A new bid has been made to redevelop the Ormond Hotel in Dublin, which would involve the demolition of the historic site.
According to The Irish Times, a company is seeking planning permission to demolish and redevelop the Liffey quayside hotel, which features in James Joyce’s Ulysses and was the setting for 1967 film based on the novel.
Monteco Holidings has applied to the council to develop a five-storey, 121-bedroom hotel on the site, which has sat unoccupied since 2005. Monteco previously made a bid to demolish the site in 2013, but was rejected by the Dublin City Council and An Bord Pleanála, with the latter describing the plans as “monolithic” and “unsympathetic” to the character of the area.
The company has now renewed their proposal, changing to a more modest proposal than the 2013 application. In its original application the company said the development of the site, which has fallen into disrepair, was being held back by “literary fiction” and "romantic views of history".
The hotel was bought by property developer Bernard McNamara for €17 million a year after it closed. After being put on the market by McNamara in 2009 for €7 million, it sold for less than €2.5 million.
The Ormond Hotel was originally built in 1889 at number eight Ormond Quay and over time expanded to numbers seven, nine, 10 and 11 over time. Monteco hopes to expand to numbers 12 and 13 also, developing further space as well as a bar at the site.
