Bearsville Center – an expansive complex just outside Woodstock that includes Bearsville Theatre, Utopia Studios, the Bear Cantina, Pho Tibet, an ice cream parlor, Tinker Street Tavern and a park – has been listed on the market by owner Lizzie Vann.
Purchased in 2019 for $2.5m, the property was fully transformed following years of neglect, with Vann spending the Covid pandemic overseeing the renovation, removal of mold, efforts to divert rainwater, addition of new blacktop, new roofs, electricity and HVAC, plus a brand new sound system (later improved still by DayGlo Presents promoter Peter Shapiro). The buildings are now in ‘tip top condition’ and Vann, in speaking to NYS Music, noted that nothing will materially change with a new owner, and the Bearsville campus will remain intact.
My job here is done. The Bearsville Center is in perfect shape, thriving with concerts, housing, dining, and a world-class recording studio. We can now turn our undivided attention to Woodstock’s former Library and Funeral Home site, with a vision of creating an in-town park, adding affordable housing and so much more.
Lizzie Vann
A move Vann chalks up to stability, rather than crisis, she noted that leases are full, all restaurants are operating and everyone is happy. Additionally, employment has risen from 5 to 50 since 2019, chalked up to the steady business now found at Bearsville. “Bearsville is a well-cared for, invested in, and popular part of Woodstock that will be successful and contribute to the culture of the town for a long time to come,” said Vann.
The move will free up Vann to develop a new project in town, utilizing the former Lasher Funeral Home property and the adjacent former Woodstock Library property. Project Regeneration will convert six beloved yet redundant older buildings in downtown Woodstock, updated and reimagined for multi-purpose use as low-cost rental housing, co-working spaces, a regenerative park, and facilities for use by health practitioners and other community members.
Building this green energy and housing center in Woodstock will also include a 3.5 acre regenerative park, which includes an organic, no pesticide approach with natural plantings and a focus on apples, as the road from Woodstock to Bearsville was once lined with orchards. Lasher Funeral Home was previously an apple processing plant, stationed along the Saw Kill, and thus will see rainwater gardens, pagodas, natural plantings with reeds and areas for people to hang out, keeping the permaculture intact with the spirit and ethos of Woodstock. Learn more about Project Regeneration here.
Vann also owns 59 Tinker St., the former Café Espresso, best known as Bob Dylan’s living space when he resided in Woodstock in the 1960s, and currently home to artist Mike DuBois’ Happylife Productions.
The listing follows the January 1 departure of General Manager Frank Bango, who stepped into the role on June 1, 2025 under the promoter Peter Shapiro whose Dayglo Presents took over Bearsville on June 1 of last year, bringing in a huge slate of performances and artists. Check out upcoming shows at Bearsville Theater.
The asking price is listed at $7.9m, per Thomas Collins, managing director of SVN/Deegan-Collins Commercial Realty in Kingston.
Related to Bearsville Center, and also up for sale (unaffiliated with Vann) is the Bearsville Record Center, a house in downtown Woodstock that was previously used by legendary music manager Al Grossman, who housed his recording studio on the property and was regularly visited there by his many A-list clients. The price tag? $1,495,000.
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