Jurys to demolish Cork hotel for new development

Jurys Doyle plans to demolish its hotel on the Western Road in Cork and replace it with a new 185-bedroom four-star hotel, including leisure and meeting room facilities and a 150-space underground car park.

The new hotel will be part of a "mixed use" redevelopment, undertaken by Jurys Doyle in conjunction with O'Callaghan Properties, which will see 300 apartments and a further 300 underground car park spaces being built on the four-acre site.

The hotel group announced yesterday that it is to lodge a planning application for the redevelopment to Cork City Council.

Subject to a successful application, it is anticipated that the first phase of the residential development and construction of the new hotel will take 18 months to two years complete.

Jurys Doyle management informed staff at the Western Road hotel yesterday that, for the period between demolition and construction, they could either be relocated within the company, accept a redundancy offer or take early retirement, if appropriate. Staff will be offered new positions in the new hotel when it opens.

Jurys Doyle employs 110 full-time people at the hotel, or 145 whole-time equivalents when casual workers are included.

No firm decisions will be made regarding staff until the planning process has been completed.

A spokesman for the group said it did not anticipate that the planning process would be held up.

The hotel part of the development is expected to cost Jurys Doyle in excess of €10 million. The group will operate the hotel on a 35-year lease.

Mr Pat McCann, chief executive of Jurys Doyle, said the development would "substantially enhance" its Western Road site and underpinned the hotel group's commitment to the Cork market.

The Western Road hotel currently has 165 rooms and the group also runs a Jurys Inn in Cork city centre.

The construction of the project will be undertaken by the Bowen Group.

Shares in Jurys Doyle fell 23 cents to €10.30 yesterday.