Lizzie Vann’s decision to list Bearsville Center for sale is not an exit from Woodstock but rather a pivot.
After listing Bearsville Center for $7.995 million last week, Vann said she is selling the landmark Woodstock complex to redirect her focus and capital toward new projects nearby, including housing, public green space and adaptive reuse of long-vacant buildings.
“My job there is done,” Vann said, referring to Bearsville Center.
As first reported by The Overlook, the Bearsville Center property—home to the historic Bearsville Theater, Utopia Studios Bearsville, and several restaurants—was listed this week by SVN/Deegan-Collins Commercial Realty for $7.995 million. The listing followed years of major renovations after Vann purchased the former Bearsville Theater complex in 2019 for $2.5 million.
Vann said she invested roughly $6.5 million in renovations and infrastructure upgrades.
“So I spent more on it than the value—but that’s my problem,” she said. “This was a principled decision.”
She emphasized that the sale will not disrupt existing businesses. Tenants with long-term leases, including national music promoter Peter Shapiro, who operates the Bearsville Theater, will remain under their current agreements.
“There will be no change for any of the tenants,” Vann said.
The community’s strong interest in the Bearsville Center property was reflected in an outpouring of reactions on social media. Pete Caigan, owner of Utopia Studios Bearsville, received 15 inquiries, in 24 hours, as to his recording studio’s status with the pending sale. Caigan felt compelled to post a video on social media.
“We have a long-term lease,” said Caigan, whose operation has hosted recording sessions by The Lumineers. “We will be here. We’re not going anywhere. I appreciate everyone’s concern. But we’re here, making music, making videos.”
Bearsville Center tenants also include the Bear Cantina and Tibet Pho restaurants, Tinker Street Tavern, and Utopia Studios. Vann said the property is fully leased and financially stable.
“Just to clarify—Bearsville is doing great,” she said. “It’s finally full of businesses that make customers happy, so that the businesses can afford to pay rent. Then the rent can be recycled into taking care of the buildings in the way they need to be taken care of, year on year.”
The property was originally developed by the late Albert Grossman, the Woodstock impresario and manager of Bob Dylan, as a creative hub combining music, art, and communal space. “So Albert’s vision for a creative utopian mini village finally works,” Vann said.
With Bearsville Center stabilized, Vann said her attention has shifted closer to downtown Woodstock. She owns the former Lasher Funeral Home and the adjacent former Woodstock Library building, where she plans to convert six buildings into at least 12 green, low-cost apartments, create a business-incubator coworking space, expand public green space, and develop a new park.
“Now we have another job to do—creating an amazing park, re-purposing the former library and funeral home and adding in some much needed lower-rent housing,” she said.
Vann also owns 59 Tinker St., the former home of Café Espresso and Tinker Street Café, venues that once hosted artists including R.E.M. and Phish. The building is now home to The Overlook’s office, and Happylife Productions, operated by Woodstock artists Mike DuBois and Kelly Sinclair.
“Without serious levels of investment, buildings in the Catskills deteriorate to the point where they are not fit for purpose,” Vann said. “So that is what we are now doing—putting in high levels of investment, creating spaces for people to live, all in empty buildings that are no longer fit for the purpose they were built for.”
The Bearsville Center listing comes amid a broader period of transition in Woodstock’s commercial real estate market. As previously reported, the former Mud Club and Early Terrible site on Mill Hill Road—now home to Gemela café—and the Woodstock Pub have also recently been put up for sale.
Still, Vann framed her decision as a vote of confidence in what Bearsville Center has become.
“The businesses employ over 50 people—when I bought it they employed five,” she said. “The Theater is doing amazingly. Peter Shapiro’s team is aces, and the place is more successful than it has ever been under five previous owners.”
John W. Barry is a reporter for The Overlook. Reach him at john@theoverlooknews.com.