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Such is the allure of South Beach nightlife as a postmodern get-rich-quick scheme that even a respected former investment banker named Michael Storms cannot resist its temptation. Storms is a veteran local DJ who has partnered with a diverse group of cohorts to create what one—Rudolf Pieper—says will be awash in “a pigmentation of fabulousness.” 

Pieper is the disinherited champagne kingpin and erstwhile, platinum-haired New York nightlife legend who has had a hand in nearly every important nocturnal outpost of the last quarter-century, including the fabled Studio 54. Rudolf was also at the helm of other famous Manhattan clubs such as Danceteria and Tunnel, and numerous other venues scattered across three continents.

Standing nearby, in the gutted 7,000-square-foot space on 23rd Street just west of Collins Avenue—the former and much loved Lola Bar—is Mario Sopena, a young Ft. Lauderdale real estate developer who is playing the role of investor, or as Storms calls him, “the big fish.”

Helping out the trio, who will launch their edgy new club-lounge Nerve for next month’s Winter Music Conference (WMC), is veteran NY DJ and international party promoter Roman Ricardo, who began his career more than a quarter century ago at New York’s famed 2001 Odyssey, the Brooklyn disco that Saturday Night Fever was based on.