Legendary NC music club adding 2nd location. Here’s the next stage for Cat’s Cradle.

Tammy Grubb
·4 min read

A club that has spawned bands, record labels and a nearly 55-year live-music legacy started forging a new chapter this month with a planned second location in downtown Carrboro.

Cat’s Cradle owner Frank Heath is adding a second, larger venue about a quarter-mile east of his 300 E. Main St. club, according to town documents.

The new club at 107 Brewer Lane will be in addition to the Cat’s Cradle for now, but it could become the sole location if Heath’s landlord Main Street Partners moves ahead with the rest of its redevelopment plans for 300 East Main.

Main Street Partners let plans to replace the building that houses Cat’s Cradle lapse in January, town staff has reported. There is no timeline for new plans to be submitted.

The town’s “understanding of the project at this point is that Frank is going to try to continue to operate both the new building that he purchased and the old space simultaneously,” said Jon Hartman-Brown, the town’s economic development director. “Each one has kind of their own feel and space size.”

The News & Observer’s efforts to reach Heath were unsuccessful.

The plan for the new club

Houses and and local businesses line Brewer Lane, including the NAPA Auto Parts store, Carolina Car Wash, Belltree Cocktail Club and, later this year, The Cheese Shop, which is growing out of its pop-up space on South Greensboro Street.

Heath’s company Sweet B LLC paid $1.4 million in 2020 to buy the lot at 107 Brewer Lane and two more lots at 109 Brewer Lane. The $2.8 million project has been planned for several years, documents show.

The project expands a vacant, 8,800-square-foot building at 107 Brewer Lane into a two-story, up to 14,000-square-foot club, about 1,000 square feet larger than the original Cat’s Cradle, according to county tax records. The two additional lots give Cat’s Cradle room to expand or add more parking.

The new club will have a dedicated area for bands to relax between sets and to sell merchandise near the main bar, which features a seating area and cocktails, documents showed. Four additional beer bars are planned — two on each floor.

Eighteen parking spaces are available on site, with more parking available in a public deck nearby.

Work started in January to renovate and expand a concrete and brick building on Brewer Lane in Carrboro for a second Cat’s Cradle location. The new venue is expected to be over 14,440 square feet on two floors and operate in addition to the original venue.
Work started in January to renovate and expand a concrete and brick building on Brewer Lane in Carrboro for a second Cat’s Cradle location. The new venue is expected to be over 14,440 square feet on two floors and operate in addition to the original venue.

Musical legacy of Cat’s Cradle

The Cat’s Cradle first opened in 1969 in a basement on West Rosemary Street in Chapel Hill, moving to multiple locations on Rosemary and Franklin streets and hosting many national acts, including the Red Hot Chili Peppers, R.E.M., Nirvana, Public Enemy and Indigo Girls.

Heath took over the club’s ownership in 1987 and oversaw the move to a 750-person, standing room-only space at 300 E. Main St. in Carrboro in 1993. He added the Back Room — a second stage that holds 200 fans — in 2013 and also leases a gravel lot from the town for outdoor shows.

Cat’s Cradle has played a pivotal role in growing Chapel Hill’s and Carrboro’s reputations as great places for live music, helping to launch local bands, like Ben Folds Five, Southern Culture on the Skids and Superchunk, and record labels, including Yep Roc and Merge.

But its future has been clouded since 2008, when Main Street Partners started to redevelop the strip mall at 300 E. Main St.

The Cat’s Cradle has hosted live bands and charity events in this strip mall storefront at 300 E. Main St. in Carrboro since 1993. Owner Frank Heath has expanded the 750-capacity club in that time to include a 200-person Back Room and an outdoor music space.
The Cat’s Cradle has hosted live bands and charity events in this strip mall storefront at 300 E. Main St. in Carrboro since 1993. Owner Frank Heath has expanded the 750-capacity club in that time to include a 200-person Back Room and an outdoor music space.

What’s happening at 300 East Main

Heath has been at odds with the developers in the past, contradicting a claim by his landlords in 2015 that they offered to help Cat’s Cradle move but were turned down several times. Cat’s Cradle needs a larger location to compete with other live music venues in the Triangle, Heath said at the time.

In late 2019, Cat’s Cradle celebrated its 50th anniversary, just a month before Heath bought the land on Brewer Lane. He got a zoning permit for new space in October 2020 and a two-year extension in 2022. The town issued a permit allowing work to start in January.

The ArtsCenter, which had shared the existing building with Cat’s Cradle, moved into a new space on Roberson Street in August. Haw River Tap & Table and Amante Gourmet Pizza remain in the 300 East Main building.

Kevin Benedict, with Main Street Partners, declined to speak on the record about the future of Cat’s Cradle or the redevelopment, but said the owners are pleased with the current mix at 300 East Main now, including restaurants, shops and a theater group.