Plan to raze Park Avenue Hotel for social housing

The Park Avenue Hotel in east Belfast may be flattened and replaced with social housing.

In August 2019 Bill Wolsey’s Beannchor Group revealed it had taken over the running of the troubled east Belfast venue, and it was hoped that would secure the future of the 56-bedroom venue and the jobs of around 60 staff.

However, a year later the group confirmed that operating the Holywood Road hotel was no longer viable and that it would not be reopening.

Now plans have been submitted by Holywood Holdings, which counts Bill Wolsey among its directors, and Choice Housing for 90 social and affordable residential units on the site.

Beannchor’s other interests include the five-star Merchant Hotel, Bullitt Hotel and Little Wing pizzerias.

Plans for development on the Park Avenue site include two four-storey apartment buildings, 11 townhouses and four additional apartments along Sefton Drive.

The developers hope to begin work in the summer however The Irish News reported that a number of nearby residents have already lodged objections to the scheme.

‘Review all options’

The hotel, once popular as a venue for political party conferences, was declared insolvent in the summer of 2019, just over a year after it was unveiled as the venue for celebrity chef Marco Pierre White’s first Northern Ireland restaurant.

At the time of acquiring the premises a statement from the Beannchor Group said: “Over the coming weeks we will seek to review all options and future plans for the business and our immediate objective will be to preserve employment and continue to serve Park Avenue customers.”