The Berkeley Court hotel in Dublin could be reopened by its new owner, the developer Seán Dunne. Ronan McGreevyreports.
Mr Dunne disclosed yesterday he had bought the contents of the hotel, which were due to go for auction next month, with a view to opening it again to the public. Both the Berkeley Court and the adjacent Jurys Ballsbridge hotels closed on August 13th with a loss of 608 jobs.
Mr Dunne paid €379 million in 2005 for the Berkeley Court hotel and Jurys Ballsbridge Hotel sites with a view to redeveloping the area.
He has confirmed that a formal planning application will be made in the next week.
In a letter to this newspaper published yesterday, Mr Dunne said he would be taking control of the Berkeley Court on October 8th and will spend the next couple of months examining the viability of reopening it "for the foreseeable future".
He also said he had been approached by other hotel operators to keep the Jurys Ballsbridge Hotel open until redevelopment commences, but the previous owners, the Jurys Doyle Group, refused to sell him the contents.
The contents of that hotel were sold for about €1 million to an unnamed British hotel chain earlier this month just days before they were due to go to auction. Mr Dunne said all that was left of the hotel was a "carcass".
Local residents, who are opposed to Mr Dunne's plans to redevelop the site, said his decision to consider reopening the Berkeley Court was an admission that any redevelopment plans he submits could take years to come to fruition, if they get the go-ahead at all.
Paul Walsh, chair of the Pembroke Road Residents' Association, said: "If his plans need rezoning, he's not going to get it before the next city development plan in 2011. It makes sense to lease the hotels out to cover some of the costs involved in buying it in the first place. It will keep the banks off his back."
In May Dublin city councillors rejected a draft area plan for Ballsbridge which would have allowed high-rise development in the area. The decision was widely seen as a rebuff to Mr Dunne's plans to build high-rise apartment blocks.
Mr Walsh was one of a number of local residents and councillors who were shown revised plans by Mr Dunne last month in the Berkeley Court before it closed.
The plans involve a 32-storey or possibly a 36-storey apartment block in a location currently occupied by the Jurys Ballsbridge car park, a 16-storey block at the back of the Berkeley Court Hotel and five blocks ranging in height from 11 to 12 stories.
Mr Dunne revealed plans for two pubs, a theatre, a club and a shopping centre which he said would be the approximate size of the Blackrock Shopping Centre.
According to Cllr Dermot Lacey, a Pembroke area councillor who saw the plans, Mr Dunne also promised to build 150 social and affordable homes in another part of the Dublin South East constituency as part of his commitments under Part V of the Planning and Development Act.
Mr Lacey said there were good things in the plan "in terms of public open space, access to the area and social and affordable housing, but height is a big issue and the level of commercial and retail use was too much.
"I believe he is committed to a quality development, but his plans are not acceptable as they are, but it doesn't mean we can't work on them."
Mr Walsh said they would continue to oppose Mr Dunne's plans: "It's dead in the water. He is depending on rezoning which is not going to happen. The love bombing of the natives went down like a red balloon."
In Mr Dunne's letter to this newspaper he said his plans would involve 536 family-sized apartments and 4,300 full-time jobs. "We believe our plans will enhance, enrich and enshrine this area of Ballsbridge for the next 100 years and beyond."