A new bar and event venue is headed to the former Castro/Duboce Triangle dive bar Lucky 13 at 2140 Market Street.
Hoodline was alerted to the change by a liquor license application notice on the business.
According to the application, the event venue is doing business as 'Silver Apple' and has applied for a Type 42 beer-and-wine license. Distilled spirits will not be served.
A new event space will be opening at 2140 Market St., formerly Lucky 13. | Photo: Steven Bracco/Hoodline
The new business is being launched by DJ collective and record label founders Erika Martinez and Arthur 'sfcowboy' Javier. "We’re still navigating permits and approvals for our wine-bar concept, so nothing is finalized yet," Martinez told Hoodline.
Martinez declined to discuss any further details. The venue could potentially be called Program, as Martinez and Javier created a social media page and have been hosting events across the city under the name Program Audio for nearly two years. One such event, a record release party for an artist on their label, is scheduled for Thursday at the nearby venue Underground SF.
In March, Martinez and Javier told San Francisco State's Xpress Magazine that they had been working on the project and would be opening in a yet-to-be-named "historical venue."
Image: Program Audio/Instagram
“The space is a historical venue established in San Francisco, and there’s so much history behind the music, the bars, the parties. It’s a really symbolic thing because I honestly think program is making waves in the music scene in San Francisco and beyond," explained Program Audio's Emily Vu.
Now that the liquor license application has been posted, we know that they'll be opening at the former Lucky 13. An opening date has not been announced at this time.
Program was started as a passion project between Martinez and Javier. "There were just amazing parties happening in San Francisco, and we were inspired by that,” Martinez told Xpress Magazine. “It inspired me to learn how to DJ, and then we threw backyard events at friends’ places.”
Erika Martinez inside the former Lucky 13 space. | Photo: Erika Martinez/GoFundMe
Martinez and Javier are currently crowd-funding on GoFundMe to help open Program. They've currently raised approximately $11,000 of a stated $40,000 goal.
"We're asking for assistance in helping us stay afloat while we wait for our final permits to be approved and prepare our space for inspections," writes Martinez.
"We've had to pause all activity inside the space to focus on completing the final stages of preparation and compliance," adds Martinez.
Liquor license application at 2140 Market St. | Photo: Steven Bracco/Hoodline
Lucky 13 shuttered in 2020 after five years of limbo, with the property slated for development.
Back in 2015, Hoodline broke the news that the owner of the bar's property was looking to develop a condo project on the site.
Hoodline reached out to property owner Kent Mirkhani, who confirmed the new tenants, but did not respond to requests for an update on the housing project.
According to public records, the five-story, 27-unit, mixed-use housing development was cancelled in July 2024 due to the permit application expiring.
Last month, a complaint was filed with San Francisco's Department of Building Inspection for the space being vacant. However, that complaint was closed after SF DBI received documents proving the space was now leased.
Music Works at 2140 Market St. (1988). | Photo: Max Kirkeberg/SFSU
Per SF Gay History, before Lucky 13 (1988-2020), the space was Mind Shaft (1973-1977), Alfie's (1977-1983), Prism (1984-1985), 2140 Market (1985), Industrial Dance Complex (1985-1986), High Chaparral (1988), and Music Works (1988).
Harvey Milk famously held his victory party at Alfie's after being elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in November 1977.
Built in 1906 for the fraternal society of woodworkers, Woodmen of the World, the building still bears the inscription "W.O.W. 1906."
