A CORK HOTEL group has announced plans for a multimillion-euro development in the city’s historic ‘Victorian quarter’.

Trigon Hotels Limited will soon submit a planning application for a €50 million project to refurbish and expand the historic Metropole Hotel on MacCurtain Street and build a new hotel called The M on nearby Harley Street.

The two hotels will be linked by an enclosed bridge on the first floor and a glass bridge that crosses Harley Street.

Separately, Cork City Council is building a pedestrian and cycle bridge that will cross the north channel of the River Lee onto Harley Street. It’s due to open by 2019 and will be located in front of the new hotel project.

The proposed Metropole expansion comprises of three new “boutique retail” units, a seventh-floor penthouse, a rooftop bar, basement car park, upgraded spa facilities and function rooms. An additional 84 rooms will be added to the existing 99 bedrooms and suites.

The Metropole expansion will also include the creation of an interior winter garden that will feature a courtyard-style restaurant.

‘Contemporary urban’

The sister 228-bedroom development – The M hotel – has been described as a “contemporary urban” property by Vincent O’Farrell, the veteran west Cork developer who heads up the Trigon Hotels group.

“This property will be a brand new hotel concept for Cork featuring a relaxation collision space, where all the front of house hotel activity happens in the same zone,” he said.

As well as the Metropole, Trigon’s portfolio includes Cork International Hotel and Cork Airport Hotel. It acquired the 120-year-old Metropole in 2015 for €5 million.

The project is subject to planning approval by Cork City Council.

Plans for the project have been in the works for the past 12 months. It is expected that the construction phase will take three years to complete.

Reddy Architecture & Urbanism, Jack Coughlan Architects, JODA Engineering Consultants and a number of other consultancy firms are involved in the project.

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