Fans of Jersey Shore looking to nab a piece (or two) of MTV history, will soon get their chance — assuming, of course, that they have at least $1.2 million in the bank.
According to NewJersey.com, Karma and Bamboo Bar, two of the Seaside Heights bars made famous by the cast of ‘Jersey Shore’, will be auctioned off March 26 after the clubs’ parent company, Saddy Family LLC, filed for bankruptcy more than a year ago.
The first fist-pumping hot spot up for grabs, Bamboo Bar, is located one block from the boardwalk, according to The Auctioneers Group, with “prime corner-to-corner” frontage on the Boulevard. The 21,712 square-foot building features an attached open porch and wood deck (both of which can be used to find a suitable smush partner for the evening!)
Fans of ‘Jersey Shore’ may know Bamboo Bar best as being the site where the massive brawl went down during Season 6, though the bar was visited by the cast throughout the series.
The nominal opening bid for Bamboo Bar is listed at $1.2 million; however, the liquor license from the Bamboo Bar is also up for grabs with bids beginning at $450,000.
The second venue being auction off is Karma Nightclub, also located one block from the boardwalk. The 12,008 square-foot building features an attached porch, wood deck, attached canopy and concrete patio.
Karma holds the distinction of being the place where Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi met her future husband Jionni LaValle. It was also the site of plenty of fights, hookups and crotch-exposing cartwheels over the course of the show.
Unlike Bamboo Bar, a liquor license is not being auctioned off with Karma, as the club has not been open since 2018 due to police making several underage drinking arrests at the nightclub. In June of last year, the Seaside borough council voted for the second year to reject the club’s request for a liquor license.
Like Bamboo Bar, the opening nominal bid for Karma is also set at $1.2 million, however, maybe if potential buyers bring up the fact that Jenni “JWoww” Farley once turned one of the club’s bars into her own personal bathroom stall, they’d be willing to knock off a few dollars.
While filing for bankruptcy in February of last year, Saddy Family LLC, reportedly owed more than $2 million to various entities and the sales from the auctions will go towards paying back creditors.
In addition to settling some debts, Seaside Heights Mayor Anthony Vaz said auctioning the clubs will also help swap the city’s bar atmosphere for a more family-friendly image, as developers have reportedly suggested turning the properties into retail stores, coffee shops or condos.
“The bottom line is we’re geared toward families — an image that’s going to make everyone feel safe and happy and enjoy the beauty of the beaches,” he told NJ Advance Media. “We’re driven to a different environment.”
‘Jersey Shore’ fans who are sad to see the infamous clubs close have appealed to the show’s (rich) cast to save Karma and Bamboo Bar. Several members of the cast addressed this in an interview with Page Six last week.
“We literally were just talking about this in group chat,” Nicole said. “We’re like, we should all go in and buy Karma! But then again, it would be such a disaster…it would be a hot mess!”
Jenni “Jwoww” Farley, Deena Cortese and Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino joked during the Page Six interview that, if they did buy the clubs, they would all have jobs to take on.
“Pauly [D] deejays. Mike works the door,” Jenni said. “We would just be wasted behind the bar. I’d be peeing behind the bar. It would be auctioned off again.”
They did seem sad to see the clubs go, though.
“It’s a piece of history, right there,” Mike said.
“It’s a museum at this point,” Nicole added.
The auction for both clubs will take place at the Bamboo Bar on March 26.
Watch the video below to relive Snooki’s wild days at Karma!
The auction for the two venues and one liquor license will take place March 26 at 1 p.m.
(Photos: MTV; Instagram)
2 Responses
With all of the real hurricanes that hit the East Coast (especially this time of year,) I would imagine this is a pre-emtive move instead of bulldozing them.
I’m pretty sure all the clubs they went to in the original Miami Jersey Shore season are all closed now too. ???♀️