Retiring - The Spectrum Magazine - Redwood City's Monthly ...

Fox Dream Presents Mo’ Music
It’s official, Redwood City, the historical and
recently foreclosed Fox Theatre and its rockin’
companion, the Little Fox, are getting ready for
some more laughin’, singin’ and live music swingin,’
thanks to a handful of new owners who are
promising to refurbish and re-open the doors of the
multipurpose entertainment complex on Broadway
by the end of this summer. The key person responsible
for the rebirth of the landmark venue is local
entrepreneur Eric Lochtefeld, who owns and
operates University of Dreams, a booming
corporation headquartered in Redwood City that
specializes in placing college students in summer
internship programs throughout the world. Lochtefeld
will operate the Fox Theatre venture under the
name of Fox Dream Presents LLC along with
operating partners Pacific Coast Builders owner
Joseph Romeo and his wife, Jennifer, and with
Lochtefeld’s wife, Lori, of Lochtefeld Realty and
Lochtefeld Insurance.
“I’ve put together an all-star team,” said Lochtefeld.
“One of the first things that we are going to do is
get the Little Fox and Big Fox ‘show ready,’ and
that means capable of putting on a concert or a
live entertainment show of any kind. All of the
focus is on that right now, and that will probably
take about three to four weeks because there is
remodeling that needs to be done and there are
also some things that need to be upgraded, and
that is going to take a little time. And, if I am
listening right to the community, people want to
see the Little Fox open as fast as possible, so we’d
like to see that happen, followed by the Big Fox.”
Fortunately for Lochtefeld and his operating
team, pushing toward a speedy venue unveiling
is surely paying off because all of their plans
are moving right along as projected, except for
obtaining a liquor license, which is currently going
through the standard legal process. “The only thing
that will slow us down from operating fully is
the liquor license. It usually takes 90 days and
sometimes it can take up to 180 days,” said Lochtefeld.
“So I am keeping my fingers crossed because there
is nothing that I can do to expedite the process. I
just have to be patient, but we can still put on great
shows and live concerts. Regardless, we are all
working very hard at getting some activity going.”
Lochtefeld’s long-term vision of “activity”
isn’t bound solely to putting on live shows at the
Fox venues; there is much more planned on his
agenda. However, he is not open to disclosing
specific details of his complete vision for the
property at this time. “A very important thing to
realize is that I am just not looking at one element
of the Fox property, because the entire property
is of interest to me. They are also wonderful
retail spaces, so we are very interested in getting
those up and running. We want to get the entire
property generating,” said Lochtefeld. “And
it’s no secret Redwood City is in need of more
traffic. Redwood City can bring the people in, but
you’ve got to give them something that they get
excited about. So I think that is very important,
that if you put a good product out there, people
will come. I think customers are going to be very
happy and really like what we have planned.
Right now my team and I are focusing on trying
to do everything right and being the best we can
be in the community.”
Clearly Lochtefeld couldn’t have chosen a better
time to pursue his lifelong personal dream of
owning a high-performing theater, because it’s
also no secret that the community has longed for a
re-emerging of the historic Fox. “I love it, and I’m
glad that the Fox is planning on opening up again.
I had been to the Redwood City Fox Theatre a
couple of times and thought it was sad when it
folded,” said Redwood City resident Rich Hoadley.
“It’s nice for the community to have something
once again that will revitalize downtown.
Whatever we can do to get people down to take
advantage of Redwood City, then I am all for it!”
This time around there seems to be a great
deal of staying power behind the Little and Big
Fox because the entire property rests within
financially secure hands,
due to the substantial wealth
of Lochtefeld’s corporation
University of Dreams, which
will shortly move in and share
office space directly above the
1,460-seat Fox Theatre with
local Internet company Makara.
“University of Dreams is going to
move into the 9,600-square-foot
building on the second, third and
fourth floors,” said Lochtefeld. It
will be our new headquarters. I
think my company is going to fit
very nicely in there, and this is also
the perfect fit for me because of
my roots in the music industry.”
Lochtefeld walked away from a
lucrative career in event planning,
production and management in
the music industry to launch
University of Dreams after an
enlightening experience in 2000.
“I had been working in the music
industry for about a decade when
I decided to throw on a specialty
event called Business Camp. It
was really about getting college
kids to take a week off, relax,
and I would ask all of my music
industry friends and professionals
to come and teach a curriculum
based on discovering your
By Nicole Minieri, Contributing Writer
passions and following your dreams,” explained
Lochtefeld. “It was a life-changing thing for me to
watch these young kids think, ‘If that guy can do
it, I can do it. I can do anything I want!’ I was so
compelled by this that I left behind a big passion
of mine to follow this dream of inspiring young
people to discover and pursue their dreams. It’s
been an incredible experience and it has been
very exciting, but throughout all of these years, I
have never stopped missing the music industry.”
Lochtefeld added that when he left the music
industry, he had to take numerous steps backward
to become a ‘nobody’ in order to become a
‘somebody’ all over again. Over the last decade
he has risen step by step to become one of the
most accomplished, respected and influential
entrepreneurs in the Bay Area. With field offices
currently in New York, Chicago and Barcelona,
University of Dreams has produced approximately
$50 million in revenue thus far, and continues
to positively impact the lives of 2,000 college
students every year.
“Eric Lochtefeld has a great reputation in
business. He is a very smart businessman, works
hard and has a great attitude,” said Rob Suelflohn,
owner of Powerhouse Gym in downtown
Redwood City. “The Fox building is a great fit for
him and it makes sense with his prior experience
in music. He is not a big talker, thinks things
through, and if he is excited about something, he
is going to see it through and make it work!”
Given his history of building from the ground
floor up, Lochtefeld will make this work, and
(continues on page 29)
New Fox Theatre owners Eric and Lori Lochtefeld
The Spectrum 25