San Isidro icon gets a makeover, from troubled nightclub to children’s play center

The same block in Bajo de San Isidro where nights once ended with music, bottles and arguments now has children coming to play. At Roque Sáenz Peña 1156, the former Brandy nightclub has become EpicLand, a center for children’s games, recreation and parties.

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It is much quieter now, there is no noise.

Brandy operated for years and accumulated complaints from neighbors. Residents recalled groups gathering in the street, car watchers and people remaining nearby in the early hours while drunk. They say the new business brings a very different kind of activity to the area.

“It is much quieter now, there is no noise,” said Fernanda González, who manages the Austria restaurant a few meters from the former nightclub. She said the nighttime conflicts also affected restaurants, where customers leaving after dinner encountered young people drinking or people who were drunk. “It was a problem for us and we could not do anything,” she said.

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It was a pitched battle between the car watchers and the police.

González particularly remembered clashes in the area, describing them as “a pitched battle between the car watchers and the police.” An EpicLand employee said the street and surrounding area now feel calmer, with no garbage or drunk people in the early morning. “Now there are children and families,” she said.

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Now there are children and families.

Neighbors also recalled the debris left after nights at Brandy. Horacio García, who owns Pro Tennis Squash courts across from the new center, remembered bottles and beer cans on the pavement and, occasionally, waste inside the courts. Malena Suárez, a 22-year-old student whose family lives nearby, said her three-year-old nephew recently visited EpicLand and “had a great time.” Private investors drove the conversion with support from the municipality.

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Had a great time.