Popular student bars Capone and Boogie Nites will reopen tomorrow under new management, operator Sheldon Lye confirmed yesterday.
The former bars, located at adjacent lots in George and Frederick Sts, would be rebranded as one bar, called Boogie.
The bars were closed last month after previous manager Rob Dale decided against renewing the lease.
At the time, Mr Dale said he had made the decision to close the bars because of the Dunedin City Council's proposed local alcohol policy (Lap), which would be ''the most draconian liquor laws in the whole country''.
He cited a one-way door policy from 1am, and closing of outdoor areas from 11pm as being the major problems with the draft policy.
Mr Dale said yesterday when contacted ''the reasons that I shut it still stand''.
''It will lose 90% of its turnover under the new Lap.''
Otago University Students' Association president Paul Hunt said he was ''pleased'' about the reopening, ''given the closure of several other North Dunedin bars in recent years''.
''The closure and subsequent reopening of these bars demonstrates the tight margins bars operate at and should serve as a warning to the DCC that proposed local alcohol policies which disproportionately target bars could result in their closure.''
Mr Lye said he would take a ''slightly different approach to [managing the bar] this time''.
He had been ''in the bar trade'' in Dunedin and New Zealand for the past 17 years, and was ''the original operator of South Bar on the site'', along with the landlord.
He was not sure exactly what Boogie's future would be.
The reopening was an ''agreement'' with the landlord, he said.
He expected to employ 12 to 16 people for tomorrow's opening. Staff numbers after that would depend on how busy the bar was.
Ultimately, he said, the future of Boogie would depend on its target demographic: students.
''Students have to use it or lose it,'' he said.
''If the student population supports the business and the DCC Lap process is fair and workable, we see [Boogie] staying as a fixture in the north Dunedin pub scene for the years to come.''
