Work has begun again in Limerick on a 51-metre tall hotel, after an agreement was reached between the developers and Shannon Estuary Ports Authority over access to the docks.
Heads of agreement have been reached between Whelan Project Management and the port authority over the transfer of lands for the construction of a roundabout outside the city's first high-rise building, at the docks entrance.
A spokesman for the development company said Limerick Corporation had been notified of the agreement and all issues regarding the planning permission were being re solved.
A spokesman for Shannon Estuary Ports Authority confirmed that agreement had been reached on licensing a section of the authority's property for a roundabout.
This follows negotiations which continued over two years. The £10 million 138bedroom hotel will be the third-highest building in the State after Cork County Hall, which is more than 60 metres tall, and Liberty Hall in Dublin, which is 59 metres. The building of the Millennium Hotel was halted last summer by the corporation following the granting of planning permission, after the port authority entered negotiations to sell part of its lands to the developer for the building of a roundabout.
Shannon Estuary Ports Authority claimed the proposed roundabout would restrict access to Limerick Docks.
As far back as February 1998, architects Murray O Laoire, for the developer, stated back that "protracted and very detailed negotiations on the design, layout and extent of this land have taken place with the owners".
The corporation is to receive a bond and a £56,000 contribution towards the public water supply and provision of amenity facilities.
The hotel will offer views of the River Shannon, the estuary and the city. A foreshore licence has been received from the Department of the Marine, allowing the building to encroach on the river.
Part of the reason the hotel development received planning permission was because its height was seen as being consistent with the old Ranks flour mills building and the Bannatynes Mills, which are still standing.
With a boat-like shape, the hotel will have a maritime theme and will encompass a gross area of 7,948 sq metres. On the top floor there will be a viewing deck with a "plant room" at level 17. A 261-space multi-storey car park is also to be built.
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