The owner of the Tara Towers Hotel in Dublin 4 has applied for planning permission to redevelop the landmark property.
Dalata Hotel Group, the largest hotel operator in the Republic, last year completed the purchase of the building for €13.2 million.
The company announced on Tuesday it had submitted a planning application for the redevelopment of the hotel. The property is located on a 1.46-acre site adjacent to the recently developed Elmpark Urban Campus.
The planning application incorporates the demolition of the existing structure and the construction of a mixed-use development to include a four-star Maldron hotel with 140 rooms, a restaurant, bar and meeting facilities.
The plans also include the construction of 70 residential units and a basement car park.
When the company bought the hotel, it said it was planning to invest €4.5 million on the work.
Dalata will seek a development partner in due course to fund and build the residential component of the scheme.
The hotel will remain open and fully operational while the planning application is in process.
Options
Dalata deputy chief executive (business development and finance) Dermot Crowley said the company considered a number of options for the hotel earlier this year.
“We decided to proceed with a planning application for a mixed-use development on the site,” he said.
“The hotel has performed very well since we acquired it in January and we are very excited about the trading potential for a brand new four-star Maldron hotel in this location.
“If the planning application is successful, we will review our options on the development of the site.”
The company said a further announcement would be made as appropriate.
In a note, a Davy analyst said that subject to a smooth planning process he expected the hotel to close in the first six months of next year.
“High interest from development partners is also likely given the location and residential angle,” he said.
He said the full-year impact from the hotel’s closure will be about €1 million with this impacting 2018 to a lesser degree.
“Given the site’s location and mixed-use development plans, we believe Dalata will receive a high level of developer interest,” he said.
“In addition to a potential partner proposing to fund and build the residential component of this project, we believe other options such as completing the full project could also be proposed by developers.”
The hotel currently has conference facilities for 300 people and a banqueting hall that can seat 180 guests.
The Tara Towers was put up for sale in October 2015 with DTZ Sherry FitzGerald, with Savills acting as joint selling agents. DTZ was quoting in excess of €9 million for the property and the adjoining 1.4-acre site beside it.
The hotel and site were previously bought by Elmpark developers Bernard McNamara and Jerry O’Reilly in 2003 for €14.2 million.
