Edinburgh strip club to be sold as family home

AN EDINBURGH lap dancing bar is to be auctioned off for a bargain basement £300,000 – and it could be ideal as a family home, according to sales experts.

The Liquorice Club on Home Street is being marketed as an ideal family home. Picture: Greg Macvean

The price tag attached to the quick sale of the Liquorice Club in Home Street pitches it up against other decent-sized family homes in the area – except this one comes with a gaudy interior, floor-to-ceiling mirrors and louche bar area.

Described as “one of the city’s longest-established lap dancing bars”, it is being sold for roughly £200,000 less than it was purchased for in 2007.

According to Auction House Scotland, which is handling the November 21 sell-off, the bargain price is to ensure a quick sale for the venue.

The recently upgraded establishment, which is spread over two floors, is described as suitable for either continuing with its current use or “a number of alternate uses, ranging from housing, leisure, childcare, community or business use”. The new owner would also have the option of building upwards to expand.

And with a four-bedroom top-floor flat five minutes’ walk away in Glengyle Terrace listed for offers over £365,000, property manager Oliver Clarke, of Scoutbay Asset ­Management, expects bidding to be fierce.

He said: “We anticipate that there will be a good level of interest in the property at this guide price level, whether it be someone who wants to trade with existing use or has a new idea for the building. Sites like these don’t often come to market at price levels such as we are asking, so it will be interesting to see how things progress over the coming weeks.”

We revealed in July how the club had been forced to remove “vulgar” silhouettes of women in sexually explicit poses from its windows, following pressure from the public.

Local representatives welcomed the possibility that the establishment could soon be used for different purposes.

City centre Tory councillor Joanna Mowat said: “Sales can provide an opportunity for a change of use from something that previously caused concern to the local community to something that can contribute a more active street frontage and can be used during the day.”

Tollcross Community Council chair Paul Beswick also said he’d be “pleased” to see the venue with a different use. He said: “It’s not our role to criticise the perfectly legal activity that went on within, but personally I would be happy to see it used for something else.”

No-one could be reached at the bar. It was yesterday not clear if the firm is still trading. Its website is offline and there is a constant engaged tone on their landline.