December 20, 2023 – The City announced a public tender for the use of the Zagreb Boogaloo Club space located in the building of the Public Open University Zagreb. The space consists of a large hall with connected spaces (663 m²), a lobby (357 m²), a back terrace (833 m²), a side terrace (114 m²), a space on the top floor (40 m²) and a basement with toilets (63 m²). The total area is 2071 m².
The initial monthly rent without VAT is 4,867 euros, and a security deposit of 14,601 euros must be paid, writes Index. The city will announce the decision on the new tenant on January 19.
80% rock, jazz and electronic music, 20% cultural events
The space is leased on the condition that a cultural and artistic program intended primarily for young people is provided in a separate space. Rock, electronic and jazz music author’s program must make up 80 percent of the event, and other cultural events are to take up the remaining 20 percent.
Services such as a cafe and nightclub must also be provided in part of the space, and at least four cultural and artistic events per month must be provided free of charge.
The Boogaloo club will continue to operate until the end of the year, it was agreed earlier at a meeting of representatives of the People’s Open University with entrepreneurs Anđelko Šipuš, also known as DJ Shipe, and Marijan Kiša Mrx, who have run this popular place for the past eight years.
Tomašević: Where else can you rent a hall for 200 euros per evening?
This tender was announced in June by the mayor of Zagreb, Tomislav Tomašević, who then pointed out that the previous user contracted the program until the end of the year, even though he knew that his contract would expire in six months.
“Ok, those programs will remain, but the programs of other users will also be there while the public tender is ongoing, and after the tender we will see who will get that space for music programs because there will be nothing else there,” he said.
He pointed out that the previous user of the hall paid 200 euros per evening and asked – which other private person has such conditions. “It is in our interest to have music programs there, but where is it possible for someone to rent a hall for 200 euros per evening, tell me where the conditions are so good so that I can deal with the concert business,” Tomašević said at the time.
He said that all city spaces, regardless of use, must go to tenders because they must have transparent conditions for all potential users.
When asked to comment on the fact that the current user is protesting because he cannot get the space by negotiation, without a public tender, Tomašević warned that the State Audit Office insists on calling for a public tender.
According to the documentation in Index’s possession, the rent for the entire space, which consists of two halls, was 2,233 euros in April alone, while 498 euros were paid for utilities. The big hall costs around two hundred euros per evening.
Boogaloo to respond to the tender
After Tomašević’s speech, Anđelko Šipus said that it was clear that the mayor had never been in any kind of business and that the price of renting a large concert hall in Boogaloo was taken out of context.
“We have agreed on everything by agreement, thank God, so we will be able to apply and respond to the tender, so there is no point in dragging it out, but we can also show our side, even if, I repeat, it is irrelevant because they did not succeed in what they planned “, Šipuš said back then, claiming that the rent of the club’s smaller premises costs around 3,000 euros per month.
“We have invested a lot in the existing space and we want to apply for a new tender. Rent payment and utilities are a much larger item than two hundred euros per hall rental,” Marijan Kiš Mrx tells us.
As Anđelko Šipuš confirmed, their company will also be able to apply for the tender. Applications are also expected from non-profit organizations that, according to unofficial information, have priority.
If they get their lease terminated, Boogaloo management have a solution. “We will take our equipment and move to another space,” says Anđelko Šipuš.
All the details of the tender are available here.
