Jay-Z’s 40/40 Club Closes After 20 Years

The 40/40 Club, the bar and lounge owned by American rapper Jay-Z, has closed its original location in the Flatiron District after two decades. The club called it quits at the end of July and plans to reopen at a new address next year, according to Andrea Thomas, a spokesperson for the company.

The lounge has hosted a number of high-profile events since opening in 2003: The rapper J. Cole held a mixtape release party there, and LeBron James celebrated his birthday in the lounge. In 2012, the venue reopened following a $10 million renovation that was intended to make it more competitive with newer clubs in downtown Manhattan at the time. “I wanted to retain the feel of a clubhouse, a relaxed place to interact with friends,” Jay-Z told Rolling Stone ahead of the reopening.

Over time, the 40/40 Club grew into a small chain of bars and restaurants. There were five at peak: The original in Flatiron, a sports lounge in Las Vegas, a club in Atlantic City, a bar at the Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, and a restaurant at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The Las Vegas location closed in 2008, a year after opening, and its Atlantic City club followed in 2013: A lawsuit claimed the company owed more than $115,000 in unpaid rent and other charges.

The 40/40 Club at Barclays Center remains open following the Manhattan closure, according to Jake Spitz, a spokesperson for the Brooklyn arena.

This isn’t the only hospitality project Jay-Z has been a part of in New York City. The rapper was formerly involved with the West Village restaurant the Spotted Pig before it closed in 2020. His real estate company, SCC Greenwich Realty, sold its longtime home for $7.5 million in 2022.