A consortium led by Irish property developer Johnny Ronan has received planning permission for a 20-storey hotel at the former Irish Glass Bottle site in the docklands area in Dublin.
The 228-room “landmark” hotel tower will form part of the large “Glass Bottle” scheme being developed by Johnny Ronan’s Ronan Group Real Estate (RGRE) and housing developer Lioncor, along with Oaktree Capital.
The hotel, spread out over 20 storeys, will contain a cafe, licensed bar/restaurant and a business centre. Two additional basement levels are set to include service spaces and offices.
The planning application was first submitted by Pembroke Beach DAC in February but hit hurdles in the planning system. Dublin City Council sought further information on the development and expressed “concerns” regarding the “lack of rhythm” in the appearance of the hotel.
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The council said design elements “appear to add to the clutter of the structure” which made the building appear “chaotic”.
The developers responded to these concerns, by adjusting the development in a fashion it described as “more rhythmical and balanced, while maintaining a playfulness that sets it aside as a landmark building.’
The development received planning permission on Tuesday, and Pembroke Beach is due to pay a development contribution in excess of €1.5 million to Dublin City Council.
A spokesman for the Pembroke Beach consortium said the granting of permission comes following a “constructive engagement with Dublin City Council and represents a hugely positive milestone for Glass Bottle and for the city of Dublin as a whole.” Pembroke Beach said the hotel will enhance the development’s appeal residents, workers, and visitors.
“In the coming weeks, we look forward to launching the first residential block, which marks an exciting step in the delivery of this transformative new neighbourhood for Dublin.”
The consortium said RGRE has a “strong track record of delivering landmark hotels across Ireland” and said it will bring the “same level of quality and ambition to this exciting new addition to Dublin’s skyline.”
The hotel is part of a wider scheme set to transform 37.2 acres of vacant industrial land into a residential and commercial quarter with up to 3,800 apartments and more than 1 million sq ft of commercial space.
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The consortium was granted permission last October from the council for 496,227 sq ft of commercial property across three blocks, and the first phase of apartments, numbering 894 units, is currently under construction and set to start welcoming their first residents later this year,
The site of the urban regeneration project was bought in 2006 for more than €400 million by a consortium before being taken over by the National Asset Management Agency (Nama).
Nama bought the debt associated with the site from the now defunct Anglo Irish Bank after the property crash, and later sold the site to Pembroke Beach in 2020.
