Yada Ya: First look at new Southport restaurant, bar and live music venue

An old house which was once home to a charity will be transformed into a hip, modern bar and restaurant with its own gelato parlour. FIRST IMAGES

An old house which was once home to a charity will be transformed into a hip, modern bar and restaurant with its own gelato parlour.

Michael Read, the businessman behind the under-construction Fire Baby and Foundry venue on Southport’s Welch St is planning a new nightspot Yada Ya on Hicks Street.

Artist impression of Yada Ya - a new bar and restaurant planned for Hicks street in Southport. Picture: Supplied

The site is currently occupied by a mid-century house which most recently served as the base for Cornerstone, a St Vincent de Paul Society homeless support service.

Located across the road from the Mal Burke carpark, Yada Yar will be a restaurant, cafe and live music venue which will operate from 11am-11pm, seven days a week.

It will feature live music from 5pm-10pm Thursdays through Sundays.

An application was lodged recently. Picture: Supplied

The existing one-storey building will be retained and transformed into the cafe, while the new restaurant and bar will be created in the present backyard.

It appears set to replaced Downtown, a 2021-era proposal by Mr Read to build a four-storey bar complex on the site.

Downtown was to be a high-end night-life venue which would house a bar, restaurant and live music performances from its basement cellar to its rooftop.

The venue will have several uses Picture: Supplied

It is unclear if Mr Read intends for Yada Ya to be an interim venue before moving on to build the larger project.

A planning report said Downtown had been designed to fill a void in Southport.

“The intended design and atmosphere will mimic that of street vendors and food trucks on the ground floor with other formalised dining spaces in the basement,” the report reads.

Artist impression of Yada Ya - a new bar and restaurant planned for Hicks street in Southport. Picture: Supplied

“The addition of live music will attract, support, and showcase local musicians and artists while the flexible nature of the space for dining and entertainment will cater to a range of needs and different forms of entertainment as the Southport CBD continues to develop.”

Originally published as Yada Ya: First look at new Southport restaurant, bar and live music venue