{"id":2035252,"date":"2026-07-09T16:49:01","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T13:49:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2035252"},"modified":"2026-07-09T16:49:01","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T13:49:01","slug":"the-pacha-group-ceo-on-the-clubs-new-york-opening-i-dont-think-i-could-have-had-a-happier-moment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2035252","title":{"rendered":"The Pacha Group CEO on the Club\u2019s New York Opening: \u2018I Don\u2019t Think I Could Have Had a Happier Moment\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Billboard-Pacha-New-York.jpeg?w=1024″]<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\tTrending on Billboard\t\t<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tIt was the evening of June 13, and Aloki Batra<\/strong> had opening night jitters.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cMy biggest fear was, \u2018Oh my god, the Pacha opening turns out to be inauspicious, and the Knicks don\u2019t win in five, and I\u2019ve got 5,000 people on the dance floor upset, but trying to sort of enjoy because they paid for a ticket,\u2019\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

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\"Travis<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\t\t\t\t\tPacha New York Opens Doors With Rampa, Knicks\u2019 Historic Win & Travis Scott\u00a0Appearance\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n

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    Ariel King<\/span><\/div>\n<\/li>\n
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    \n\tBut earlier in the day Batra \u2014 CEO of FIVE Hospitality and The Pacha Group \u2014 had seen a rainbow over the New York City skyline and just had a feeling that the opening of his newest property, Pacha New York, would go well. He was right. By 11:30 that night, the 5,000 people on the dancefloor were screaming with joy as they watched the New York Knicks win the NBA Finals on the massive screen hugging the club\u2019s dancefloor. Here, the team\u2019s first championship win in 53 years was soundtracked by New York dance world royalty Danny Tenaglia, who played Frank Sinatra\u2019s \u201cTheme From New York, New York\u201d as the crowd, Batra included, cheered and danced.<\/p>\n

    \n\t\u201cI don\u2019t think I could have had a happier moment in my life,\u201d Batra says.<\/p>\n

    \n\tOne could reasonably consider it a sort of spell-breaking affair, the rainbow at the end of the storm that had hung over the venue\u2019s site over the last year. With the June 13 event, the space at 140 Stewart Avenue in Brooklyn officially became Pacha New York, after more than a decade as the Brooklyn Mirage. The Mirage made national headlines and became a subject of breathless dance world speculation when, after a highly publicized remodel, it failed to open for its 2025 season due to construction permitting issues and, in August of 2025, voluntarily filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.<\/p>\n

    \n\tIn early 2026, it was announced that the site was being taken over by The Pacha Group, most famous for its namesake Ibiza club that\u2019s been home to parties on the island since 1973. The Dubai-based FIVE Holdings bought The Pacha Group in 2023 in a deal worth $330 million. After this deal closed, Batra and his team at FIVE Holdings first ended the Pacha franchise license held by operators in Barcelona (the license for the Pacha in Munich was extended), opened a Pacha in Dubai, focused on elevating the Ibiza flagship and quietly began eyeing other markets.<\/p>\n

    \n\tNew York was at the top of the list. Batra and his team were looking for opportunities \u201cWhere we control the brand narrative and the brand experience totally, and that includes production, sound, hospitality, operation, security, marketing, etc\u2026 The Mirage deal, when it came in the news, represented the right size for us to focus on.\u201d As such, earlier this year, FIVE Holdings entered a long-term agreement assuming full operational management of the Brooklyn Mirage and The Great Hall complex it was connected to. The Kings Hall will remain standing, but won\u2019t be used by Pacha.<\/p>\n

    \n\tBefore any DJs could be booked or tickets sold, the permitting issues that plagued The Mirage needed fixing. Because much of the old structure was built of wood, there was no way to get it approved due to city fire laws. \u201cWe had to demolish the whole thing,\u201d says Batra.<\/p>\n

    \n\t When the original structure came down in early February, photos of the rubble pile floated around the internet alongside queries about how Pacha would be ready in time for its scheduled June 13 opening. \u201cThat\u2019s what created more confusion,\u201d says Batra, \u201cbecause people were like \u2018How are they going to open?\u201d As he and the booking team reached out to agents and artists, he recalls \u201ca lot of them saying, \u2018Send me videos,\u2019 and I\u2019m like, \u2018Oh my god, how can I send them a video of nothing? It\u2019s a parking lot!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

    \n\tBut what only the Pacha team knew is that at the same time, a new structure was being built off-site and shipped to Stewart Avenue piece by piece. While speculation continued, Batra says that in reality, \u201cWe were way ahead of schedule.\u201d This new construction reimagined the club, lowering the stage to put the artist closer to the crowd, a move Batra feels makes for a better party. As such, the team is also currently working on a plan that will decrease the gap between the dancefloor and the stage.<\/p>\n

