A former Bermondsey gym could become the Beer Mile’s newest bar after plans were submitted to Southwark Council.
London Beer Factory wants to transform the former Muscle Bull Gym into a drinking establishment, joining the trendy hang-outs along nearby Maltby Street Market.
Muscle Bull Gym opened inside the railway arches along 64 to 66 Gedling Place around 2016 but closed some time after 2021.
In planning documents submitted to the council, planning consultancy Hanily McGarry wrote: “The proposed bar/drinking establishment will introduce a more viable use to the site than the existing use, that will keep the site occupied and avoid it becoming vacant.”
The London Beer Factory, the applicant behind the proposal, already runs the Barrel Project on 80 Druid Street.
The business, founded in West Norwood in 2014, said the new bar would provide three full-time jobs and six part-time bar staff positions.
Writing on behalf of the applicant, a planning consultant said the area was already well-supplied with gyms, with The Circle Gym and Spa, Arc Athletics Club, Gym Nation and F45 Training all within a twelve-minute walk.
The redesign of the units would not require any alterations to the external walls and a patch of land out front could host outdoor seating.
The applicant hopes the bar could also “increase opportunities for natural surveillance and crime reduction”.
Southwark Councillor has previously highlighted the Beer Mile’s anti-social behaviour problem – citing urinating drunks and fly-tipping along the boozy route.