A nightclub in Bristol's city centre is set to be partially converted into student flats after it closed at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic and did not re-open. Forty Eight nightclub on Park Street will now house up to seven students on its first and second floors after a planning application to convert it was approved by Bristol City Council.
However, the ground floor will continue to be used for either retail or as a drinking establishment. The nightclub closed on March 22, 2020 and has remained vacant ever since, according to a planning application submitted to the council by property developer Urban Creation.
Forty Eight's Facebook page was active as recently as March 2021, when a post appeared to suggest that the club was hoping to reopen on June 21, the day on which the government initially planned to remove all Covid restrictions and allow nightclubs to reopen.
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This did not happen until July 19, but Forty Eight's Facebook post on March 30 said: "Roll on June 21st. Hold tight Bristol." And a post written on September 28, 2020, when nightclubs were not allowed to open, said that the club was hoping "to welcome you all back as soon as it’s safe to do so."
The nightclub had been open since September 2012, according to business directory website 365Bristol.com. However, a planning statement submitted by Shu Architects on behalf of the developers says that the conversion of the nightclub will be a "benefit" to "local residential amenities".
And it adds: "The proposed works would bring the currently under-used upper floors back into active use providing social, economic and environmental benefits to no. 48 and Park Street as a whole."
