BELFAST'S largest hotel group has formally submitted plans for the redevelopment of the former Northern Bank premises in Portrush.
Andras House, owned by Belfast Chamber of Trade and Commerce president Rajesh Rana, has lodged a planning application to turn the Main Street site into a "aparthotel type development".
The plans include the "refurbishment, restoration, alteration and small rear ground floor extension" to the Grade B+ listed former bank building, which closed in 2012, to facilitate a change of use to a development with six serviced apartments and a ground floor café bar. The application states that the proposed development could create six jobs.
The proposal is one of two projects Andras has earmarked for Portrush. In April the group submitted revised proposals for a £6.6 million, 87-bedroom boutique hotel on the site of the former Londonderry Arms Hotel on Main Street/Atlantic Avenue
Initial plans for a hotel were submitted last May, but following feedback from the community the proposals were revised.
Speaking in April Mr Rana said the developments would "regenerate the Main Street and town centre area" of Portrush.
“We’re excited to be able to restore these important listed buildings, and the proposals will pay homage to the site’s architectural heritage by preserving the buildings on Main Street and their important architectural details.
“The history of the site will also be kept alive through the incorporation of the historic names and features associated with the site into the establishment.”
Andras currently has six hotels in Belfast, with its most recent project, the 179-bedroom Hampton by Hilton Hotel on Hope Street opening in June. The group also completed a £5m extension to its Holiday Inn Express in the Queen's Quarter and completed a major refurbishment at its Crown Plaza property earlier this year.
In addition the extensive hotel portfolio, the group also operates Cordia Serviced Apartments on Belfast's Lisburn Road.
