real estate firm CityPlat purchased the Legends property in late 2020, The N&O previously reported.
At the time, club co-owner Tim Bivens told The N&O in an email that the sale ensured “the long-term survival of Legends as an on-going business and an opportunity to collaborate for future development.” CityPlat did not have plans to make changes to the site immediately.
“We just kind of waited and wanted to stay in our building as long as we could,” Keller said.
The Raleigh City Council approved a rezoning of the Hargett Street property in 2021, allowing for a building of up to 40 stories.
Since then, a developer called High Street Residential, the residential subsidiary of Dallas-based Trammell Crow Company, has submitted plans to build a mixed-use project on the Legends property and surrounding parcels.
The plans call for a 30-story tower with retail and multifamily residential space, along with a parking deck, Triangle Business Journal reported.
High Street Residential is one of the developers behind downtown Raleigh’s 400H, a 20-story mixed-use tower with 242 residential units, 150,000 square feet of Class A office space and retailers including The Brass Tap Craft Beer Bar and Press Coffee and Crepes.
This story was originally published January 24, 2025 at 11:10 AM.
