The Granada opened on Greenville Avenue in January 1946 with a screening of Mildred Pierce. The marquee that went up that winter has lit the block for eighty years. In the plans announced on October 23, it stays lit after the music ends. Travis Talmadge, co-founder of the company buying the building, told The Dallas Morning News, "You will enter Bathhouse the same way you'd enter the Granada, under the marquee."
The stage is what goes. Owners Mike Schoder and Julia Garton have sold the Granada Theater and Sundown at Granada to Bathhouse, a New York company that plans to fill the old movie house with saunas, steam rooms and thermal pools. According to the owners' statement, the Granada will host shows and events through April 17, 2027.
This corner of Lower Greenville is about to change uses for the sixth time, and the building itself is staying. Five months of shows remain, and the reason the building survives comes down to the buyer the owners picked.
A Building That Has Already Been Several Places
Every era of the Granada has worked inside the same walls. Reporting from The Dallas Morning News and the Dallas Observer traces the sequence:
- 1946: Phil Isley Enterprises opens the Granada as a first-run movie house.
- The decades that followed: church services, football watch parties, golden-age revivals and art-house screenings.
- Mid-1970s: X-rated films, which the Dallas Times Herald called the most controversial programming in the city's theater history.
- May 1977: the first live concert, with Kenny Rogers. Before long it was back to showing movies.
- August 2004: Schoder reopens the Granada as a full-time concert venue. Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, Adele, Billie Eilish, Kacey Musgraves and Erykah Badu all play there over the next two decades.
- 2028: Bathhouse is scheduled to open. The Morning News reports a mid-2028 target and the Observer reports late 2028.
The Morning News points out that two other old Dallas movie houses, the Wilshire on Mockingbird Lane and the Esquire on Oak Lawn Avenue, were demolished. The Granada kept escaping that fate, and this sale is how it escapes it one more time.
What the Owners Said No To
Schoder and Garton describe the property as two acres in the middle of Dallas. According to the Morning News, the parking lot behind the theater is zoned for multifamily housing, and developers made offers again and again over the years. Schoder summed up those buyers in two sentences:
"They just wanted the dirt. They wanted to scrape everything."
The owners' statement says they "turned down developers who envisioned hundreds of apartments" and tried first to find someone to keep the music going. Schoder told the Morning News that their main focus was finding another operator to run the venue the way they had, and they didn't find one. The statement lists the pressures on independent venues as rising costs, shifting audiences and corporate consolidation.
Bathhouse wants old buildings, and that is why it ended up as the buyer. Talmadge and Jason Goodman opened their first location in Brooklyn's Williamsburg neighborhood in 2019. They have since announced locations in a renovated 1904 hotel in Philadelphia and in the former Amoeba Music building on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles. In Dallas they looked at Knox-Henderson, the West Village, Uptown and Greenville before a local broker suggested the Granada about a year ago. Bathhouse's plan depends on the old building, which is why the facade stays.
The trade-off falls on the restaurant next door. Under the plan, Sundown at Granada will be torn down and the theater expanded onto its footprint. The theater's exterior will stay as it is. Sundown opened in 2012, according to the Observer. Its regular service ended Sunday, November 1, and private events continue through December 31, 2026. Bathhouse hasn't said what it will do with the rear parking lot.
What's Left on the Calendar
From now until mid-April, the building is still a concert hall. These dates come from the Granada's calendar, which can change, so check the venue before you buy tickets.
November 2026
- Thursday, Nov. 5: The Damned, tonight
- Friday, Nov. 6: Shadowgrass
- Saturday, Nov. 7: Low Cut Connie with Laney Jones and the Spirits
- Friday, Nov. 13: James McMurtry with BettySoo
- Saturday, Nov. 14: On Cinema, with Tim Heidecker and Gregg Turkington
- Tuesday, Nov. 17: The Wrecks with Worry Club and Kid Sistr
- Friday, Nov. 20: The Afghan Whigs with Night Moves
- Saturday, Nov. 21: Dad Rock Night
December 2026
- Saturday, Dec. 12: Ricki Derek's Christmas show with the Ho, Ho, Ho Orchestra and guests
- Saturday, Dec. 19: Victor Wooten and The Wooten Brothers
- Wednesday, Dec. 30: Steve Hofstetter
- Thursday, Dec. 31: Bob Schneider with J Isaiah Evans & The Boss Tweed, the Granada's last New Year's Eve
January through April 2027
- Saturday, Jan. 9: WHIP IT FEST
- Sunday, Jan. 10: Janeane Garofalo
- Friday, Jan. 29: Eddie 9V
- Saturday, Feb. 6: KAMIJO
- Friday, Mar. 5: Haken
- Thursday, Mar. 11: Eluveitie with Nini and Illumishade
- Sunday, Mar. 21: Metal Church with Armored Saint and One Machine
- Saturday and Sunday, Apr. 3 and 4: Foy Vance
No act has been announced for April 17, the final date. The owners' statement promises "one last run of shows, one last round of memories, and one heck of a farewell."
What Stays on Greenville Avenue After April
Once the Granada closes, its touring acts will need other rooms. The Morning News expects them to land at the Kessler Theater, the Echo Lounge, Trees, Canton Hall, the Majestic Theater, House of Blues, the Rustic and Legacy Hall in Plano. None of those is on Lower Greenville.
The block itself keeps the most important piece of its streetscape. In the plans as reported, the marquee and most of the exterior stay, and the entrance stays where it is. Schoder described the next use as "a different drawing card," aimed at people who want to relax and get healthy. He said that was as close as he could imagine to something he and Garton would be happy with.
The Granada's run of shows ends April 17, 2027, at 3524 Greenville Ave.
At Elliott & Elliott Real Estate Group, we've spent years working with East Dallas buildings that were built for one era and adapted for the next, and we pay attention when a landmark gets a second life instead of a bulldozer. If you're thinking about what an older East Dallas home could become, or how a change like this might affect the streets around it, we'd be glad to talk it through with you.
