Mitchell Brothers O'Farrell Theatre -- famous SF strip club -- is for sale

SAN FRANCISCO (KTVU) - The building housing one of San Francisco's most famous, some would say infamous, adult businesses is up for grabs.

For nearly 50 years the Mitchell Brothers O'Farrell Theatre has been offering adult entertainment at the corner of Polk and O'Farrell streets. Now, the very building where the lap dance was reportedly invented is up for sale.

"We got his last week, I was on the phone like every hour, you know? Talking to somebody that was interested in the property. Developers, potential tenants." said Susan Jordan from Starboard Commercial Real Estate.

The theater has a long, storied and sometimes tragic history; as a filming location for x rated movies, an adult cabaret and the brain child of the Mitchell brothers Jim and Artie.

Jim Mitchell convicted in 1991 of killing his brother.

Since then the business has passed through the hands of one family member after another.

Recently another adult business was in the process of trying to buy out the O'Farrell Theatre, and possibly take over the lease and continue to operate at it's current location.

But that deal fell through and now the owners are looking for a new deal. The asking price?

"They're looking for about $10 million for this property, and the tenant is about 39,000 a month," said Jordan.

The realtor marketing the property points to surrounding development in the Polk Gulch and Tenderloin areas, and says this building could be demolished and rebuilt up to 130 feet, or about 13 stories.

Accurate Appliances has shared an intersection with the O'Farrell Theatre since it opened it's doors. Jeanne Matysiak remembers the mitchell brothers and their relationship with their landlord, "They told me that, they said, the old lady that owns it thinks it's a hoot."

She speculates with the amount that a developer could make tearing down the theater and putting up housing, it's just a matter of time until the curtain closes on the O'Farrell Theatre. "I am sad to see them go. I'm not so happy about having another really tall building come," said Matysiak.

We have reached out to the current operator of the Mitchell Brother's Theatre. The employees inside did not know that it was officially on the market.

At this point though, there's no official statement from the theater operator about the future of the cabaret.