Photo Michael Santiago
After 20 years, Café Cocomo’s salsa and dancing days at 650 Indiana Street are over, and the club’s location will soon become residential buildings and retail units.
Two years ago 650 Indiana Investment, LLC purchased the land on which Café Cocomo is located.
According to the San Francisco Planning Department, the proposed project for 650 Indiana Street—approved on May 1, 2014—includes two five-story, 58-foot-tall “residential buildings with 111 residential units and approximately 1,900 gross square feet of ground-floor neighborhood-serving retail uses.”
Café Cocomo, named after the Beach Boys’ song “Kokomo,” opened in 1994 when owner Drew Wanigatunga fulfilled his vision of creating a salsa venue for the Latin and international community.
There has been some controversy over the club’s closure however. Wanigatunga’s 20-year lease expires at the end of June, but he was not aware that the building was even for sale and was not offered the first chance to buy the building from the landlord.
“I put in investments into the place. The landlord was supposed to tell me and give me the first chance to buy,” Wanigatunga said.
He commented on the changes in the neighborhood as more people started to come into Potrero Hill, but noted that the new neighbors don’t come to Café Cocomo.
“They’re more a computer type of crowd,” he observed.
Patrons of the club have known for over a year that the club’s days were numbered, but that didn’t make the announcement of its closure any easier to accept.
“I am pissed,” shared Hector Rivera, a 15-year patron of Café Cocomo.
He explained how the area around Café Cocomo evolved from mainly industrial to residential as new additions were made to the neighborhood including AT&T Park, the light rail on 3rd Street and new condominiums.
Rivera expressed an understanding of the changes in the neighborhood, but he firmly stated that it “doesn’t mean you [developers] should be driving them [Café Cocomo] out from the area after 15 years.”
After two decades, the club has been nationally recognized by USA Today, and has earned worldwide recognition at the Salsa Congress in El Salvador.
Wanigatunga shared that some of his favorite moments at the club were when “well-known bands would come and play at Cocomo like Oscar de Leon, Spanish Harlem, Groupo Niche, and well-known Cuban bands.”
“This [Café Cocomo] has been the center of Latin music,” said Jake Jacobs, a salsa instructor at Café Cocomo since September 1998. “There have been performances, benefits, [and] events that bring the Latin community together. Classes to [learn how to dance] salsa are at the front door. It’s a great way to get people interested in dance and get them to come back.”
Wanigatunga plans to relocate, and hopes to have his new club open and running within the next few months. He described the undisclosed location as a “nice, upscale place” in the Fisherman’s Wharf/North Beach area.
“It [Café Cocomo] was a huge pinnacle of salsa dancing,” remarked Evan Margolin, a salsa instructor at Café Cocomo for 15 years and the founder of SalsaCrazy, Inc. “I’m sorry that so many great musicians won’t have such a great place to play. We still have Bimbo’s and other places, but will any club continue to do salsa? Plus, the size of the venues will be a lot smaller. We’re talking about places that fit like 50 people versus 800 people [at Cocomo’s].”
The size of the venue will be smaller, but Wanigatunga is excited for the new space.
“I’ve always liked the Latin community and want the support and love to continue at the new place, where we can make it better and better.” Wanigatunga said.