Planning approved for new hotel in Belfast
Planning permission for a 206-bedroom hotel on the site of the former Belfast Metropolitan College has been granted to a County Tyrone development firm.
McAleer and Rushe acquired the site just over a year ago and intends to develop it with a mixed-use hotel and student accommodation scheme.
Belfast City Council approved plans designed by Belfast-based Consarc Design Group.
The 14-storey development will also have restaurants, bars and meeting and conference space.
The site sits within an area known as ‘The Linen Quarter’ which Belfast City Council and other government agencies have targeted for major regeneration with plans including a major upgrade of the urban streetscape.
McAleer and Rushe property director, Stephen Surphlis, said: “This is great news for Belfast, as this is a centrally located hotel scheme, which is designed to complement Belfast’s forward-looking aspirations and assist in meeting the undersupply in hotel provision.”
They also added :
“We look forward to beginning construction early in 2016.”
The hotel and two student housing schemes will create in excess of 300 jobs during the building phase, giving a much need boost to the Northern Irish construction sector.
