Signature Living plans £25m hotel for Crumlin Road Courthouse
Signature Living has acquired Belfast's Crumlin Road Courthouse for an undisclosed sum and plans to invest £25m to transform it into a hotel.
The announcement comes one month after the Liverpool-based company revealed plans to bring a George Best-themed hotel to Belfast, the first of five hotels the company has planned for the city.
Speaking at the MIPIM property conference in Cannes today, founder Lawrence Kenwright also revealed plans to invest £100m in total into the city in the coming years.
The Courthouse was designed by Charles Lanyon and completed in 1850. The site saw hundreds of IRA members jailed during the Troubles, and was closed in June 1998 after the signing of the Good Friday Agreement. It was sold to local investor Barry Gilligan in 2003, who applied for planning permission in 2006 to turn the Grade B-listed building into a 161-bedroom hotel, however the plans never came to fruition. The site suffered a series of fires in 2009 and has been lying derelict since.
Kenwright said that the hotel will create 100 jobs, adding the building would be restored to its "former glory".
Signature Living reveals Belfast George Best hotel plans >>
Cardiff Exchange hotel to open in April >>
Signature Living targets Manchester for George Best hotel >>
Former HQ of Coventry Telegraph set to become boutique hotel >>
Videos from The Caterer archives
