Club lockdown spurs £3.5m Love & Death investment
Belfast bar and nightclub Love & Death plans to quadruple in size with a £3.5million investment and the purchase of two adjoining buildings.
Owner Lee Murphy is planning a new bar and food offering at Crown Entry, close to the existing Ann Street premises.
The new business will also take the inspiration for its name its from the fact the first meeting of the United Irishmen was held there in October 1791, bringing one of the lesser known members to the fore.
“We’re going to create a bar down there called Corny Brennan’s,” Mr Murphy said.
‘Food court’
“He was an attendee of the United Irishmen meetings and a tailor.
“But he couldn’t read, write or count and was a bit of an eejit and used to do things like measure people’s suits wrong, and there are a lot of funny stories about him.
“We thought he deserved a wee mention as he was a funny character.”
Mr Murphy said the entire project would result in a “400% increase” in the size of the business.
“We’re putting in loads of kitchens, and a food court out the back, for independent traders to come into. We estimate it will be an investment of somewhere in the region of £3.5m.”
Mr Murphy told the Belfast Telegraph plans had already been through the pre-application process, with the purchase of the buildings from hotelier Bill Wolsey being finalised. Mr Wolsey is also the landlord of Love & Death itself, which is also part of the sale.
Mr Murphy said that while the project had been planned for some time the impact of lockdowns had made getting it over the line all the more essential.
“We’ll be doing food, mainly, instead of a nightclub. Up until now, we’ve been a nightclub and cocktail bar but nightclubs are kind of dead now.
“They’re the first thing to get shut down if anything goes wrong, which did happen to us. We’re the least needed part of the hospitality industry, so we just thought we’ll do food from now on.”
The new project aim to model itself on the likes of Boxpark in Shoreditch, with new food units selling street food in a roof space.
