Plans unveiled for Cork City’s second Premier Inn on Leisureplex site
Proposed Corner Inn Of St Of Cgi At St/brian Premier Maccurtain Boru
A planning application to build Cork City’s second Premier Inn at the Leisureplex complex, formerly the Coliseum Cinema, has been lodged with Cork City Council.
When completed, it is expected to employ around 40 staff, with recruitment focused in the city.
Applicants Whitbread PLC acquired the site, on the corner of MacCurtain St and Brian Boru St, in February 2024, a month after it opened the doors to its first Cork hotel: A €30m, 187-bedroom inn at Morrison’s Quay, south of the city centre.
Their second site benefits from an extant planning permission for a 171-bedroom hotel which sets the precedent to redevelop the site.
The Whitbread proposal for a 173-bed inn contains a number of changes to the original proposal, for which planning was granted by the council to different applicants — International Investment ICAV — in 2021.
A key change is the proposal that the building be set back significantly, compared to the existing planning grant, in recognition of nearby residential uses.
Whitbread are also proposing a splayed entrance at the junction of MacCurtain St and Brian Boru St to reflect the form of the existing building, which will be demolished, apart from the façade of the former postal sorting office (one-storey).
This will be retained, repaired, and conserved.
Whitbread’s proposed hotel is similar to the previously permitted development in terms of building height, scale, and character, which broadly suits its operational requirements.
It is proposing a one, five, and seven-storey (with setbacks) building, with an ancillary licensed restaurant and public bar and reception area on the ground floor.
The development manager for Whitbread in Ireland, Matt Gent, said the Leisureplex site “is a fantastic location for a hotel — given its central location, public transport connections, and many businesses and amenities located in the vicinity”.`
“Over the last 10 months, we have been working hard as a team to re-work and improve the extant planning permission to suit the Premier Inn brand.
“Our proposal will create a high-quality new hotel building with an ancillary licensed restaurant and public bar, that will provide an attractive addition to MacCurtain St and the Victorian Quarter of the city centre.
“I’m proud of the proposed development we have submitted for planning, and I am certain our second hotel in Cork will trade well and will make a positive long-term contribution to the city,” Mr Gent said.
Whitbread currently operates six hotels across Ireland, representing more than 1,000 trading guest bedrooms, and believes there is the potential in Ireland for 5,000 Premier Inn rooms.
If the second Cork hotel is approved, the development to the east of the city centre will complete its bedroom requirement for the city.
The cost of the development and who will undertake it is not yet known.
The Cavan-based Elliot Group oversaw the Morrisson’s Quay project.
Cork City is currently experiencing a boom in hotel building.
Just opened in time for this weekend’s Guinness Jazz Festival are two Marriott-brand hotels on Camden Quay, the 153-bedroom Moxy Hotel, and the 53-bedroom Residence Inn, by the UK-based JMK group.
The JMK group also has plans for an aparthotel on South Terrace. Separately, a 58-bedroom boutique hotel is being planned by hotelier Shay Livingstone at 71 South Mall.
However, REZz — a 73-bedroom microsleeper that opened on MacCurtain St in 2021 — is now set to accommodate single, female refugees seeking international protection after its developers, Ray Byrne and Eoin Doyle, entered into a 12-month government contract.
Mr Byrne told this newspaper that it had “filled a badly needed gap in the market at the time”, but the Cork hotel sector has since seen rapid growth with the opening of the Premier Inn, the Moxy and the Residence Inn — along with a second Premier Inn on the cards on the doorstep of REZz.