Beyond Baroque, a Los Angeles-based literary nonprofit, is having a rather hectic fortieth anniversary year. The organization, which celebrated in February when the L.A. City Council voted unanimously to approve a twenty-five-year extension of its lease just days before it was due to expire and be auctioned to other nonprofits, recently encountered another round of property complications, according to a press release distributed by Friends of Beyond Baroque. Citing an inside source at L.A. City Hall, the release states that Beyond Baroque's twenty-five year lease remains unsigned by the city and that a piece of the property at 681 Venice Boulevard crucial to the organization's operations, the historic theater, may not be included as part of the lease.
However, according to Bill Rosendahl, the city council representative for the district in which Beyond Baroque's space is situated, the organization is in no danger of losing its lease, Veronique de Turenne reported on the L.A. Times blog L.A. Now. Rosendahl explained that L.A. Theater Works, Beyond Baroque's neighbor at 681 Venice, is preparing to renew its lease, and he wants both organizations to share the theater. He added that he is opposed to either group using revenue from performances in the space to benefit their individual budgets.
Details of the lease agreement have not been made public.
