MilkBoy ArtHouse Closes, But Shows Will Go On

Live music venue and eatery MilkBoy ArtHouse has closed its doors in College Park, but the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center of the University of Maryland will continue putting on shows in the performance space.

The Philadelphia-based operators of MilkBoy, which first opened in College Park in May 2017, announced on Saturday that they would be shuttering the College Park location.

“We have loved our time in College Park, the community, and especially the people who became a part of our extended family,” they wrote. “The city of College Park is a wonderful place and poised for great things ahead.”

MilkBoy ArtHouse was a joint venture with the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center as part of the university’s effort to make College Park a top 20 college town.

It has hosted an eclectic mix of musicians, including up-and-coming rappers, jazz bands, world music artists, classical quartets and live theater and was voted the best place to see live music in the Hyattsville Wire’s 2019 reader poll.

The Clarice announced that it would “continue to present performing arts by national and international creative innovators and artists at this location.”

Ken Ulman, president of Terrapin Development Company, which owns the property, told the Hyattsville Wire it was very unlikely they will just close the location down entirely or that it will become something different from what it’s been. They said they are committed to continuing this location as an arthouse in some way and that they are looking for a new operator to run the restaurant/bar/music venue by this spring.
 

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8 responses to “MilkBoy ArtHouse Closes, But Shows Will Go On”

  1. Craig Fleshman says:

    I don’t know what it is about that property where Milkboys is, but it seems no one can hit the five year mark. The only thing that really stayed there for over a decade was a nightclub/bar called the Paragon. Is that the only thing that interests college students who one day will be the future leaders of the great country?

  2. James McClellan says:

    It’s the rent. All of the businesses close their because the rent is too high. Sure their is plenty of walk in traffic, but the property owners in the area general rape their tenants raising Rents year to year or lease end to lease end. So much so, that rather than go bankrupt from it the just close the doors. Property owners in College Park have long been known to do this making it one of the worst places to start a new business without building a stand alone.

  3. Bob says:

    It is a large space with a legal capacity of almost 1,000 people. So a lot of rent expense. Now university controlled (TDC on lease) because of past issues with some businesses here only surviving by not checking IDs.

  4. Jane says:

    High rent and soon to be lack of parking. City lot now closed, lot behind soon to become an apartment building. Plus the menu was ok, not great and I always felt like they didn’t care if I was a patron or not. I can eat and drink at other places that are friendlier. If you want to survive in college park you do have to appeal to the locals of all ages and market yourself. Let’s face it, how many downtown restaurants were we encouraged to go to during this recent break by the cities economic or marketing department? The answer would be none. So in addition to high rents, parking, students gone for five weeks, no “reminder” us locals who can go ..some .businesses just can’t survive. It’s been this way for over 40 years. And the businesses that were doing ok are now being shuttered or moving due to new building

  5. Clay says:

    Businesses overestimate the market for non-college students. I have lived in numerous small cities and have never seen a place where locals are so uninterested in supporting new places. Remember Old Maryland Grill before Mike Franklin pulled out? Food was great, happy hour deals were amazing, and no locals showed up. Ledo’s is for sale, Fishnet closed, Kapnos closed, Milkboy closed, Plato’s closed (not before first collecting fire insurance money), Shanghai Chinese will close (city bought their property for an unnecessary expansion of town hall- so much for the American Dream), and I predict College Park Grill will close. Meanwhile, a Chinese-run “incubator” that uses MD $ to bring mainly Chinese-owned companies to set-up shop in MD works with other Chinese-funded groups to bring a huge number of Chinese graduate students…these students are living in the newest fancy buildings and they have money to spend. So we get lots of great Chinese food, like Zhang’s handpulled noodles. But even some of these places, like the huge Karaoke and Hot Pot place across the street from Lidl, might close. Most older residents want to be able to pull up in front of the place and pop in. Parking, with the exception of Ledo’s, Jason’s, Hard Times is not really like that. Even when a place is Washington Post reviewed, like Habenero Taco, it is empty when the students are not in session. The new fancy places are failing. Also new “CP Hall” behind “The Hotel” is opening soon and that will likely fail. Far too many projects are being started through investor money and partnerships. CP needs to stop seeking out the crazy new expensive developments and let the market (college students and a relatively small group of locals) organically take hold. That way we will have more mid-range places. College Park needs a lot more of the “funky” but it won’t get it for a variety of reasons.

  6. […] sudden closing of MilkBoy ArtHouse in College Park has led to speculation about the reasons for its decision to shut […]

  7. Kevin Bradley says:

    I have to say, parking is a MAJOR issue and one reason why I opt to continue on to Riverdale Park Station, where the parking is free and unlimited. I’ve been disappointed 2-3 times getting tickets or not enjoying myself because I have to keep moving my car. Also, when the businesses cater only to college kids, why would older adults (or local teens) go to businesses that aren’t serving their demographic? Part of the issue is on the business owners too…a big part…

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