The Abbey, the Legendary West Hollywood Gay Bar, Is For Sale

The Abbey, a historic gay bar in West Hollywood, has been put up for sale.

The nearly 10,000 square feet venue is listed online by a commercial real estate group as "a generational purchase opportunity to acquire one of the world’s most iconic nightclubs and restaurants.”

Purchase of the property includes both the Abbey Food and Bar and the Chapel at the Abbey, a 2016 add-on to the original business.

Per the Los Angeles Times, David Cooley, an investment banker, opened the Abbey as a coffee shop in 1991. Eventually, it grew into a prominent gay bar and restaurant.

Writing for The Advocatein 2015, Cooley recalled that "even in 1991, the gay bars of the day were secretive. They were places mostly only other gay people socialized. They were hidden behind black curtains and smoked glass."

The Abbey was "an opportunity to do something different," he wrote. "We had an outdoor patio that was open to the street and adjacent to a park. People could see us as they went by, day or night. That was a radical idea for a gay bar at that time."

John Duran, who held a seat on the West Hollywood City Council from 2001 until 2020, told the Los Angeles Time, "[Cooley's] vision was in complete alignment with the city to reinvigorate historic Boystown and create a world-renowned gay establishment.”

“As one generation of LGBT passes into memory and new generations arrive," he continued, "it will be fascinating to witness the changes that may lie ahead for the historic district."

Cooley did not respond to the Times' request for comment.