A New York-themed bar finally looks set to arrive in Newcastle city centre, after winning the backing of city councillors.
Bosses behind Manahatta have succeeded in their bid to secure a licence to open in a vacant former bank building in Collingwood Street. Leeds-based Arc Inspirations has been trying for years to bring its Manahatta brand to the former Allied Irish Bank site, which has lain empty for almost a decade.
The operator decided to shelve its plans back in 2018, but brought them back before city councillors at a hearing last week. And despite opposition from Northumbria Police, Newcastle City Council’s licensing sub-committee has now decided to back the scheme – paving the way for a multi-million pound regeneration of the listed building.
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Councillors were told during last Tuesday’s meeting that £2.2m will be spent on the new cocktail bar, described as a “glamorous” venue that will also offer food throughout the day, and that the building’s owners were also planning a £4m transformation of its upper floors into apartments. The bar will have a capacity of around 500 people and Arc Inspirations has promised to install new CCTV and lighting in Denton Chare in a bid to address neighbours’ complaints about anti-social behaviour from revellers.
Northumbria Police’s Chief Inspector Dave Wheeler asked the committee to refuse the granting of a licence for Manahatta, warning that adding another bar to the infamous Diamond Strip would “undoubtedly” lead to problems in what is already a trouble hotspot. Concerns were also raised by the Apartment Group, which runs the bars opposite the former bank, about the potential dangers of drunken patrons crossing the busy Collingwood Street to go between different venues.
Arc Inspirations’ solicitor, Paddy Whur, defended his client’s “faultless” record since opening Banyan in the former Jamie’s Italian next to Grey’s Monument and promised “significantly better” standards of management than other venues on the Diamond Strip. In a bid to placate city authorities, the Manahatta team offered to bring forward the venue’s proposed closing time to 1.30am, with no entries after midnight.
Issuing their decision to grant the licence, the sub-committee said it was “satisfied that the applicant demonstrated that there are exceptional circumstances and that if granted the application will not add to the negative cumulative impact on one or more of the licensing objectives”.
