Ben Lovett Opens Pacific Electric, Adding a Mid-Size Room to a Shrinking Map

Ben Lovett has been trying to guide people through experiences since he was six, handing out mixtapes instead of party favors. Now 39 and better known as a member of Mumford and Sons, he’s channeling that instinct into something more permanent: building music venues.

In March, his company TVG Hospitality opened Pacific Electric, a 750-capacity room in downtown Los Angeles. The location—bordering Chinatown and the L.A. River—puts it in a part of town still shaking off the economic freeze of the pandemic. Lovett isn’t naive about the risk. “There’s not that many [music venues] if you really break it down,” he says. “Often cities are made up of a handful of these spaces that define them.”

The math is unforgiving. Nightclubs and smaller rooms continue to close across the U.S., squeezed by rising costs and an industry that funnels most live revenue toward arena tours. Opening a mid-size venue in 2026 is, in the words of Another Planet Entertainment’s Mary Conde, a “pretty insane” business plan—no guaranteed income, all the upfront risk.

Lovett’s bet echoes a stubborn truth: culture needs physical anchors. Restaurants, record stores, and new neighbors tend to follow, he argues. Whether Pacific Electric strengthens its community or simply adds to the pressure is an open question. But the mere act of building a room with a capacity measured in hundreds, not thousands, feels increasingly like a deliberate choice.