Electric Daisy Carnival Founder Takes Over Omnia Nightclub In Downtown San Diego For New Nightlife Concept Nova

January 13, 2022 

A team of nightlife & EDM gurus that includes the founder of the Electric Daisy Carnival has taken over Omnia Night Club in downtown San Diego for the opening of Nova, a night time destination with three levels of drinking, dining and dancing, including an outdoor rooftop lounge.

In April 2021, it was announced that Tao Group Hospitality had acquired Hakkasan Group, the Abu Dhabi-based dining and drinking company that locally owned Searsucker restaurant and Omnia night club, both in the Gaslamp Quarter, and Herringbone in La Jolla. In early 2014, San Diego nightlife guru James Brennan and local celebrity chef Brian Malarkey sold the majority stake in their then-depleted Enlightened Hospitality restaurant and nightlife collective to Hakkasan Group. At the time, this included Searsucker (San Diego, Del Mar and Austin) and Herringbone restaurants (San Diego and Los Angeles), as well as the Gaslamp nightlife destination that was then Stingaree. Stingaree was subsequently rebranded to become Omnia nightclub, a second location of Hakkasan's popular Las Vegas destination.

After being closed since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Omnia San Diego building has been leased by Why Not San Diego LLC, for the opening of a new concept dubbed Nova San Diego. Why Not an Diego is a collective of club & EDM entertainment professionals that includes several members from Insomniac Entertainment, the company behind such music festivals as Electric Daisy Carnival, Nocturnal Wonderland and Beyond Wonderland. In addition to Insomnia founder & CEO Pasquale Rotella & Senior Executive Adi McAbian, the management team behind Nova San Diego includes Jason Strauss, a Native New Yorker and co-founder and co-owner of the Tao Group, who has been behind many successful endeavors such as Marquee nightclub in New York City, LAVO Italian restaurant and nightclub at The Palazzo Hotel in Las Vegas, and most recently, AVENUE lounge in New York City.

"We’re so thankful to the thousands of music lovers that have traveled from the San Diego area to our festivals around the country for nearly 3 decades," commented Pasquale Rotella, Founder and CEO of Insomniac. "We are excited to finally be able to come here and have a home in Downtown San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter."

Nova San Diego is expected to unveil the weekend on February 25-26 with a grand opening celebration featuring sets by RL Grime and deadmau5. The nearly 17,000 square-foot space will have two levels featuring DJ-spun EDM music, a full restaurant component, and a third story rooftop bar and lounge. Expect frequent celebrity DJs and musician appearances, as well as special events. The space will also have several VIP lounges with bottle service. 

Nova San Diego is anticipated to open in first quarter 2022 at 454 Sixth Avenue in San Diego's Gaslamp Quarter. For more information, visit insomniac.com.