Demolition work set to begin on Westwood Hotel

The Westwood Hotel closed its doors for good at the weekend, making way for the construction of 394 student beds on the site.

With planning permission granted by An Bord Pleanála last month, developers NTM ROI Seed Capital (formerly Ziggurat) have confirmed that work to clear the site will begin this week.

Speaking to the Galway City Tribune, representative for the company Tom Anderson said the “dismantling” of the hotel will begin immediately – with workers on site this morning.

“There is no point in having an empty hotel there. The sooner it’s ready, the sooner it can provide a service to the city and to the university,” said Mr Anderson.

The project, which will see the development of 63 apartments in five blocks, varying in height from three to five stories, is set to be ready for students in September 2020.

“It will take around 18 months roughly to build,” said Mr Anderson.

The development will also include a café and restaurant space which NTM hope will satisfy the needs of residents for a public amenity in the area.

The last guests checked out of the hotel on Sunday morning, with a security firm moving in to protect the site from intruders.

Plans for the Westwood have attracted fierce criticism since they were first revealed in February 2017 – with local residents mounting the ‘Save the Westwood’ campaign, aiming to prevent the closure of what they believed was one of Newcastle’s last remaining public meeting spaces.

Chairperson of the campaign, Basil Fenton, said the closure of the Westwood on Sunday was a sad day for the community.

“It really is a very sad day for the community. And not just for the residents in the community, but also for the businesses in the IDA Enterprise Park.

“The Westwood was really the last remaining outlet for us and for them, too,” said Mr Fenton.

Mr Anderson sought to allay concerns of residents and pointed out that NTM has extensive experience in the delivery of high-quality and well-managed student accommodation across Ireland and the UK.

“This is going to be professionally managed by Uninest, one of our project partners. The management plan was submitted as part of the planning application. We are extremely confident that this is going to be an asset to the city,” said Mr Anderson.

This is the first NTM student accommodation development in Galway, but Mr Anderson confirmed that the investment fund was continuing its search for further development opportunities in the city.

“We are still seeking more opportunities in Galway,” he said.