Former hotel and lapdancing club building in Leeds sells for £1.9m at auction

The former Jubilee Hotel, on The Headrow, sold for £1.9m this month at Allsop’s October Commercial Auction.

And auctioneers have revealed that the site – home to the Red Leopard lapdancing club until its closure in 2014 –was bought for £400,000 more than its asking price.

Prominently decorated with red brick and terracotta architecture, the 113-year-old building stands directly opposite Leeds Town Hall in the city centre’s civic hub.

Anthony Hart, from Allsop’s Leeds Office, said the site carried “history and potential”.

There were more than 200 enquiries to the auctioneers about the building ahead of the sale.

Mr Hart said: “As you might expect for an opportunity carrying such a heavy weight of history and potential, our private treaty and auction teams experienced high volumes of interest, receiving over 200 enquiries in total.

“Subject to gaining necessary consents, redevelopment of this site is an exciting prospect, particularly when you consider its prime location and the inclusion of such a striking architectural building”.

Built in 1904 by Thomas Winn and Sons, the Jubilee Hotel building’s red brick and Burmantofts terracotta walls scale up to a copper-domed corner tower on the top.

The building has been described as Leeds’s only remaining ‘gin palace’.

The former hotel currently comprises an attractive Grade II-listed building and adjoining office and retail space, which includes four shops and self-contained offices covering an estimated 18,000sqft.

In a high-profile change of its regulations in 2013, Leeds City Council put a cap on the number of city centre lapdancing clubs, which led to a raft of venue closures including the former Red Leopard, which was based at the Jubilee site.