No deal: Crocodile Cafe to remain closed

The mystery at Second and Blanchard just took another twist, as a potential deal to purchase the Crocodile Cafe has now apparently fallen through.

"Groupee Venues withdrew their liquor-license application on Monday," according to Anne Radford of the Washington State Liquor Control Board.

In early January, a few weeks after the venerable Belltown rock club suddenly closed, Groupee Inc. applied for the Crocodile's liquor license. This apparently signaled Groupee was purchasing the Crocodile, but at the time, Groupee's Lori Hope would say only, "I cannot confirm or deny that."

Hope did not immediately return a call on Tuesday.

Groupee, a software-development company formerly known as Infopop Corporation, had no experience in running a club, let alone taking over from one of Seattle's most beloved venues.

The Crocodile Cafe was opened in 1991 by attorney-turned-businesswoman Stephanie Dorgan. She has not publicly stated the reason for closing the Crocodile in December. Dorgan did not return a phone call Tuesday.

Tom Scanlon: 206-464-3891 or tscanlon@seattletimes.com

The software-development company Groupee was formerly known as Infopop Corporation, not InfoSpace, as reported in an item about the Crocodile Cafe originally published on March 11, 2008 and corrected on March 15.