In less than a year, Jodi Upton has turned a rough-and-tumble south Scottsdale bar into a swanky dance club that has become a favorite hangout of visiting celebrities.

Since Upton, 27, took over the Papago Plaza space formerly known as Club Tribeca and, more recently, Coyote Bay, last September and transformed it into chic CBNC, music stars such as Britney Spears, Eve, Busta Rhymes, 50 Cent, Eminem, LL Cool J, Fabolous and DMX have been toasting champagne- filled glasses and getting their groove on at the nightspot.

But when Upton's husband first approached her with the idea of buying Coyote Bay, she was horrified at the idea of taking over a club that had to frisk its patrons.

“It was really challenging to get the people to come here, not to get them out of here,” Upton says, referring to Coyote Bay's reputation for attracting a rough crowd. “All I had to do was change the dress code. It's resort casual — no athletic apparel and no hats. Ladies can dress how they want to dress within certain boundaries.’’

Upton, who runs the club with the help of her 25-year-old twin brothers, wants to give clubgoers an alternative to Axis/Radius, Sanctuary and other Scottsdale clubs.

“Axis and Sanctuary are the nightclubs you go to if you're from Scottsdale,’’ she says. “I'd love to have the Scottsdale crowd in here, but I don't stereotype people when they walk through my door. I don't look you up and down and wonder how much money you have in your bank account.’’

In addition to CBNC's posh and trendy amenities — a large, well-lighted dance floor, sizable bar and three VIP areas, including the exclusive owner's box — clubgoers enjoy the possibility of running into a celebrity.

“The best thing about this club is that they bring the best celebrities in here — all the good rappers,’’ says CBNC regular Tommy Jonovich, 21, of Scottsdale. “You never know who you're going to see.’’

Jonovich's friend, Adam Thoreson, 21, of Mesa, says it was cool to see rapper 50 Cent ‘in da club’ recently.

“He was in the VIP room, but you could see him with his crew,’’ Thoreson says. “He had Cristal and all that. He was throwing (living) it up.’’

Upton, who owns Exotic Auto Sales in north Scottsdale, uses her connections to bring big names into the club.

“We get a lot of people from the music industry in here because that's who we sell cars to,’’ she says.

Her north Scottsdale neighbor is rapper DMX, and her son's godfather is Swizz Beatz, a producer of the hip-hop collective/production team Ruff Ryders.

“He's a close friend of the family's’’ she says of Beatz, who is also a partner in CBNC.

In an effort to appease celebrities and clubgoers, Upton is in the process of securing an after-hours permit for her club, which she hopes to have by October.

In the meantime, she's focusing on the club's one-year anniversary celebration on Sept. 4.

“We're working on getting a lot of big names in here,’’ she says.

CBNC OWNER JODI UPTON TALKS ABOUT HER MORE FAMOUS CUSTOMERS:

Britney Spears

“Britney was in here July Fourth weekend. She asked to be completely alone, so we gave her the owner's box and she went up there with two of her girlfriends. She asked that the curtains be shut and that she not be bothered whatsoever. . . . She wasn't the friendliest person in the world. (But) she got out on the dance floor and started dancing with all my patrons. She wasn't surrounded by bodyguards and got into it and started dancing with one of my male performers.’’

Eminem

“He sent a body double in that we . . . had come up (to a VIP room). Everyone thought Eminem was up here. Then they snuck (the real Eminem) in through the back. I actually went in (the VIP room) and thought it was Eminem sitting in there.’’

Lil' Kim

“She did the same thing (as Britney) and got out there and started dancing. She grabbed the mike and started rocking the mike and got the people going.’’

50 Cent

“When he was going through a lot of that turmoil with Ja Rule, he came in. 50’s known for wearing a bulletproof vest. He felt so comfortable with us that he actually got up on the bar and started dancing around on it. He took off his vest, hung out and had a really good time.’’

Eve

“She was totally Miss Bubbly, Miss Personality. She went through a couple bottles of Patron. She was really cool — not what I expected at all.’’

LL Cool J

“He's such a gentleman, such a top-notch guy. We put him in the owner's box. He said, ‘Whoever wants to come up here, come on up,’ and at first I was a little mortified. My club can only fit so many people up there. So they all formed a line and, one at a time, he stood up and every person who wanted a picture with him got to take a picture with him.’’

CBNC

Where: Papago Plaza, 1420 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale
Hours: 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. Thursday through Saturday
Cover: $5-$10
Info: