A Belfast property developer has submitted plans for new 40-bedroom hotel in the city’s Cathedral Quarter.
The application from Havana Trading No.4 Limited proposes to convert an office building on the corner of Hill Street and Gordon Street into a new four storey hospitality venue, featuring a bar and restaurant.
The applicant company is ultimately owned by TJ Jennings and his family.
Better known as Shamus Jennings, his development group Ducales already own St Anne’s Square and two hotels in the Cathedral Quarter.
Alongside the 165-bed Ramada by Wyndham on Talbot Street, Ducales recently launched the 20-bedroom boutique hotel on Hill Street.
The group, which also owns St Anne’s Square, opened The Foundry over the summer.
Originally developed for the Housing Executive in 1992, the site holds a place in Belfast’s music history as the location of the north’s premier punk venue, The Harp Bar.
Mr Jennings is now seeking to expand his hotel portfolio, with plans lodged for a new office-to-hotel development next to the modern day Harp Bar on Hill Street.
The development site includes a significant portion of Gordon Street and a car park located between Hill Street and the Common Market hospitality hub on Dunbar Street.
Drawings produced by Dickson FitzGerald Architects show the ground floor plans provide for a large bar area, with a smaller snug bar accessible from Gordon Street, next to the main hotel entrance.
It’s understood Havana Trading No.4 Ltd acquired 2-16 Gordon Street in 2016.
Accounts for the company value its property assets at £4.75 million.
The building, which was previously occupied by the Labour Relations Agency is currently vacant.
In a report submit in support of the application, planning consultants from Tetra Tech said the principle of altering, refurbishing and changing the use of existing office buildings to an hotel has already been established in the area.
It states the current building “is no longer fit for modern office use”, adding that the design and appearance of the proposed hotel respond “sympathetically and contextually to the surrounding environment”.
It also states that the bid “fits very neatly” within the Cathedral Quarter as a cultural, social, hospitality and leisure hub of Belfast city centre.
Planning approval for another new Cathedral Quarter hotel was issued by Belfast City Council last year.
The 120-bed project in the listed former war memorial building on Waring Street was given the green light in October 2023.