The Penthouse Club, which performs nude striptease and takes its name from the notorious adult magazine, has applied to open a branch leaving locals in despair.
Some have argued a green light for the proposal will trigger added noise and put the brakes on improvements in the area over the last decade.
But others have accused them of being ‘Nimby’s who don’t want anyone to have any sex’ saying Soho ‘has always been about expression’.
The club, which had venues in the United States, Australia, and Russia plans to open on the site of the former iconic LGBTQ+ venue Madame Jo Jo’s in Walker’s Court.
In its application to Westminster Council on Thursday club owners are arguing they the venue will bring £8 million of investment into the area.
But many residents are working to block the plans, with the Soho Society among its opponents.
George, 25, a chauffeur who has lived in nearby Green’s Court since the age of six told Metro the opening of a new club would be a ‘backwards step’.
He said: ‘I have lived here since I was a child. I love the area and it’s home.
‘It has got better in recent years, it’s been cleaned up and it does not need another strip club. I don’t think these places add much to the local economy in reality.
‘There are famous places like the Windmill Club that are part of the fabric of Soho and it’s good they are here. But it’s a backwards step to allow new clubs to open. The area has changed for the better.
‘We don’t need extra noise, it’s good living around here now. When I was little my mum moved us from Shepherd’s Bush because of busy roads etc.’
But fellow business owners have said the strip club ‘is exactly what Soho needs’.
Local Jo Ann said, ‘Soho has always been a sexy part of London, especially after dark’.
She told Metro: ‘If Soho can’t have well managed, secure and safe sex, what part of London can?
‘Walkers Court used to be known as the drug dealer alley and it is now one of the safest with good lighting, CCTV and door staff.
‘There are of course a few miserable residents who do not want anyone having sex and want it to be closed by 11pm. It’s pathetic, it’s like we are a rural village,’
But a pensioner who lives in the block just years from the proposed venue, said she had seen vast improvements in the area over the last three decades.
She told Metro: ‘The last thing we want is another strip club. I have been here 36 years and it’s so much better now.
‘We used to be plagued by drug addicts and people drinking outside the block but it really has been cleaned up. Why go backwards to the seedy Soho with more strip clubs. Nice tourists want to come here and have dinner. It’s less noisy.
‘I don’t want the noise the club will generate and I don’t want the street full of people off to see a strip show. I strongly object. Westminster Council needs to reject this application to send Soho back in time to the bad old days.’
A mother of two who moved to Soho recently told Metro: ‘You can bring kids up in Soho now, I think in the past it would have been very difficult. As a mum I don’t want a strip club on the corner. What’s in Soho already that’s ok but now we want more restaurants or normal shops not strip joints.’
In the official objections to the plans included in Westminster Councils planning documents a resident also highlights the more family oriented nature of Soho.
They write: ‘Increasingly families include a visit to the neighbourhood in their weekends or as part of their tourist visit to the city. Are the clientele of a strip club likely to be the sorts of people to whom you wish to expose children and other unprepared visitors? Soho is no longer the seedy red-light district of yore.’
Another resident added: ‘These types of premises and other sex establishments either licensed and or unlicensed has changed the character of this area. At night it transforms into a place which is seedy, it feels very unsafe, threatening and intimidating especially for lone women walking home late at night.’
However, the club which is owned by Louisiana-based businessman John Kirkendoll said it will operate as a ‘premium’ venue with music, drag and ‘Cirque du Soleil’-style acrobatics, as well as strippers.
Under the proposals, full nudity would only be allowed in private VIP rooms, while topless or semi-nude performances would take place on the club’s main stage and by customers’ tables.
A resident who works in design and has lived in Soho for more than 20 years dismissed objections to the plans saying the ‘heart and soul’ of Soho was being lost to gentrification.
He told Metro: ‘They say the area is being cleaned up but it’s losing its identity. If you what quiet, genteel streets go and live somewhere else, this is not the place for you. People moved here because it was interesting and full of character. It’s being destroyed. The pubs close early and the council is ruining the heart and soul of the area. The club should go ahead, this is Soho not Surrey!’
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