A major hotel group has announced plans to open a four-star hotel in Belfast city centre.
The £25m Stg (€36.8m) development, close to the loyalist Sandy Row area, will create 200 new jobs and include a multi-storey car park. Cordia Hotels said its investment was a sign of its confidence in the city's future as a tourist destination and conference location.
The hotel, which will open in summer 2007, will be located on Hope Street next to the existing Days Inn, which is also operated by the group.
Cordia chairman and managing director Lord Diljit Rana said the announcement was a massive vote of confidence for the city. Lord Rana said: "This very substantial and exciting investment by the Cordia Group will create a unique hospitality and convention complex at the heart of Belfast. "It will be an important contribution to the regeneration of the area close to Sandy Row and will provide a broad range of employment opportunities for local people.
"The planned investment is a further demonstration of our faith in the future of Belfast as a tourism centre and as a major international convention and exhibition location." The development will include a banqueting room, business centre and state-of-the-art conference centre.
It will also feature 215 guest rooms, a health and fitness centre and a multi-storey car park with space for 500 vehicles. Planning permission is being sought for amendments to the approved scheme for the hotel, which will be operated by Cordia under a franchise agreement with a major international chain.