Bunny Business: Will Dallas Get a Playboy Club?

It’s been so long since Playboy Clubs began operating around the country that the idea of having one in Dallas seemed forgotten. Now a Dallas real estate developer, Lenny Licht, is trying to line up a Playboy Club for Dallas, and if he’s successful, perhaps he’ll open one in Houston, Licht says. Planning for the Dallas club is in the final stages, awaiting approval from Playboy in Chicago, which is very reluctant to say anything about the proposed Dallas Club except that it is, in fact, proposed.
If Licht can secure approval for the franchise, he plans to open his club approximately March 1, in the Expressway Tower, perhaps better known as the Cowboy building, just off the Yale exit on North Central Expressway. The proposed club will occupy the 15,000-square foot space formerly filled by Chateau Madrid, a Spanish restaurant which opened in the fall of 1975 and closed a few months later. The location, secured by Henry S. Miller’s Jim Blythe and approved by Licht, is somewhat unusual because it is not within walking distance of the downtown hotels. Licht, however, seems convinced that downtown hotel guests and conventionaires will find their way out to the club. Blythe and Licht also point out that the club will be wedged between the monied areas of the Park Cities and the swinging singles developments east of Greenville Avenue. To boot, there are two successful hotels nearby, the Hilton Inn and the Ramada Inn, and a number of office developments, which should provide lunch traffic for the club.
Licht says the club will have a first-rate showroom, with an excellent revue, comparable to any entertainment in Dallas today, including the Fairmont’s Venetian Room. He estimates that an evening at the Playboy Club will cost less than an evening at the Pyramid Room, for instance, and approximately what an evening would cost at a first class Dallas restaurant such as Arthur’s. The club will be designed by a Boston architect and managed by a Boston restaurateur, who will join the club full time.
Technically the club will not be “private,” but a patron must be a Playboy keyholder ($25) to be admitted. This anomaly is explained by the fact that the State of Texas annually assesses a two dollar per head fee on the memberships of private clubs. Because there are 1,500,000 keyholders nationwide, the local Playboy Clubcould be assessed a $3,000,000 annual fee, if it were a “private club.”
Licht’s partners in the club venture are Mark Robertson, an attorney who has been involved in local real estate development, and Joel McQuade, owner of a local computer leasing firm, Systems Financing. Licht first considered the possibility of a Dallas Playboy Club in November, 1975, and only recently brought partners into the deal.
For those local lovelies aspiring to become a bunny, this is the chance. If the club is approved, Playboy will likely conduct a bunny hunt about a month or so before opening date. If March 1 is the opening date, the hunt should occur in late January or early February.