Hotel 'the likes of which Cork has never seen' promised by new owner of former South Mall bank
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A BIJOU hotel “the likes of which Cork has never seen” is in the pipeline for Cork City following the purchase by a prominent hotelier of the former National Irish Bank building on South Mall for a sum in excess of €3m.
The hotelier, who did not wish to be identified, said it will have a “real 5-star feeling” and will be geared towards a young, vibrant clientele, the “Instagram” generation. It will also be a music venue.
The sale did not include a car park to the rear on Morgan Street, which is owned by VHI/Irish Life.
The hotel is one of five in the pipeline for Cork City, which between them will add more than 700 extra hotel beds.
Planning was granted to turn the former bank at No 71 South Mall into a 58-bed hotel back in September 2019 to hotelier Ray Byrne and his business partner Eoin Doyle, but Mr Byrne, who opened microsleeper REZz on MacCurtain Street last year, kept the property on the market. While his original plan was to develop No 71 into a boutique hotel, covid slowed things down.
This week, he told the Irish Examiner that they had received “an attractive offer for the property” and took the decision to sell. While the sale price was not disclosed, the Irish Examiner understands the hotel transacted for in excess of €3m.
“We would have liked to have completed the project, having bought the property and secured planning permission, however we were made an attractive offer and are delighted to pass on the baton,” Mr Byrne said.
Mr Byrne, who along with his wife Jane, owns the Wineport Lodge in Co Westmeath and who also owns Eccles Hotel in Glengarriff along with Mr Doyle, said they both wished the new owner of the South Mall property “every success”.
The new owner is hoping to have work underway at No 71 in about four months time. He intends to retain the ground floor banking hall in the building which was designed by architect William Caldbeck in 1885. The planning grant allows for the construction of two new storeys, set back from the street elevation over South Mall, one of which will be five storey. A six storey building will front onto Morgan Street. Architects for the project are Scott Tallon Walker, who are based in the adjoining building. Under the plans, the overall size of the new building will be 2,226 sqm, of which 1,142 will be additional floor area. The planning grant, which still has more than a year to run, also allows for a roof deck at fifth floor level. When the new hotel is complete, it will be the third on the South Mall, where the Maldron has been operating since 2019 and where the landmark Imperial Hotel has had a presence since 1813.
News of the sale of No 71 to a hotelier comes at a time when Cork City is experiencing something of a hotel building boom. At Morrison’s Island on Morrison’s Quay, a new Premier Inn is nearing completion on the site of the former Moore’s Hotel.
The €45m development will include a c6,800 sq ft c190-bed hotel on the 0.65 acre site. The Morrison’s Island hotel is the first outside of Dublin for the Whitbread Group-owned Premier Inn brand. A spokesperson for developers the Greenleaf Group said it will be completed by late summer, or "possibly September". A spokesperson for the Whitbread Group said they are hoping to open in time for the Christmas market.
Over on Camden Quay, across from the Opera House, work is well advanced on transforming the former Atkins/McKenzie building, previously used as a temporary circuit courthouse.
The prominent quayside site was purchased by Irish-Pakistani businessman John (Jalaluddin) Kajani in 2020 and he is planning to open the €50m c150-bed Moxy Hotel and Residence Inn, the first Marriott-branded hotel in Cork City. Mr Kajani’s company, Carra Shore Hotel (Cork) Ltd, was also granted permission in December for the redevelopment of Georgian beauties Nos 31-33 South Terrace into a 103-bed aparthotel, having previously been refused planning permission for a 146-bed aparthotel on the same site. No 31 previously accommodated Mel College/CLC, a private grind and languages school.
A fifth city centre site where a hotel has long been mooted came back into play in recent weeks after developers BAM confirmed they intend to progress plans for a 220-bed hotel and offices on the site of the former tax office on O’Sullivan’s Quay.
The prime site has lain idle since the demolition in 2018 of the Revenue Commissioners’ building.
In a recent statement, BAM said they were “in ongoing discussions with interested parties in relation to the former tax office site on Sullivan’s Quay and intend to progress with the planned construction of a hotel and a significant amount of Grade A office space”. BAM is also due to start building the long delayed Event Centre on the former Beamish & Crawford site on North Main Street in the Autumn, on which the sod was turned in 2016.
The activity in the hotel-building sector is a very positive sign for the industry which was among the hardest hit by the pandemic. While bookings have been picking up, a recent Fáilte Ireland survey said hotel occupancy levels across Cork County stood at 61% last December. Previous reports showed hotels rebounded strongly post-covid, with hotel occupancy levels in Cork County reaching 86% last June, at the height of the summer months.