Hu and Baxter held the lease on the Glasslands space until 2012 when they made a turn-key sale to Rami Haykal and Jake Rosenthal of PopGun presents, who had been managing bookings since 2009, and day-to-day operations since 2010.

The space featured a fluid and frequently changing layout as well as free expressionistic painting, and hosted performance art and music initially geared towards the founders’ friends in the Williamsburg creative community, but soon incorporating rental events featuring touring musical acts booked by local promoters, principally DIY promoter Todd P.[3][4] As notoriety grew with increasingly higher-profile touring acts, Glass House began to attract attention within Williamsburg's music scene, and the venue became sought for local bookings by bands, such as Grizzly Bear,[5] Kyp Malone of TV on the Radio,[6] Matt and Kim, Deerhunter, Adam Green, Kimya Dawson, and Julianna Barwick.

Chairlift‘s Caroline Polachek recalls, “It was a graffiti-covered warehouse space without a stage, and people watched from a rickety loft balcony that I was sure was going to collapse while Japanther was playing.”[7] Visual artists exhibited at Glass House Gallery included Erica Magrey, Brooke Borg, and DNA (Aaron Almendral and Mariano Delgado).

In May 2006, Baxter partnered with musician and artist Rolyn Hu to open The Glasslands Gallery at 289 Kent Ave, a larger partition of the same warehouse complex where Glass House was located.

A monthly lecture series, concerts, rotating art installations, community fund-raising events, workshops, and a free after-school program were all part of the space's stated mission.

[17] During these early years at Glasslands, the venue had a penchant for booking artists that promulgated an often noisy or psychedelic brand of alternative pop, a sound that would become one of Williamsburg's major cultural exports.

FKA twigs,[20] Disclosure,[21] WU LYF, SZA, Angel Olsen, Charli XCX, Darkside, Grimes,[22] Alt-J, Franz Ferdinand, The Clean and Nils Frahm were some of these acts.

[25] Major electronic acts and DJs including Jon Hopkins, Baauer, Mister Saturday Night, Omar S., and Sophie (PC Music) all made memorable stops.

Bands that made repeated stops during this period include Unknown Mortal Orchestra, How to Dress Well, Crocodiles, Empress Of, Cecile Believe (then Mozart's Sister), Lower Dens, Dum Dum Girls, Le1f, The Range, DIIV, Trust, Shigeto, MØ, Hooray for Earth, Zambri, The Yellow Dogs, King Krule, Light Asylum, THEESatisfaction, Cloud Nothings, Anamanaguchi, Kelela, Mon Khmer, Air Waves, Majical Cloudz, Peelander-Z, Slow Magic, Mykki Blanco and Chrome Sparks.

[27] While neither Glasslands nor Vice publicly stated the exact reason for the venue's closure, the announcement resulted in an outcry against the media company, with many alleging that it was cannibalizing the alternative culture that allowed it to flourish.

In its final weeks of operation, Glasslands harkened back to its art gallery roots, bringing in Collective Craft NYC to install works by visual artists Jillian Siegel, Courtney McKenna, Grant Guilliams, Ashley Blanton and more.