Last year we deconstructed the end of the storied Hoboken nightclub Maxwell’s, a breeding ground for underground legends from the Feelies to Yo La Tengo to Titus Andronicus, reporting that the owners shut it down by choice due to the changing climate of a rapidly gentrifying Hoboken. As Star-Ledger music critic Tris McCall put it in the piece, “You wanna be the town with Cake Boss or you wanna be the town with Maxwell’s Ultimately the town made the decision that Cake Boss outweighed Maxwell’s.” Ironically, after the club’s blowout goodbye concert, Justin Timberlake filmed a Target commercial at the place, much to the amusement and consternation of the regulars. Of course the last concert on stage at Maxwell’s would not be a star-studded lineup of indie rockers but the biggest pop star in the world. It was almost too poetic.

Well, now comes news that Maxwell’s has been sold and will reopen as “a family restaurant specializing in thin-crust artisanal pizza.” Very trendy! Owner Todd Abramson handed over care of the space to Dave and Jackie Post, who maintained the business for the past six months until selling it to Evan Dean and Pete Carr effective today. The new restaurant will keep the Maxwell’s name, but the rear performance room will be converted into a dining room. Ownership is “open” to the idea of live music, but the new Maxwell’s definitively will not be a rock club. Per Dean, “Hoboken is changing, and it’s time for Maxwell’s to change.” Read full details at The Jersey Journal.