Green light for huge new hotel in Belfast’s old shipyard district with developer promising over 600 construction jobs

Belfast City Council’s planning committee had been given a recommendation to approve the blueprints by planning officers, and tonight it did just that.

There have long been plans for a hotel on the site.

Permission had been granted in 2010 for a 244-room hotel with a conference suite, but that has since lapsed.

And in 2020, permission was given for a 276-bed hotel with “conference facilities, restaurant/cafe/bar uses (including roof top bar), landscaped public realm, car parking and associated site and road works”.

The new plan is based largely on the 2020 one, with the applicant saying that “the current application is a result of largely internal alterations to respond to market demands”.

Here specifically is how the plan put before councillors on Tuesday was described: “Erection of hotel/aparthotel comprising 162 hotel beds and 94 aparthotel beds, conference facilities, restaurant/cafe/bar uses (including roof top bar), gym, landscaped public realm, car parking, cycle parking and associated site and road works.”

ABOUT 70 FULL TIME JOBS:

The applicant is the JMK Group, a hospitality firm based in London.

A planning officers’ report into the proposed development said: “The proposal will have an estimated construction cost of about £36 million.

“Approximately 620 full-time equivalent construction jobs will be created.

“The operational phase will deliver approximately 70 full-time equivalent jobs.”

It added: “The proposed hotel will not be detrimental to visual amenity.

“The overall composition provides an appropriate contrast to both the contemporary materials of Titanic Belfast and the more traditional rustic tones of the listed drawing offices.

“The proposal will have a positive impact on the character and appearance of the area.

“The proposal is considered to be in accordance with the development plan, taking account of all other material consideration including the relevant planning policies and planning history.

“It is recommended that planning permission is granted subject to conditions with delegated power given to the director of planning and building c ontrol to finalise the wording of conditions.”

If approved, it is likely that one condition will be that work must start within five years.

There has been a massive explosion in hotel numbers in recent years in Belfast, with new additions including The Grand Central, The Maldron, and The AC Hotel.

Alongside this, there has likewise been a boom in the number of cruise ships opting to dock in the city.

The manager of the latter, Lisa Steele, said in 2018: “Given the international endorsements that Belfast and NI as a whole have received, including Belfast being named Lonely Planet’s must-see destination, it’s not surprising that the hotel industry is flourishing here.

“It’s a very exciting time for the industry here.”

NOT ONLY, BUT ALSO:

The committee tonight also approved a 15-storey residential development at Holmes Street/Bruce Street in central Belfast.

It will create 68 residential apartments – 32 one-bedroom apartments, 35 two-bed apartments, and one studio apartment.

It will be located next to two other schemes planned for this area – a new apart-hotel, known as Bedford Yards, at 31-33 Bedford Street and a new student accommodation building, currently under construction at Bruce Street.

SDLP councillor Carl Whyte, chairman of the planning committee, said in a statement this evening: “These investments are great news for Belfast, and will help towards the continued revitalisation of our city centre.

“The new hotel development at Titanic Quarter demonstrates our city’s continued appeal to visitors worldwide and shows confidence in our tourism sector, post-Covid.

“The addition of new homes at Holmes Street also builds upon council’s commitment to attracting more residents into the city centre, by bringing vacant sites back into use as high-quality, accessible and centrally located homes.”

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