The developer behind plans to turn a former bank branch in Derry City into a new boutique hotel has significantly scaled up the Strand Road project.
Planning approval has already been granted for a 40-bedroom hotel in the old Bank of Ireland premises on the corner of Strand Road and Sackville Street.
Under the revised plans, which involves a rooftop extension and an expansion into the adjoining building at 11-13 Strand Road, the hotel would increase to 72 bedrooms.
The larger hotel project will feature a function room and ‘spill out’ areas on the ground floor, alongside the planned bar and restaurant.
It’s understood Short.Visits Ltd, a Derry-based hotel company acquired the former Bank of Ireland branch in 2022, shortly after it went on the market for £500,000.
The latest plans have been submitted by Northland Construction Limited, a company owned by Mark Doherty, one of the four partners behind Short.Visits Ltd.
According to documents submitted in support of the revised application, the new venue will be called the Walled City Hotel.
The developer said the revised plans are in part due to “unforeseen issues with the number and quality of approved bedrooms”.
Alongside adding a fourth and fifth floor, the expansion into the building next door is expected to provide another 32 bedrooms, taking the hotel to 72 rooms in total.
The bank was one of 15 northern branches closed by Bank of Ireland during a major cull of its physical network during 2021.
Originally built for The National Bank in 1927/28 to designs by Derry-born architect James Patrick McGrath, the corner building has been described as the last classically inspired banking hall left in Derry City.
The neo-Georgian building suffered massive damage from a 1979 bomb, and a new building was effectively constructed behind the listed Portland Limestone façade.
The work, completed in 1986 saw the bank rebuilt internally and new redbrick bays added on both the Strand Road and Sackville Street sides.
The investors behind the hotel said the project was launched in response to the growth of the tourism market in the city.
“With the peace process and agreement since 1998, the tourism sector in Northern Ireland as a whole and in particular in Derry has been growing year-on-year.
“The sector has resulted in the creation on job opportunities in the tourism industry in the city.”
The developers have also pointed to the successful conversion of listed buildings in Derry into successful boutique hotels, including the Bishops Gate and Shipquay hotels.
The move follows the recent announcement of plans to invest £7 million in Derry’s City Hotel, which will be rebranded as DoubleTree by Hilton.
The Galgorm Group has also moved into the north west, acquiring the Roe Park Resort in Limavady.
