Permission for a new 13-storey apart-hotel in Belfast city centre’s Linen Conservation Area has been renewed, despite continuing concerns from conservation officers about its height, scale and effect on nearby listed buildings.
Belfast City Council’s Planning Committee approved the renewed application from Andras House Ltd on Tuesday, following a recorded vote. The hotel is planned behind existing buildings at 29–33 Bedford Street, facing the BBC’s Ormeau Avenue building.
The decision renews planning permission first granted in October 2020. The original approval later had to return to the council because of statutory objections, while the permission eventually lapsed before construction began.
What the Belfast proposal includes
The scheme would involve construction of a new hotel building at the rear of the site, together with the refurbishment of an existing four-storey terrace. The works include alterations, a rear extension and partial demolition.
The proposal also changes the ground-floor use of the existing buildings from art galleries to two cafés. Offices would remain on the second, third and fourth floors.
The terrace contains three four-storey properties constructed in 1875. The development sits within the Linen Conservation Area, where the potential effect on historic buildings has been a central issue throughout the planning process.
Opposition and committee decision
The BBC, whose premises are opposite the site on Bedford Street and Ormeau Avenue, raised concerns about possible noise conflict during construction and once the development is operating. The planning report said no other consultees had objected, but the Department for Communities’ Historic Environment Division remained concerned about the proposed building’s height and scale.
The council’s conservation team and Stormont’s Historic Environment Division continued to believe the proposal could adversely affect the setting of listed buildings and the character of the conservation area. Internal conservation advice raised similar concerns.
Those concerns were also expressed during an earlier consideration of the application. In February 2022, Green Party councillor Áine Groogan proposed refusal on the grounds that the building’s height, scale and massing were inappropriate. That proposal was defeated by five votes to six.
At Tuesday’s meeting, Councillor Groogan again proposed refusal. The motion received four votes in favour and 10 against from councillors representing Sinn Féin, the DUP and the UUP, and consequently fell. A separate proposal to follow the planning officer’s recommendation and approve the renewal then passed.
Planning officers said the relevant policy position had not changed significantly since the previous application was considered. They judged the height, scale and massing acceptable in the context of the site and other tall buildings nearby, and concluded that the listed buildings would not be harmed and the conservation area’s character would be preserved.
Developer says work is intended to begin
During questions, Alliance councillor Tara Brooks asked whether the applicant was serious about building the hotel, noting that the earlier permission had lapsed and work had not started.
A representative for the developer said the application had been delayed by the Covid period and that the applicant had intended to begin before the permission expired. He said Andras House was fully committed to starting work within the next couple of years.
The agent also pointed to the company’s other Belfast hotel developments, including the Adagio Hotel on the former Dorchester House site and a scheme on Shaftesbury Square.
According to the planning report, the project is expected to create 216 direct construction jobs and 129 indirect construction jobs, with an estimated economic output of £27.6 million during construction. Once operational, it is expected to provide 116 full-time equivalent jobs.
The committee also approved other Belfast applications at the same meeting, including amendments to a multi-purpose cruise-ship berthing facility at Airport Road West in the Harbour Estate. The plans include changes to the cruise terminal, an additional baggage building, lighting, landscaping and related infrastructure.
Permission was also granted for resurfacing and a minor extension at the existing 3G pitch at Hammer Playing Pitch off Shankill Road, alongside replacement floodlighting, a covered 50-seat mini-stand, extra fencing and replacement dugouts.
