An Bord Pleanála has given the green light for a new 111-bedroom hotel for Dublin city centre.
The appeals board overturned a refusal by Dublin City Council and dismissed its inspector’s own refusal recommendation to grant planning permission to Appalachian Property Holdings Ltd for changing the use of three floors from office to hotel and construct a new six-storey extension at 19-24 St Andrew’s Street, Dublin 2.
The plans by Appalachian Property Holdings Ltd also includes the operation of an An Post branch on the ground floor continuing.
The site is located less than 500m from College Green and Grafton Street and in refusing planning permission for the scheme in January 2024 the council cited the ongoing housing crisis.
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The council stated that taking into account the ongoing housing crisis, national planning policy and the clear direction in the current development plan in terms of promoting mixed-use development with a focus on residential in the city centre, the proposed change of use to hotel did not represent the best use of the upper floors of this partially vacant city-centre site.
However, the appeals board concluded that the planning go-ahead for the 111 bedrooms and the publicly accessible bar and restaurant along with the retention of the retail space at ground-floor level would support the vitality and vibrancy of the mixed-use setting by day and by night.
The board stated that in deciding not to accept its own inspector’s recommendation to refuse planning permission, it did not consider that the proposed works to the protected structure would have a detrimental and irreversible impact on the essential qualities of the building.
In the appeal, Appalachian Property Holdings contended that the site is located in the commercial and tourism heart of Dublin’s city centre and is highly suitable for a hotel.
The inspector in the case, Patricia M Young, recommended refusal after concluding that the proposed works would, due to their extent, nature and level of intervention, would have a detrimental and irreversible impact on the essential qualities of the period building,
Ms Young concluded that the works would materially affect its special character and its appreciation as part of the rich collection of period buildings that front on to the northern side of St Andrew’s Street.
