The owners of the Jazz Cafe in Camden Town have applied to build a hotel next door, in a move they say will safeguard the future of the iconic music venue.
The Columbo Group, which runs the Jazz Cafe, has submitted a planning application to Camden Council to change 9 Parkway — an empty restaurant and offices it bought in 2025 — into hotel accommodation and “ancillary uses to the Jazz Cafe”.
The venue, at 5-7 Parkway, has hosted the likes of Amy Winehouse and Adele. The project would involve the “part amalgamation of 5-7 and 9 Parkway at second to fourth floor levels”, linking the two buildings.
Key facts
- What: Planning application to turn 9 Parkway, Camden Town, into a hotel and extra facilities for the Jazz Cafe next door
- Who: The Columbo Group — owner of the Jazz Cafe, The Parakeet pub in Kentish Town and the Blues Kitchen chain
- Where: 9 Parkway, next to the Jazz Cafe at 5-7 Parkway, Camden Town
- The plan: A mansard roof extension and a five-storey rear extension, used as hotel accommodation plus offices, a green room for artists, storage and coat check facilities
- Architects: DGA Architects
- Status: Application submitted to Camden Council — no decision yet
What the plans involve
If the plans get the green light, a mansard roof extension and five-storey rear extension would be used as hotel accommodation, as well as extra offices for the Columbo Group, a green room for artists, and extra storage and coat check facilities.
The number 9 shopfront would become the main hotel entrance and reception, with a coffee shop area open to the public that would feel like a “genuine, welcoming high-street use rather than a standard hotel lobby”.
The first floor of number 9 would retain a small office space for use as the Jazz Cafe’s promotions office.
Why the group bought the building
According to a design statement by DGA Architects, the Columbo Group bought 9 Parkway after the building’s owners were granted planning permission to redevelop the property in 2023.
That earlier plan included an extensive new build to the rear of the Jazz Cafe, including landscaped terraces, hotel accommodation and office space — which the group feared would block vital escape routes from the venue.
The design statement explains that the group bought the vacant building because of that fear. “This purchase safeguards the future of the Jazz Cafe,” it says, “and furthermore offers the opportunity for Columbo Group to provide a different offering in Camden and help strengthen the viability of the venue for years to come.”
“The proposed works will provide much needed storage, improve circulation to relieve pressure on cloakrooms and bar areas, provide much needed improved ‘green room’ spaces to attract the best acts to the venue and secure and improve the emergency escape from the venue.”
A venue brought back to life
The design statement traces the venue’s history. The Jazz Cafe opened its doors in 1990 in a former Barclays Bank, and the Columbo Group bought it in 2016.
“When Columbo took over the Jazz Cafe it was a tired looking, unloved venue in decline,” the statement says. “They spent considerable time and money in refurbishing the venue to make it a place which reflected its rich music history, cultural status as a leading Camden venue and would attract the kind of artists that gave it its reputation in the first place.”
“The Jazz Cafe is now world renowned and Columbo’s knowledge and expertise in creating welcoming and vibrant venues has rejuvenated the venue. The Jazz Cafe now not only attracts influential artists for live sets, it hosts events, houses a fantastic restaurant and has become one of Camden’s top destinations.”
Why it matters for live music
The application lands at a difficult time for live music venues. The design statement notes that “in recent years we have steadily seen the sad demise of many live music venues and as their popularity and viability has diminished they have been lost at an alarming rate.”
“Columbo are committed to ensuring the Jazz Cafe remains a key venue for live music which is the heartbeat of Camden Town and continue to invest in improving it,” it adds.
That argument — that the hotel would make the venue itself more viable — is likely to be central to the application. A hotel next door would give the group a second income stream from the same site, while the extra back-of-house space would let the venue host bigger acts and run more smoothly on busy nights.
For Camden Town, the plans would also bring a new hotel and a public coffee shop to Parkway, one of the area’s main streets, a short walk from Camden Town station.
What happens next
The application is now with Camden Council, which will decide whether to grant planning permission. No decision date has been announced, and the council will consult neighbours and other interested parties before reaching a decision.
If approved, the works would link the two buildings at second to fourth floor level and add the mansard and rear extensions — the first major change to the venue’s footprint since the Columbo Group took it over in 2016.
