Cheetham joins AEG as Mercedes Platz nears completion
AEG has made two appointments in Germany ahead of the 2018 opening of Mercedes Platz, a new mixed-use entertainment district neighbouring the Mercedes-Benz Arena (17,000-cap.) in Berlin.
The 20-hectare Mercedes Platz, which mirrors similar AEG developments at The O2 in London, LA Live in Los Angeles and the recently announced Nashville Yards in Tennessee, includes a cinema, cafés, restaurants, bars, hotels, a bowling alley and a 4,500-capacity music venue, Berlin Music Hall, which will open on Saturday 17 November 2018 with a show by Gloria Gaynor.
Berlin Music Hall will be booked by Paul Cheetham, who joins AEG as booking director for the venue, while long-time Mercedes-Benz Arena booker Aissata Hartmann-Sylla has been promoted to senior director, overseeing event acquisition for both the arena and Music Hall.
Before joining AEG, Cheetham – a 20-year veteran of the live music industry – was managing director for Heartburst Management, where he was involved in staging industry events Popkomm, Berlin Music Week and Reeperbahn Festival. Previously, he worked for Mean Fiddler (now Festival Republic) and Live Nation Scandinavia in Finland.
Both Cheetham and Hartmann-Sylla moved into their new roles on 1 September.
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O2-style AEG entertainment district for Nashville
AEG has purchased four acres (1.62ha) of land in Nashville, Tennessee, to develop a new entertainment complex incorporating two music venues.
The new entertainment district will be located at Nashville Yards – a US$1bn “live/work/play neighborhood” [sic] that will stretch over 15 acres from Broadway to Church Street – and include a 4,000-capacity music venue, a 600–700-cap. club venue, a cinema and a 591-room Hyatt Regency hotel.
It joins The O2 in London, LA Live in Los Angeles and the under-construction Mercedes-Benz Platz in Berlin in AEG’s portfolio of mixed-use entertainment complexes.
AEG’s partner in the venture is property firm Southwest Value Partners (SWVP), who will work with AEG and Nashville’s city leaders to ensure that all offerings at Nashville Yards will meet the city’s development objectives while honouring Nashville’s history and heritage in its use of materials, scale and eclectic charm,” says the company.
“For several years, AEG has been looking for the right venue development opportunity in Nashville”
The two companies’ agreement also provides an option for AEG to acquire an additional 1.5ac adjacent to its exiting plot.
“For several years, AEG has been looking for the right venue development opportunity in Nashville, one of the fastest-growing cities in the country,” comments Jay Marciano, CEO of AEG and chairman/CEO of promoter AEG Presents. “A development offering like this has to not just be special, but be remarkable. AEG is very pleased to be partnering with Southwest Value Partners and the city of Nashville in this exciting entertainment venture.”
In a joint statement, SWVP managing partners Cary Mack and Mark Schlossberg add: “We know AEG to be the world’s leading sports and live entertainment company, and are thrilled to collaborate together to bring this mixed-use entertainment district to Nashville Yards.
Today’s announcement confirms our vision for Nashville Yards as well as the incredibly positive trajectory of the city.”
AEG’s venues division, AEG Facilities, earlier this month announced plans for its first arena in Switzerland.
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