It has been seen by many as the final death rattle of Soho, the closure of a venue that hosted some of London’s most bizarre and offbeat nightlife for more than half a century.

But it has emerged that the fate of legendary club Madame Jojo’s had already been decided many months before Westminster council revoked its licence this week after a violent incident - in a move that was condemned by many as draconian.

Plans submitted to Westminster council in September 2013 by Soho Estates, which owns the premises, show the venue was already among the buildings intended to be demolished and redeveloped in Soho’s Walker’s Court and Brewer Street in the next few years. In December last year the plans were approved by the council.

The design drawings of the 50,000 sq ft development, which illustrate how Soho Estates envisions the future of Brewer Street, include a complete renewal of the building that has been home to Madame Jojo’s for 50 years.

The club itself is not included at all in any of the drawings. Instead the plans say the site “currently occupied by Madame Jojo’s, will undergo extensive demolition and remodelling, involving the levelling of the floor plane, adjustment of the layout and improvement to access”.

Westminster council stands by its statement that the club’s licence was revoked solely due to an incident at the club, in which security staff assaulted a member of public with baseball bats.

The council said: “Planning and licensing decisions are governed under two entirely separate pieces of legislation, and planning applications have no bearing whatsoever on a licensing committee decision. These decisions are taken solely on the evidence relating to the issues and to the conditions of the licence. The police outlined serious concerns at the Brewer Street site and so we had to take action. This was based entirely on the level of violence involved, and not for any other reason. A large part of the business and residential community support our decision.”

It added: “Westminster is rightly proud that Soho is now a safer area for people to live, work and play. It is not something we will apologise for.”

However, supporters of Madame Jojo’s point out the timing of closure is fortunate for Soho Estates, as the company’s redevelopment plans are scheduled to begin next year, and say it is symptomatic of the “wave of devastating blandification of the area”.

The closure of the legendary Soho haunt has already prompted a Save Madame Jojo’s petition, which has more than 6,000 signatures, and a vigil is planned for Saturday afternoon outside the club to pay tribute to what the organisers are calling “a mecca for young pioneers, romantics and bohemians and a proud centre of subculture”.

Soho Estates is the property empire set up by the so-called King of Soho, Paul Raymond. The company owns more than 60 acres across Soho and Leicester Square, and is one of London’s largest landowners, with the estate estimated to be worth more than £370m.

Soho Estates claims the £45m project at the heart of Soho offers “the first realistic prospect that long standing antisocial uses can be legally removed from the site”, which includes several of the sex shops being turned into New York-style delis and building a block of glass-fronted offices.

Under the council-approved plans the firm also has a licence for another club, and a brief statement by John James, managing director of Soho Estates, said the company “owns the rights to the name Madame Jojo’s and we hope to recreate the concept in the new development”. Since the club lost its licence this week, the company has already repossessed the venue.

Matthew White, whose firm Matt Architecture has drawn up all the design plans for the project, called it a “comprehensive renewal and regeneration of this part of Soho”.

White said he did not know whether Soho Estates had intended to keep Madame Jojo’s under the area revamp but added: “Places change, and that means there will always be critics. But we’ve been working on this project for years, striking a balance between improving the place and making sure it keeps its edge, and it’s a complicated, considered and really exciting project for Soho.”