Sydney's The Basement Put Up For Sale

The Basement, located at Sydney's Circular Quay, is officially up for sale, owners Tim Read and Jane Burridge announced today.

The club was founded as a jazz club in 1973 by Bruce Viles and in 1999 Read and Burridge joined Chris Richards in running the room. In its almost 40 years of operation the venue has built a legendary reputation, hosting the likes of Dizzy Gillespie, Prince, Taj Mahal, BB King and Renee Geyer right through to contemporary stars like Michael Buble, Justin Townes Earle, kd lang, Ryan Adams and even formed part of Sydney's Laneway festival.

Today in a joint statement the owners said that they've "spruced the place up" in the past 18 months, which including re-hanging the gallery of artist photos, re-establishing the Green Room Bar and added lounge space. They're still proud to have not installed poker machines but, "That said, it's good to have Elvis – the pinball machine - in the building."

They said they were selling due to a "a desire for a change in our personal priorities" and it was "time to hand the baton on to the next generation to take care of the legacy and be part of the future history of this wonderful club."

According to the listing from Spencer-Carr Property, The Basement has a 24 hour, seven day hotel license for over 550 patrons. It also has ten years remaining on the current lease.

No price has been publicly set.

Also of note, Spencer-Carr also still have the Annandale Hotel listed for sale or investment.