Planned Baggot Street Upper hotel opposed by Dylan Hotel and D4 residents group

Gordon Deegan

The Dylan Hotel and D4 residents group, the Pembroke Rd Association are opposing new plans for a 100-bedroom Raglan Townhouse hotel for Baggot Street Upper in Dublin.

In the planning application, Raglan Townhouse Hotel Ltd is seeking planning permission for the hotel at Nos 46, 48 and 52 -54 Baggot Street Upper and at 46, 48, 50 and 52-54 Eastmoreland Lane, Dublin 4.

Along with the 100-bedroom hotel, the scheme will also include a café and bar at ground floor level.

However, the Dylan Hotel and the Pembroke Rd Association have outlined concerns over the scheme in submissions with Dublin City Council.

In a submission drawn up on behalf of the owner of The Dylan Hotel, Lyndonmont Ltd, planning consultant, Thomas Freeman BL has told the council that his clients have concerns over the design of the planned hotel in terms of its height and scale and the impact it would have on the Dylan Hotel on Eastmoreland Lane.

Mr Freeman contends that the applicant has not demonstrated that the proposed hotel building would not result in over-shadowing and loss of sunlight/daylight to the Dylan Hotel.

Mr Freeman states that the Dylan hotel operators are seriously concerned about the deterioration in the quality and amenity of its hotel rooms on Eastmoreland Lane.

Mr Freeman said that his clients reserve the right to vindicate their property rights in an appropriate form concerning the planned Raglan Townhouse hotel.

On the 'very serious concerns’ the operators of the Dylan Hotel have on the construction phase of the Raglan Townhouse hotel, Mr Freeman contends that the proposed development represents a significant construction project costing multi-millions of euro and may have profound and lasting effects on the local environment for decades.

On behalf of the Pembroke Road Association, Susan McCarrick has told the Council: “We do not have a need for a 100 bed hotel on Upper Baggot Street.”

Ms McCarrick contends that the scheme “would seriously injure the visual and residential amenities of the area, and would set an undesirable precedent”.

Pembroke Rd resident, Marc Rutner has told the council that “introducing another hotel into this already saturated market not only detracts from the potential for much-needed residential development but also overwhelms the local infrastructure, jeopardizing the area’s residential character.

Mr Rutner has told the planners that “this incongruous structure would be a visual blight, imposing itself onto the character of the neighbourhood”.

A decision is due on the application next month.