It was once the hotel of choice for guests of the Late Late Show but in September the former Montrose Hotel will re-open its doors as a student residence.
Construction to convert the former hotel, located about 1km from the entrance to RTÉ and a short walk from the UCD campus, has begun and, when completed, will consist of 192 en-suite bedrooms.
The rooms will be clustered into apartments consisting of between five and eight bedrooms, each of which will have a communal kitchen and dining area and a separate living room. The property will have 24-hour security, an on-site management team and car parking and bicycle facilities.
Its developers say it will offer “three- to four-star hotel-standard” accommodation to its residents with a proposed entry-level price of €175 per week.
The entry-price level was reached following consultation with the UCD accommodation office and is based on a 42-week-term and inclusive of utilities, broadband internet and contents insurance.
The smallest rooms are 15sq m (161sq ft) in size – which the developers say is up to 25 per cent larger than the standard purpose-built student room – with the rooms ranging up to 40sq m (430 sq ft) in size at the upper end of the scale.
Although price levels for the larger apartments have not yet been set, it is expected the full rental range will be published on February 1st.
As well as providing student accommodation during the academic year, the privately- owned units will become home to international language students during the summer months.
Matthew McAdden, co-founder of Ziggurat Student Living, the company behind the €22.5 million development, says it spotted a gap in the market for private, purpose-built, serviced student accommodation in Dublin after its sister company, Fawleybridge, set up two successful developments in Reading, Surrey, in the UK, which, he said, are at 100 per cent occupancy.
It intends to create 1,000 student bed spaces in Dublin city over the next five years and is planning a second development to service Trinity College.
Mr McAdden said students living in the Montrose development would sign up to a “fair use, fair behaviour policy” as part of their lease, adding that parties would not be permitted and that students would not be allowed to smoke on the premises.
He said as part of the consultation process the company had engaged with the local residents’ association; had agreed to produce a detailed management plan; and would continue to liaise with them on an ongoing basis as the development progresses.
The 158-bedroom Montrose Hotel, which was once one of Dublin’s best-known hotels, ceased trading in 2010.
