Mike Viscuso, the entrepreneur behind the Gaslamp Quarter’s E Street Alley, is unleashing on Downtown the largest pure entertainment venue yet. Called the “On Broadway Event Center,” the 25,000-square-foot upscale meeting and event venue will function like an oversized private club four days a week and be open to the public Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Opening night is Nov. 3.

Viscuso called on his 25 years in the food, beverage and entertainment industry in designing the project, which is located on the ground floor and in the basement of the former HomeFed tower at Sixth Avenue and Broadway.

“I have opened and operated (venues) from country to rock ’n’ roll to high-energy nightclubs to fine-dining restaurants,” he says. “So, what I have done here is I have fine-tuned a lot of different departments in the industry and eliminated all the non-profitable centers and come together with a complete dining and entertainment facility.”

So why did he get involved?

“First of all, I wanted to raise the level of entertainment in San Diego,” he says. “San Diego is growing up. A lot of big companies are coming in, the dot.coms and fiber companies. I was approached by the real estate broker that I had signed my lease at E Street Alley with. He said he had a great building with a landlord who will cut a deal.”

Originally he pondered a steakhouse, a concept he is familiar with as the owner, operator and founder for the last three years of J.J.’s Steakhouse in Pasadena. But the space, and especially its 20,000-square-foot basement, called for something more. Unable to buy the building outright, instead he signed a very favorable 25-year lease that includes 400 parking spaces.

“What I have here is a great venue,” he says. “It is a gorgeous old building with marble floors, 30-foot columns and all the ceilings are gold inlaid,” he says.

The former bank lobby is now a full-service restaurant with a sushi bar and what may be the largest dance floor in San Diego. The project is designed with VIPs in mind, containing an elevated area that overlooks the dance floor and restaurant where gourmet items and champagne will be served. The dress code will be strict. Those who don’t meet it will be given a pass to E Street Alley, which now is open until 4 a.m.

For the thirsty, the four bars on two levels will be pouring.

The old vault and safe deposit rooms are now a billiard club, and an art gallery will feature paintings from local artists to modern masters. The 5,000-square-foot kitchen will be geared to handle banquets of up to 2,000 people. Viscuso says he’s invested $500,000 into electronics, everything from a T-1 line for video conferencing to fog machines and a pair of 70-inch television monitors.

The clientele he is after is corporate America. “Oracle, Qualcomm, Disney, Motown,” he says.

On Friday and Saturday nights, the entertainment will be Top 40, familiar music. On Thursdays European DJs will play cutting-edge tunes.

Viscuso is marketing On Broadway for banquets, sales seminars and corporate functions. He expects to draw from Downtown’s major hotels when they are hosting large meeting or event groups. Often those groups want an off-property venue. In this case, the hotel can send over its own chefs. “They get keys to the kitchen,” he says.

Once he gets On Broadway running smoothly, Viscuso is looking at doing something across the street in another building. “I want to take 10,000 square feet and build an old-fashioned 24-hour diner right on the corner.”