Planning permission granted for MacCurtain Street hotel at Coliseum site
City Site Of On Picture The Design Granted On Street, The Permission File Hotel Cork For The Coliseum Planned Maccurtain
Cork City Council have granted planning permission to International Investment ICAV to construct a five to seven-storey hotel on MacCurtain St and Brian Boru St in Cork City.
Although permission has been granted, the project can still be appealed to An Bord Pleanála and 23 conditions have been attached to the construction.
Some of the conditions include provision for bicycle parking and conservation compliance with regards to the former postal sorting offices, which is a protected structure.
The Leisureplex site will be replaced by the 171-bedroom hotel after the redevelopment. The site formerly housed the Coliseum cinema and is currently a bowling alley and arcade.
Plans for the hotel include a bar and restaurant at ground floor level, a roof top plant at 5th floor level and a new service vehicle access onto MacCurtain Street.
The latest planning permission approval follows a glut of new hotel projects in 2019 with 1,300 new hotel rooms in the pipeline for Cork according to an analysis produced by Fáilte Ireland.
Based on rising visiting numbers to the region and corporate demand, it was expected that Cork City needed more visitor accommodation hence the level of development in the hotel sector despite some concerns that market saturation was at risk.
However, the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted the industry dramatically with tourism and business conferences curtailed.
Speaking to the Irish Examiner recently, one of the foremost experts on the hotel industry in Europe said there will be some difficulties in the near future but opportunities still remain for the sector in Cork.
Aiden Murphy of business advisory firm Crowe Ireland said it is not a good time to be opening a hotel but recovery is possible.
"All things being equal, I think Cork will see another 1,000 rooms," he said. "They will manifest themselves in a market that probably in terms of demand is starting into 2021 at least 30% down, so it is not a good time to be opening a hotel in 2021 or 2022, when they are trying to claw back that collapse in demand, that 30% that has been lost through the lack of international visitors coming to Ireland."
Other recent developments that have received planning approval include a 246-bed hostel on Cork’s Grand Parade at the old tourist office.
The six-storey development, called Tourist House, will provide 246 hostel bed spaces in 48 rooms and will also include a ground floor bar and a rooftop terrace.
Cork City Council had already granted permission for the development with a condition that the top floor be omitted. This was despite a number of objections to the proposal.