Corona's City Council voted unanimously on October 21 to approve a venue management agreement with Knitting Factory Entertainment for a city-owned building at 152 East 6th Street, setting the stage for a new all-ages concert hall in the heart of downtown. The yet-to-be-named venue is expected to hold more than 800 people and open in spring 2028.
A Five-Year, $900,000 Agreement
Under the terms outlined at the meeting, according to City of Corona meeting records, the agreement totals $900,000 over five years. The city will pay Knitting Factory Entertainment $100,000 upfront, with the remaining $800,000 expected to come from ticket and food-and-beverage sales generated at the venue. In exchange, the operator will take 5% of gross revenue, and the same records note that Knitting Factory will assist with facility design while managing staffing, marketing, ticketing, food and beverage, and concert booking.
Filling A Gap Left By The Showcase Theatre
The project is being framed as a revival of sorts for downtown Corona's live music scene. As reported by Daily Bulletin, the new project will reintroduce a live music venue to the area, filling a void left since the Showcase Theatre shuttered in 2008. That club, once dubbed the CBGB of the West Coast, hosted acts like The Adicts back in 2006 and is remembered as having an estimated capacity of around 450 people, according to a recollection published by boomcalifornia.org — far smaller than the more than 800-person capacity planned for the new space.
The venue is being developed in partnership with Ground Review, an Irvine-based developer, with both companies planning to open the space in spring 2028. Plans call for the venue to include a cocktail bar and a small restaurant serving finger foods, the Daily Bulletin's report adds.
Knitting Factory's Southern California Footprint
Knitting Factory Entertainment, described in the report as an independent entertainment and hospitality group, has operated in the Southern California market for more than 30 years. The company has run Pappy & Harriet's Pioneertown Palace in the high desert west of Joshua Tree and hosted the Desert Daze festival at Lake Perris State Recreation Area in Moreno Valley from 2018 to 2022. It also works with the Regent Theater in downtown Los Angeles and is slated to handle talent buying for a separate, soon-to-be-announced venue in the San Gabriel Valley.
Notably, a December 2024 ruling in Los Angeles Superior Court resolved a years-long fight over operational control of Pappy & Harriet's, a venue associated with Knitting Factory's chief executive, as reported by the Los Angeles Times.
What Company Leaders Are Saying
Morgan Margolis, Knitting Factory Entertainment's CEO and president, said the company aims to bring more local jobs and an exciting music scene to downtown Corona, per the Daily Bulletin's report. James Irvine, senior vice president and head talent buyer of the company's live music division, will curate venue lineups spanning varied genres, including acts from local Inland Empire and Southern California music communities, according to the same news release cited in that report.
“Knitting Factory aims to establish a home for touring and local artists that respects the venue's musical history,” Irvine said, according to the Daily Bulletin's account. With construction still ahead and a spring 2028 target on the calendar, downtown Corona now has a defined timeline — if not yet a name — for its next concert hall.
