EAST MOLINE — Sean Moeller likes to think big.

In a cavernous old industrial plant near the Mississippi River, he again is dreaming very large.

The co-founder of Daytrotter — and concert booker for Codfish Hollow, The Stardust and Raccoon Motel — plans to convert part of the former East Moline Metal Products site at 1201 7th St. into The Rust Belt, a 4,000-person live music venue.

East Moline Glass president Larry Anderson owns the 40-acre industrial property. A multi-phase development is expected to include an architectural design studio, a wood and fabrication shop, a metal shop, retail store, coffee shop, a grocery store/cafe, an indoor farmers market, a brewery and a restaurant.

Moeller hopes to open the new music venue in December.

"When he showed me the space, I immediately had a vision of what it could look like as a music venue," Moeller said. "I think the repurposing of it is going to be a real advantage for East Moline, with everything that's happening. I think the location is real intriguing.

"There's people who could be naysayers and not see the potential of this space," he said. "But I think once we get up and running, I think there's gonna be a lot of bandwagon jumpers.

"If there's anything I know about Larry, in the year and a half I've known him, is he's dedicated and ambitious, and I don't think there's anything he can't accomplish," Moeller said. "I'm just trying to help."

The old metal products plant, which closed in 2016, is off 3rd Street and 12th Avenue in East Moline. It's just east of The Bend on the Mighty Mississippi, a 132-acre development on the site of a former Case-IH plant, to be anchored by The Hyatt House and Hyatt Place Hotel, a nine-story, 233-room hotel expected to open the final quarter this year.

Moeller said the more that got built up around the Hyatt, the more reason there would be for people to visit the area.

"People are gonna want to be around the energy of what this place is," he said. "It's gonna be a new wrinkle in the economic development of East Moline.

"I think it's gonna shift how people think about downtown East Moline," he said. "I think people are gonna rise to the occasion, and do some really fun things downtown.

"The thing that makes it really exciting are all the other things happening," he said. "Think what a shot in the arm this is gonna be for East Moline — a place that has been forgotten by all the other developments happening in the Quad-Cities."

“I think it will be completely positive,” East Moline Main Street vice president Adam Guthrie said Tuesday of development along the whole stretch of 12th Avenue. “I think East Moline is on the precipice of its renaissance, and this will be the catalyst. It will affect the whole area in a positive way.”

“I've talked to different people who have businesses elsewhere, and they're really excited about what's happening in East Moline. What they're doing down there is kicking it up. People are already so excited, they want to get in on the ground floor,” he said of inquiries from those looking to open downtown.

Similar to improvements made in downtown Moline years ago, East Moline hopes to upgrade its streetscaping and landscaping, Guthrie said.

After a May 25 EastMoMentum rally to highlight the new developments, a new free summer concert series began this month at Runners Park, 15th Avenue and 8th Street, Sundays from 4 to 8 p.m.

Moeller co-founded Daytrotter and Daytrotter.com in 2006 above Huckleberry's Pizza in downtown Rock Island. He shepherded its move in early 2016 to the ground floor of the Renwick building at 324 Brady St., Davenport, including a performance space. The studio averages eight to 10 recording sessions a week, with each act laying down three or four songs.

He parted ways with Daytrotter later in 2016, and owner Wolfgang's Vault recently announced it would no longer host concerts at the venue that had a 375-person capacity. Daytrotter’s studio, in the back of the building, will continue recording sessions with artists.

"It's a shame to see that happen," Moeller said of ceasing live concerts there. "I think since I left over there, the people I'm pursuing are completely different from the people they're pursuing. I don't see much crossover."

Codfish Hollow opened in 2009 in a Maquoketa, Iowa, barn with a 600-person capacity. In March 2017, Moeller partnered to open Triple Crown Whiskey Bar & Raccoon Motel at 304 E. 3rd St., Davenport, the former Musicians Union building. It has a capacity of 85 and averages four shows a week.

Moeller also books acts for The Stardust, a concert and special-event venue at 218 Iowa St., Davenport, which opened in March in an 8,000-square-foot building that formerly housed Emeis Automotive. It has a 700-person capacity.

The Rust Belt, he said, will be a flexible space curtained off for smaller shows of 800-1,000 capacity — with patrons standing. It also will have a bar and outdoor patio.

"It's gonna be an interesting middle ground between what happens at the TaxSlayer Center and what happens at Codfish Hollow," Moeller said. "For me, personally, my line of thinking the way I'm trying to nurture artists through this area, it's a missing link for me."

He said there were artists he formerly brought to the Quad-Cities who wouldn't return "because we don't have a place for them." The in-between, he said, is "the most exciting category of bands — the ones that aren't legacy acts, who've been around forever."

He cited Alabama Shakes, The National and Kendrick Lamar as examples.

"I'm in this for the long haul; this is my body of work," he said. "There are certainly some days that are harder than others.

"I think this bigger space — this crazy idea of a gigantic, bigger space — is what we really need," he said.

"If we are using the space appropriately, bringing the right names in once or twice a month, I feel super confident that is something we can pull off,” Moeller said. “The second we announce who we have playing the first five shows there, once booking agents and managers see who we've brought to town, people are gonna be knocking on our door."

Moeller said the venue's name honored the site's industrial heritage. He doesn't expect major renovations will be needed, other than cleaning and installing the stage, restrooms, bar, lighting, VIP balcony and new windows.

"I'm really excited about that. It's gonna be a real gritty industrial space," he said. "I've been telling people it's my Brooklyn version of Codfish Hollow. It's going to be like we're in the bowels of a subway station, a Detroit metal factory. It's blue collar in a different way from Codfish Hollow.

"There's a lot of people who are in bigger bands that will definitely be attracted to the feel of the place and because I'm opening a place that size," he said. "We're getting to the point with Codfish Hollow, bigger bands want to play there. They're taking a pay cut to play there, and they love it."

Moeller envisions bringing in acts for two-night stands, in East Moline and Maquoketa. He noted a recent Dawes show sold out at Codfish Hollow in "two minutes" and would have sold more than 600 if it were a two-night stay.

"It's a cool space," Moeller said of the East Moline venue. "I think it's gonna be special.

"If we do a show with Khalid, people are gonna come here, no matter what city it's in," he said. "It's all about names. If we bring the right names, people'll go anywhere."