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    \t\t\t\t\tSolomun Announces Free Show at Pacha New York for Fans Who Braved the Rain at His Last NYC\u00a0Set\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n

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      \n\tSo too has the team reimagined the space\u2019s famously large screen, which is now half the size it was previously. Batra says this new size is still large for a production by Pacha, which is focused on underground experiences, but advises this new screen functions \u201clike a lighting feature more than a visual experience.\u201d Over the club\u2019s first five weekends, this approach has in practice involved only certain areas of the screen being used at any given time and, as it went for a June 20 set by Michael Bibi, the screen flashing song lyrics so the crowd can sing along as they dance, rather than just staring at a visual show.<\/p>\n

      \n\t\u201cI thought that was really engaging for people, because suddenly you\u2019re sort of following the words,\u201d says Batra. \u201cFor us, it is all about accenting the dance floor. The focus is more on the sound, the music and the dance floor rather than any distractions.\u201d<\/p>\n

      \n\tThe use of a screen falls into the goal of not just imposing the culture of Ibiza or the Pacha location there onto New York, but instead tailoring the space for the New York market. (A previous Pacha location was open in New York from 2005 to 2016 under a franchise license and was part of the brand before The Pacha Group\u2019s acquisition by FIVE.) <\/p>\n

      \n\tCore to this strategy was making New Yorkers feel, Batra says, like \u201cPacha is excited about being in New York. It\u2019s a very different approach than most brands [who would be] like, \u2018We\u2019ve arrived and the whole city is so excited we are here.\u2019 I wanted to flip that narrative and talk about how excited Pacha was to enter the city and welcome fans of dance music and to try to be the best platform on the East Coast for that.\u201d As such, marketing materials focused not on the beaches of Ibiza, but on taxis, subways and the Statue of Liberty, who was presented wearing earrings designed in Pacha\u2019s famous cherry logo.<\/p>\n

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      Aloki Batra<\/span>Courtesy of The Pacha Group<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

      \n\tWith the club\u2019s sixth weekend starting tomorrow (July 10), Batra says this strategy is working: \u201cThe response has been beyond imagination. I\u2019ve never had this kind of instant success in ticket sales, in operations. Obviously I read all the comments of the last operator of the same venue, and all the negative comments. Our entire approach was first to mitigate that and then completely take any reference of the Mirage out from all comms and make people completely forget that. Of course people will compare, and I\u2019ve gotten a lot of good comparisons in my favor.\u201d<\/p>\n

      \n\t(The strategy was also a regulatory mandate. At Pacha New York\u2019s State Liquor Authority hearing in late May, officials explicitly directed the new operators not to use the Brooklyn Mirage name in any communications or promotional materials, underscoring the required separation between Pacha New York and the venue\u2019s previous identity.)<\/p>\n

      \n\tAnother mitigation strategy was Pacha giving out roughly $3.1 million in club vouchers for food, drinks and merchandise to people who\u2019d held tickets for the Mirage season that never came to be. \u201cThere was a school of thought that went \u2018It\u2019s bankrupt; we\u2019ve got nothing to do with it,\u2019\u201d says Batra, \u201cbut as a brand, you have to take some responsibility for the culture, the dance floor and for people who spent money on tickets and waited for months and were deceived.\u201d<\/p>\n

      \n\t\u201cYou want to start on your best foot and say, \u2018We\u2019re here to stay,’\u201d he continued. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter if it\u2019s the profits of our first month or two months, what matters is that we\u2019re here to make things right.\u201d<\/p>\n

      \n\tAs the saga fades into dance world lore, Batra is focused on the future. The former Great Hall in the Avant Gardner complex where Pacha is located will open as a club, Brooklyn Hall at Pacha New York, on Nov. 5 and operate year-round on Friday, Saturdays and Sundays. The space will feature resident artists and also foster local talent that Batra imagines can then play across all of Pacha\u2019s global properties.<\/p>\n

      \n\t\u201cThere\u2019s so much talent in New York,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s one thing to come here and say that I want to be part of dance music culture and at the forefront\u00a0of New York dance culture, but I think you only start when you invest in it.\u201d<\/p>\n

      \"Billboard<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

      [analyse_source url=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/pro\/pacha-new-york-opening-aloki-batra-interview-mirage\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      [analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Billboard-Pacha-New-York.jpeg?w=1024″] Trending on Billboard It was the evening of June 13, and Aloki Batra had opening night jitters. \u201cMy biggest fear was, \u2018Oh my god, the Pacha opening turns out to be inauspicious, and the Knicks don\u2019t win in five, and I\u2019ve got 5,000 people on the dance floor upset, but trying to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[48,226],"class_list":["post-2035252","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-billboard-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2035252","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2035252"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2035252\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2035252"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2035252"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2035252"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}