A plan for a new £25 million hotel in Belfast’s Cathedral Quarter has been approved by the council despite objections from the owners of the Merchant hotel.
At Tuesday’s meeting of Belfast City Council’s Planning Committee, elected representatives agreed without dissent to the resurrection of the former Nambarrie Factory on the corner of Waring Street and Victoria Street into a 164-bedroom hotel.
The plan, by Waring Street Ltd, involves the retention of 21-23 Victoria Street and 41-51 Waring Street, with minor alterations to facades and the erection of a three storey extension to the buildings. Some internal demolition works are proposed.
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The property will become a Moxy Hotel, a sub-brand of Marriott Hotels, and will have a ground-floor bar/restaurant, meeting rooms, a fitness centre, back-of-house facilities, a seventh-floor rooftop bar, and public realm improvements. The plan was recommended by council officers and unanimously approved by elected representatives.
However, a council Planning Officer stated opposition to the plan had been given from Beannchor, owners of the neighbouring up-market hotel, the Merchant.
The officer said: “We have received email correspondence from Beannchor, the owner/operator of the Merchant Hotel, adjacent to the application site.
“The email has raised concerns that they have not received enough notification. They have indicated they have no objection in principle to hotel use, but have concerns about the scale, height and massing of the extension, and potential impact on the listed Merchant hotel building.
He said Beannchor also expressed concerns about “the proximity of the proposed extension, which may give rise to noise, odour, overlooking and overshadowing impacts on the amenity of residents in their hotel.”
He added: “I’m also aware there have been two further emails from Beannchor - one which I believe was sent to members, asking that the application be deferred this evening for a site visit. There has also been a further email emphasising they also have a concern about overshadowing.”
None of the statutory consultees had any objections to the plan, subject to conditions. One condition is that the ground floor and rooftop bars will not operate after 1am.
Apart from the Beannchor concerns, one objection was received to the council questioning if the tiled heritage street sign was to be retained as part of the proposals.
The objector also stated that they had “no objection to any other part of the design proposed above, only to preserve a piece of our heritage.” The council report states the sign will be retained as part of the proposals.
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The council Planning Officer said: “Officers consider that there will be no unacceptable overshadowing given the separation distance between the application site and the Merchant Hotel building.”
He said the approval resulted from consideration of “the orientation of the buildings, the city centre with its tight urban grain, and the nature of the proposed use, which are hotel use rather than dwelling houses with full-time residential occupancy, and for reasons of efficient use of land.”
The agent for the applicant told the committee: “The design has taken some deliberation to finalise, but that deliberation has been dealt with in a positive manner by the council, the consultees and the applicant.”
He added: “All of the consultees have backed it, none have raised any objections. The applicant is happy to accept the proposed planning conditions, as well the Section 76 planning agreement regarding employability and skills provision.
“We would ask only that the council expedite the Section 76 planning agreement, because it is our client’s intention to commence works on this site as soon as possible.”
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