AN empty city centre building could soon become Bradford’s first “super-club.”

The former Artz-I store on the junction of Sunbridge Road and Kirkgate is at the centre of plans for city nightclub Envy to re-locate from its current Barry Street location and become the city centre’s premier night spot.

A planning application has been submitted for the change of use of the building, and the man behind Envy told the Telegraph & Argus he hoped the club would give a major boost to Bradford’s nightlife.

Jonathan Kirk said for the club to meet its potential it had to move from its current site, and that the new building was the perfect location.

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He said they were planning to spend around £100,000 to refurbish the building, and work would be done by the same people who refurbished the Dollhouse in Leeds.

The Artz-I building, one one of the main routes through the city centre, has been shut since the business moved to online trading only.

Mr Kirk said the plans to move the club had been in place well before lockdown, and he hoped the plans would give people something to look forward to when life had returned to some semblance of normalcy.

The existing Envy has space for around 400 people, but the new building will have space for 600 revellers.

He said: “This has been in the planning stages for quite a few months. We had a few issues with the current building, it wasn’t up to scratch for what our vision was. This new site gave us a better chance of starting afresh.

“We’re not just going to be opening in the evening, we’re aiming for some daytime trade too.”

He said during the day there would be a daytime bar and cafe serving drinks, coffee and providing live sports screenings. The nightclub would be open from 11pm on weekends.

Mr Kirk said the new club would be a step up from the existing Envy, adding: “We’re not doing this just to copy what we already got. We needed to move out of our current building to achieve what we wanted. If you’re going to do something you have to do it right.

“We want to be bringing people from far out of Bradford. We want to bring big headline attractions and DJs in.

“A lot of places have the same DJs week in, week out. We want to get special superstar guests in. We’re hoping to book in some top acts.

“We might only make back the costs on those nights, but it will help build the profile of the business.

“Personally I want this to be the first super-club in Bradford. If you put someone like Tom Zanetti on we’ll get 600 people there when it opens at 11pm.

“We want this to be the place everyone wants to go when they come to Bradford.

“It is a brilliant building, it’s got air conditioning, roller shutters, it has everything we need. It is in a prime location, you couldn’t pick a better spot - right in the centre and not far from Ivegate and Sunbridgewells.”

The ground floor of the club will play house music while the first floor would feature chilled out RnB.

A licensing application has also been submitted to the Council for the supply of alcohol and playing of recorded music from Monday to Wednesday 11am to 11pm and on Thursday to Sunday 11am to 6am.

A decision on the planning application is expected next month.

The application comes after a difficult few years for Bradford’s clubbing scene. Although numerous bars and pubs have opened or re-opened, many nightclubs have shut. Bradford’s West End, once home to several clubs, has been among the worst hit areas.