£8m Ormeau Road Belfast development approved

A new £8m hotel, restaurant and bar development on the Ormeau Road in Belfast has been given approval by Belfast City Council.

Hospitality group Galgorm Collection has been given the the green light for a new boutique hotel, restaurant, and bar on the Ormeau Road. An £8m investment will be made by the group to completely refurbish the abandoned Holy Rosary Church building and its adjacent Parochial House at 348-350 Ormeau Road.

The church has been empty since its closure in 1980, and the fact that it's a grade B1 listed building would complicate plans for anyone purchasing the site for development. The building must be carefully restored and its outward appearance preserved, bringing additional expense and complicating the process for acquiring planning permission.

Galgorm Collection is planning to open the doors on the new hotel and associated amenities in Spring 2020. It will include 18 bedrooms, with the ground floor developed into a new bar and signature restaurant. The project will create 30 jobs during the construction and fitting work, and has also secured up to 20 spaces of off-street parking.

Galgorm Collection Managing Director, Colin Johnston, said: "We’ve extensively engaged with councillors, partners, residents and stakeholders to ensure that one of Belfast’s finest, historic buildings can be carefully restored to create an outstanding new and unique hotel and dining experience for the city and for Northern Ireland.”

Source: Written based on press release