Midtown concert venue Channel 24 to open next month — with excitement and parking concerns

Daniel Delagnes has owned Round Corner Tavern at the corner of 24th and S streets for 24 years. The block has changed a lot since he started bartending there in 1987 — but nothing like what’s coming next month.

“I’m excited,” said Delagnes. “My regular customers might be – the neighborhood might not be as excited – but I’m certainly excited.”

That’s because Channel 24, a new 2,150-person concert venue just steps from his front door, will host its first performance on April 24. The Berkeley-based company Another Planet Entertainment, which also operates the Greek Theatre in Berkeley and the Fox Theatre in Oakland, is opening the venue at 1800 24th St., with the first show already sold out by country artist Tucker Wetmore.  

Delagnes says his bar’s parking lot will now be leased to the venue on show nights. He’s planning ahead for when it opens by adding security and adjusting how his staff handles pre-show crowds.

“If 5% of the venue shows up to the bar, we’re at our capacity,” he said. “Certainly during the show, it negatively impacts our business, but pre-show and post-show, it will improve business. So I think in the long run it’ll actually be a little better.”

Round Corner Tavern sits on the same block as Channel 24 on March 25, 2025. The bar is the closest business to the venue.Tony Rodriguez/CapRadio

But not everyone is ready to welcome the new venue with open arms. Michaela Payne moved to midtown a month ago. She lives on P Street and worries the venue will lead to a parking crunch in her neighborhood.

To address parking concerns, the city of Sacramento did send residents a notice about a proposed change to the neighborhood’s permitted parking rules. The plan will limit non-resident parking, which currently allows for two hours if visiting Midtown. Now, visitors can only park for one hour, from 8 a.m. to midnight, in the area surrounding Channel 24. Only those with residential permits would be exempt.

Payne said that since she has only lived in the area for a month, she has not received any notice from the city or the developers about the venue opening and only learned about the development at a public meeting from a news article. She added that the proposed permit rule could limit how long her guests can park near her home.

“I love going to concerts,” Payne said. “I went looking for information about the venue and parking specifically and then happened [to land] upon one news article that said there would be a public meeting on March 26th. If I hadn’t done the legwork to find out information about it, then it’s very unlikely that I would have been able to have a voice at all.”

Payne is one of several residents who say parking is already tight in the Newton Booth neighborhood — even before thousands of concertgoers hit the neighborhood.

“It’s already hard to park, particularly on days that parking is restricted for city services,” she said. “Having 2,100 people come to a venue that’s a block and a half away… there’s no way that it won’t impact our parking.”

On its official page, Channel 24 notes that street parking is limited and encourages public transportation, rideshare biking, or carpooling. The venue sits directly before the Sacramento Regional Transit light rail stop. The site also says several parking lots are nearby, but the exact locations are still “coming soon.”

CapRadio reached out to Another Planet. A company spokesperson wrote in an email that parking and transportation plans are expected to be addressed and shared with community members in more detail at a community meeting hosted by the venue owners and the Midtown Association on Wednesday at CLARA Studios. The event will run from 5:30 to 7 p.m.

District 4 Councilmember Phil Pluckebaum, who took office after the project had already been planned, said his office is working with city staff to make the process smooth for the venue’s neighbors. He said the venue adds a midsize concert hall that fills a long-standing gap between small clubs and large arenas.

“This one certainly caught a lot of people’s attention as a pretty significant opportunity in what is otherwise a pretty quiet residential part of town,” he said. “Everything from a lot of enthusiasm about the entertainment opportunities at the site to concerns from neighbors – not just about parking and traffic impacts, but about the conduct of people coming and going from the venue.”

The venue is intended to help attract more mid-size touring artists to Sacramento. Pluckebaum said the Sacramento music community needed a mid-size space that would keep artists from skipping the Capital city.

Pluckebaum pointed to the new neighborhood parking plan as one way the city is responding.

“We’re not waiting,” he said. “Those are the kinds of things that we can do, and we’ll look to adjust those strategies.

Channel 24 will feature general admission floor space, a tiered balcony, multiple bars, and an upstairs patio. Its spring and summer lineup includes acts like Empire of the Sun, Death Cab for Cutie, Denzel Curry, and Wallows.

Channel 24 is a planned 2,150-person capacity venue, projected to open in early 2025 in Sacramento

Payne, the resident who lives near the venue, hopes the Wednesday meeting and Channel 24’s outreach can provide clear answers on transportation issues and parking.

“I would love to hear that they have a solid plan, that they care about what happens in Sacramento to the nearby residents,” she said, “and that they’re making efforts to not shirk the issue.”