An article in today’s New York Times shed some light on the fate of the venerable downtown music venue, The Knitting Factory. When all is said and done, it looks like “The Knit” will be taking over the space once held by the Luna Lounge in Williamsburg, while at the same time, (through a Byzantine series of mergers and acquisitions), they’ll be opening outposts in both Spokane, WA and Boise, ID.

But Mr. Hoffman, who took over five years ago, is betting on a plan for the future that will involve a lower local profile in Brooklyn and a big role in two cities distant from downtown New York in every way: Boise, Idaho, and Spokane, Wash.

This week the New York club, the headquarters of a company that also includes a club in Los Angeles, won community board approval to begin moving into 361 Metropolitan Avenue in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, the former site of the Luna Lounge. In TriBeCa the Knitting Factory has three performances spaces, the largest holding 400 people, but in Brooklyn it will have only one room, for 300 or fewer. Two weeks ago “Knitting Factory Concert House” signs went up outside larger halls in Boise (capacity 1,000) and Spokane (1,500) that the company recently acquired.
…
Before it made a bid for the Luna Lounge space, the Knitting Factory tried to stay in Manhattan. Mr. Hoffman looked at a space on 14th Street between Avenues A and B, but there was a zoning problem, he said.

The Williamsburg location, which Mr. Hoffman said he hoped to open in “four to nine months,” will bring the club closer to a young audience long ago priced out of Lower Manhattan. [NYTimes]