After the City of Dallas flagged an establishment for crime and code violations, the owners of the nightclub in Deep Ellum found themselves locked out by the establishment’s landlord.
On July 31, the popular Rodeo Dallas nightclub at the corner of Elm and Crowdus Street was seen closed with a chain and padlock. A letter on the door announced the property’s landlord had moved to repossess the space and the locks because of “defaults” from the tenants.
While construction has plagued the neighborhood in the past, Dan Murray, co-owner of The Armoury D.E., an establishment just a few doors down from Rodeo Dallas, says other concerns are emerging.
“I certainly don’t take joy in any business getting shut down, but as a bar you have a responsibility to the community that you’re in and to your patrons to make sure that you’re doing the right thing,” he said, per NBC 5.
The chain and padlock came one week after the Dallas City Attorney’s Office flagged Rodeo Dallas in a letter for crime and code violations. The letter noted over a dozen instances of alleged criminal activity, including possession of a controlled substance, disorderly conduct, and even murder.
It also lists numerous city code violations identified during an inspection in early July.
“Just because somebody gets hammered at one particular place and a fight starts, once it gets pushed out into the street, it’s not like it stops and those people just go away,” said Murray.
Despite the City giving Rode Dallas until August 29 to take required action, the locked doors were in place three weeks before the deadline.
As previously reported in The Dallas Express, Dallas Rodeo was opened just two years back by Joseph “JD” Ybanez and Josh Reaganafter taking on the location once occupied by Wits End.