The operator of the five-star Conrad Hotel overlooking St Stephen’s Green in Dublin is to make a renewed bid for a large expansion to the hotel.
Earlsfort Centre Hotel Proprietors Ltd has lodged plans with Dublin City Council (DCC) to increase the number of hotel rooms by 192 to 308 as part of a “significant investment” in the facility.
The plans include a new eight-storey extension over the existing event space, resulting in a 10-storey building. It also includes a seventh-floor extension to the Earlsfort Terrace section.
The move comes 3½ years after the owners of the Conrad, Archer Capital – which also owns the nearby Shelbourne Hotel – secured planning permission for a new seven-storey wing that would have increased the number of hotel rooms by 88, from 192 to 280.
RM Block
However, a planning report lodged with the new application by planning consultants John Spain Associates said that “due to the cost of construction and viability concerns, this scheme could not progress to construction”.
The report said that “in terms of hotel concentration in the area, the proposal will extend an existing hotel and is of a higher-order offer to most hotels in the wider area”.
The applicants have held pre-planning discussions with officials at the city council. The John Spain Associates report noted that “overall, DCC were very positive and welcomed the scheme, in particular: improvements to the open space fronting Earlsfort Terrace, the overall intent to retain the existing hotel, the design quality of the proposal, and sustainability improvements”.
John Spain Associates have also drawn up a hotel concentration report and state that a high level of demand within the market has been identified by the applicant for visitor accommodation at this location.
Plans for the revamped hotel were drawn up by BKD Architects and the hotel is to continue operations during construction of the extension.
The closing date for submissions is February 9th.
