Olympia’s first strip club closes over unpaid taxes, city says

Olympia’s first strip club has closed because of unpaid taxes, according to the city.

The state Department of Revenue notified city officials last week that Desire Gentlemen’s Club, 3200 Pacific Ave., was shut down Friday.

The department had issued a warrant in July for unpaid taxes, but the warrant went unpaid, said city spokeswoman Cathie Butler.

Desire operates under Grey Industries LLC. The business was closed Monday, and Desire owner Levi Bussanich did not return calls. A spokeswoman from the Department of Revenue confirmed that the LLC status has been revoked.

The strip club opened in April, but had stirred up a buzz in the preceding months when hundreds of job applicants sought positions for dancing and more.

Back in February, Olympia revised city code to raise the cost of applications for adult-oriented businesses. In compliance with city code, the club did not serve alcohol. An adult video store has operated at the same site since 2001.

“It seems clear to me that it is not a very well-supported or profitable business,” Mayor Stephen Buxbaum told The Olympian. “I personally can’t imagine a strip club being successful in the city of Olympia.”

Some citizens raised concerns over the potential for illegal activity at the strip club, such as human trafficking and prostitution.

Lacey resident Stephanie Lund, who lives a couple of miles from the club, had expressed similar concerns about the exploitation of women in a letter to The Olympian in April.

“It’s a bit of a relief to me,” Lund said Monday about the club’s closure. “It reduces at least one option for sex trafficking.”

City Manager Steve Hall said the city’s finance director was also looking into the business, and said it was unclear as of Monday whether Olympia would be bringing any action.

This story was originally published November 10, 2014 at 4:30 PM with the headline "Olympia’s first strip club closes over unpaid taxes, city says."