No plans for former hotel despite demolition bid

Date Published: 27-Oct-2009

THE developer who owns the former Corrib Great Southern Hotel on the Dublin Road has no immediate plans for the site, despite an application before city planners to demolish it.

And the site could now lie dormant for several years, despite previous proposals that it could be used as a temporary Park and Ride, and would eventually become a science and technology facility linked to GMIT.

A spokesperson for Gerry Barrett’s Edward Holdings told the Galway City Tribune that while there have been approaches in the past, there are no development plans in the pipeline.

“It is a straightforward application to demolish the hotel and tidy up the site. There have been requests for it to be used as a carpark in the past, but we have no immediate plans for development there,” the spokesperson said.

The company previously indicated the site was being considered on a long-term basis as a “science and technology educational facility”. At the moment, the site is zoned for residential use and a proposal earlier this year to have it rezoned for CI (commercial and industrial use) was withdrawn after it was opposed by City Manager Joe MacGrath.

However, the zoning issue is expected to be revisited in the context of the 2011 City Development Plan. That, coupled with the submissions process and the subsequent planning and appeals process, means the site could lie dormant for up to five years.

Mr Barrett bought the hotel, along with the Great Southerns in Eyre Square and in Killarney in 2006 for a figure believed to be around €130 million, but later sold on the Killarney hotel for around €40m.

Under the terms of the sale, Mr Barrett changed the name to the Corrib Heights and kept it running as a hotel for one year. At the time of purchase, the said he had no intention of keeping it on as a hotel. It closed its doors in September 2007.