Work on flagship city centre building to start

A four-month programme to modernise and upgrade the former Majestyk nightclub, which overlooks Leeds City Square, was devised after plans by property and investment company Rushbond were backed by Leeds City Council.

The building, which will be called The Majestic, will be transformed to create a self-contained basement venue suitable for a night club, live music venue and a bar. The ground floor, comprising balconies and mezzanine levels for bar and restaurant facilities, will be accessed directly from Leeds City Square.

As well as cleaning and restoring the outside of the building, natural light will be enhanced by four new ‘shop-front’ style windows at the ground floor and the refurbishment of both the existing windows and the creation of new windows to the upper floors to give new views across Leeds City Square.

A national marketing campaign to identify an operator for the venue is being launched by Rushbond with the appointment of the London and Leeds offices of property consultants, Savills, and the Leeds office of Pudney Shuttleworth.

Rushbond managing director Jonathan Maud said: “A major opportunity now exists for one, or more, operators to become part of the flagship leisure venue in the heart of one of Britain’s great cities.”

The building, which has a 21-metre diameter dome, is among the most distinctive properties in Leeds city centre. It originally opened in the 1920s as a 2,400-seat cinema with a basement restaurant and closed in 1969. After a period as a bingo hall it opened as the Majestyk nightclub which closed in 2006.

Rushbond has previous experience in redeveloping and refurbishing listed and heritage buildings.