Coventry nightspot that hosted The Enemy hits the market for £600,000

A run-down Coventry venue that has sat empty for four years has hit the market for £600,000. The Empire on Far Gosford Street has been listed on Rightmove.

Buyers are being encouraged to breathe new life into the city centre-based building, which has a bar area, dancefloor, storeroom, and toilets, according to Rightmove. It holds up to 1,200 people, it is understood.

Owned by Phil Rooney, The Empire, which opened in August 2015, was a much-loved part of the city, hosting the likes of The Enemy, Kayne Lynas, Charlie C, and DJ Day Day. It closed for good in 2020 and reopened as HMV Empire on Hertford Street.

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Developers have since been given the go-ahead for the building to be demolished and the site redeveloped into student accommodation with retail premises on the ground floor, Coventry City Council said. Permission was granted in November 2023.

Far Gosford Street, which is just yards from Coventry University, is already home to a number of student accommodation blocks, including Gosford Gate. Plans show that the proposed project could see up to 53 units of accommodation built within a five-storey building.

The Empire, on Far Gosford Street, will be auctioned on Thursday, July 11 at the Village Hotel in Canley. Anyone interested has been asked to turn up with two forms of ID.

View The Empire on Far Gosford Street in Coventry on Rightmove.

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