THE GRESHAM HOTEL in Dublin is planning to build 48 new bedrooms by removing two floors of the car park behind its building. 

Two floors of public car parking spaces would be turned into hotel bedrooms at the rear of the hotel on Thomas Lane. The main hotel building is located on O’Connell Street. 

The historic hotel applied to Dublin City Council for planning permission for this development on 22 July this year and permission was granted on 13 September. 24 new rooms will be built on each of the two floors. 

The main Gresham Hotel building is a protected structure, but the proposal says this development would not impact the protected building. 

The Gresham is one of the oldest hotels in the city. It was destroyed in the 1922 Civil War before being rebuilt and reopened in 1927.  

The planning application was granted under several conditions such as compliance with requirements from the Transportation Planning Division of the council.  

Other conditions included that the development cannot impact on Luas operation and safety and details must be provided regarding traffic management, working hours and noise management measures before works begin.

Building works can only be carried out Monday to Friday from 7am to 6pm and Saturdays from 8am to 2pm. No work is allowed on Sundays and public holidays.

The development would increase the number of bedrooms from 370 to 418 and decrease the number of car parking spaces from 121 to 55. 

The planning application states that an average of 15% of people staying in the hotel at any time require a car parking space. This means 56 spaces are required for 370 bedrooms if the hotel is at full capacity. 

However, the hotel operates an average at a capacity of up to 90%. This means that if the number of rooms increased to 418, the car parking requirements would be 56 spaces if it is at 90% capacity. 

The Gresham Hotel was contacted for comment but did not respond in time for publication. 

Other planning permission requests have been approved and lodged lately across the city. 

A new eight-storey hotel with 116 rooms on the South Quays of the River Liffey recently secured planning permission. Several buildings on George’s Quay, Tara Street and Poolbeg Street have permission to be demolished to pave way for the development. 

It was reported earlier this month that plans for a 368-bedroom student apartment block were lodged with An Bord Pleanála in Dublin’s Liberties for high-end accommodation “akin to a boutique hotel”.