61 apartments planned on site of hotel in D7

Plans to demolish the Park Lodge Hotel on the North Circular Road in Dublin 7 and replace it with a €40 million apartment development have been unveiled.

Neil Burke Kennedy and Dominic Kelly's KBK Properties is seeking permission to knock the 26-bedroom hotel at the entrance to the Phoenix Park.

A planning application is due to be lodged with Dublin City Council shortly seeking permission to build a five-storey apartment block with an eight-storey section at numbers 5, 7 and 9 North Circular Road.

A total of 61 apartments will be provided at the site in a landmark building if the developers are granted planning permission by Dublin City Council.

Last October the hotel sold for in the region of €6 million. The price reflected the site's zoning, Objective Z2 under the current Dublin City Development Plan, which permits a residential development.

The prime site is located on 0.5 acres just 30 metres from the entrance to the Phoenix Park and close to Heuston Station. Close to the Luas and on the doorstep of the Phoenix Park, the scheme is likely to generate much interest if it gets the go- ahead.

The developers are seeking to build 15 one-bedroom apartments, 34 two-beds and 12 three-beds on the site. Each apartment will have its own balcony or terrace space.

This is the first major residential scheme for the duo, architect Neil Burke-Kennedy and accountant Dominic Kelly, who have mostly concentrated on retail and office schemes to date.

They were behind a mixed-use development at the Workman's Club on George's Street in Dún Laoghaire.

The retail and office scheme has just been completed and anchor tenant Fired Earth is preparing for its opening on April 7th.

Kelly and Burke-Kennedy have also been involved in the conversion of a 200-year-old stables in the docklands at Green Street East, Dublin 2, which won the RIAI regional award in 2000.

They are currently negotiating a residential development in Kilkenny.

Architect Neil Burke-Kennedy, head of NBK Designs, has also been involved in a number of high-profile projects including The Vaults, a pub at the IFSC under Dublin's Connolly Station.