The planned €40 million redevelopment of a former convent, Loreto Hall at 77 Stephen's Green, Dublin, into a multi-storey 95-bedroom boutique hotel has hit a barrier after two objections were lodged against the development.
According to the planning permission application filed by Brown Table Solutions Ltd late last year, the redevelopment of Loretto Hall will have a restaurant and spa treatment centre on the ground floor, as well as a hotel bar and function room on the first floor. The building is listed as a protected structure and was put on the market last May with a guide price of €5.75 million.
The Department of Foreign Affairs, Office of Public Works and the Irish Georgian Society have objected to the proposal, reports The Irish Times, with Dublin City Council claiming to have "serious concerns about the height and scale" of the nine-storey development.
It's reported that the developer wants to add a two-storey penthouse to the original building, next to Iveagh House, the offices of the Department of Foreign Affairs, and to demolish non-original structures to the rear to build the nine-storey block.
The department argues that the current plans would constitute a "gross over-development" of the site.
