Smyth plans 9-storey hotel in Dublin city

SOLICITOR and property developer Noel Smyth has submitted plans for a nine-storey hotel in Dublin city centre.

His company, Fitzwilliam Real Estate Properties, plans to demolish several building on Liffey Street and Middle Abbey Street on the north side of the city.

Motel One, a leading budget hotel chain in Europe, would be the operator of the 365-room hotel. The chain provides high quality and affordable hotel accommodation. It operates 57 hotels with more than 15,000 bedrooms in cities such as London, Berlin, Amsterdam, Brussels, Prague, Vienna and Zurich. It offers a flat rate all year around.

According to documents submitted to Dublin City Council last week, there will also be a retail element to the development.

Alannah Smyth, Director of Fitzwilliam Real Estate Properties said: “This proposed development would ensure the regeneration of an underutilised brownfield urban site in the heart of the city, in an area which has suffered from dereliction.

“It will be operated by a company that operates several hotel developments across Europe and internationally and will comprise a high-quality design.” She said that footfall in the area would increase significantly as a result.

Stefan Lenze, Motel One’s head of development said: “We would love to open our first hotel in Dublin soon. It is one of the most exciting cities in Europe and this is the perfect location for our brand.”

Smyth has been involved in the Middle Abbey Street area for some time, having won control of Arnotts, which opens out on to both Middle Abbey Street and Henry Street, in 2015. The business was later bought outright by Selfridges which also owns Brown Thomas in Dublin.

In recent weeks, a section of Arnotts known as the Blue Building has been blocked off. It was not part of the store’s original footprint and is now being developed by Smyth.