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The site of the legendary Upstage Club — a non-alcoholic after-hours venue where a young Bruce Springsteen, John Lyon, Steve Van Zandt and others played together in the late 1960s and early 1970s— has been sold.

Garwood antique dealer Richard Yorkowitz [shown above inside the building] bought the property in 2009 for $1 million. The new owners, brothers Jim and Bill Ross, paid $650,000 for the building and took ownership on Thursday, Yorkowitz said.

Jim Ross was unable to be reached immediately for comment.

The Ross brothers plan four apartments on the top two floors, as well as a commercial use on the ground floor, according to Patrick Schiavino, the listing realtor. Those are permitted uses in the downtown redevelopment zone.

The brothers plan to take the facade off the building and restore it to its original look from the early part of the 20th century, Schiavino said. They have located a photo of the property in its original state and will be using that as their guide, he said.

The Rosses have their financing in place, Schiavino said, and they will now seek Planning Board approval for their project.

Yorkowitz had planned to bring back the long-vacant building, located at the corner of Cookman Avenue and Bond Street, as an entertainment, food and bar venue paying homage to its history. He received approvals from the city to allow liquor sales and entertainment on the second and third floors.

The disruption of Hurricane Sandy on other properties he owned, as well as the length of time it was taking to get the Upstage project going, led Yorkowitz to sell the property, he said.

Yorkowitz also owns a liquor license for the premises. The license is currently under contract to be sold. Yorkowitz declined to name the party buying the license.

The original stage on which the young musicians played is still on the third floor where the Upstage was located. While decayed, much of the day-glo psychedelic wall paintings remain [as shown behind Yorkowitz in photo at top] from the days the club was operated by the late Tom and Margaret Potter.

After the Upstage and the Green Mermaid coffeehouse, also operated by the Potters on the second floor, closed in the early 1970s, the spaces were left vacant, except for the storage at times of boxed shoes. Shoe stores, from Thom McAn in the 1960s to Extreme Sneakers in the late 1990s, had long occupied the first floor.

[Photo at left shows the “Sundance Blues band” in 1971 on the Upstage stairs. L to R: Steve Van Zandt, Joe Hagstrom, Vini Lopez, John Lyon, Garry Tallent. Photo courtesy of Billy Smith collection.]

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