Permission sought for new hotel at Swan Shopping Centre in Rathmines

The owners of the Swan Shopping Centre in Rathmines, Dublin 6, have applied for planning permission to build a new 111-bedroom hotel at the site.

Sawbridge, which is run by the Anderson family, owns the centre as well as the Omniplex cinema chain and other property interests. It has lodged an application with Dublin City Council for the new hotel on Rathmines Road Lower and Castlewood Avenue, extending to Castlewood Terrace.

The new development would consist of the demolition of the existing pitched glazed roof over the shopping centre, and the construction of the 111-bedroom facility around a central lightwell.

The company said the new structure would increase the overall height of the building to five storeys in one part and six storeys in another.

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The Swan Centre opened in 1984. It has dozens of retail and restaurant units over two floors and more than 14,500sq m (156,000sq ft) of space. Its primary retail frontage is to Lower Rathmines Road and there is also a substantial underground car park.

The new development would involve the change of use of one ground-floor retail unit to become a hotel reception. Two more retail units on the first floor of the existing shopping centre would become hotel storage and staff facilities.

The front facade of the existing buildings on to Rathmines Road Lower would be reclad in red brick above ground level to create a new four-storey scale to the street.

There are also plans to build a new metal clad fire escape and plant room enclosure on the south elevation to link down to the existing fire escape lane at ground level. The total area of the proposed development is 3,554sq m (38,255sq ft).

The Swan Centre complex underwent a €2 million refurbishment in 2015. It also includes an Omniplex cinema, which was built in 2014 at a cost of €9 million. It has eight screens and is considered one of the chain’s most successful cinemas.

Sawbridge’s latest set of accounts filed with the Companies Registration Office, which cover its financial year ended October 31st, 2020, show it made a profit of €1.7 million over the period, although that figure was down from €2.7 million the year before, which was pre-Covid.

The company had assets of €33.4 million and liabilities of almost €20 million. It generated a turnover of €4.7 million, which was down from €7.2 million the year before.