Green Light Given For Development Of Two New Hotels In Dublin

Dublin City Council has granted planning permission to both Cathedral Lane, which is part of Northern Irish hotel group Beannchor, and hotelier Brian McGettigan’s Vision Wave company to develop new hotels in Dublin.

Cathedral Lane Venue

As reported by The Irish Times, Cathedral Lane has been given the green light to develop a 98-bedroom, eight storey hotel on the site of the former Boland’s bakery off of the capital’s Capel Street.

Last year, plans by Cathedral Lane to develop a hotel on the same site were rejected by An Bord Pleanála, which said that the proposed hotel was of “poor design” and did not constitute “an adequate response to the context and opportunity” of the site.

Cathedral Lane’s newly-approved revised plans for a hotel on the site could still be appealed to An Bord Pleanála. However, one of the main objectors to the plans that were rejected last year, Creekvale Ltd, has not objected to the revised plans.

Last year, Creekvale received permission from Dublin City Council to develop an eight-storey 273-bedroom hotel on the site of Begley’s Fruit Market on Dublin’s Arran Street East and Little Mary Street, despite an objection by Cathedral Lane.

Beannchor owner Bill Wolsey intends to operate Cathedral Lane’s newly-approved hotel under the Bullitt brand, which was launched in Belfast in 2016.

Vision Wave Venue

Vision Wave’s newly-approved proposed Dublin hotel is planned to be developed on the site of several existing buildings between Capel Street and Parnell Street.

It is planned to be seven storeys in height and include 94 bedrooms, a restaurant, a whiskey lounge, a wine cellar, a spa and a private rooftop lounge for residents.

Brian McGettigan received permission from An Bord Pleanála to develop a 65-bedroom hotel on the site in 2019, and subsequently submitted revised plans for approval to increase the room count of the proposed hotel to 121. These revised plans were rejected in Dublin City Council early last year, leading to the submission of the newly-approved plans for a 94-bedroom hotel.

Ringline Rejection

The approvals for the above hotels for the Capel Street area follow the recent refusal to grant Ringline Investments planning permission to develop a 142-bedroom hotel on the corner of Capel Street and Strand Street Little. One of the reasons given for the refusal to green light Ringline’s proposed hotel was an overconcentration of hotels in the area. However, the plans by Cathedral Lane and Vision Wave were submitted before Ringline submitted its plans.

Original article on hospitalityireland.com by Dave Simpson.