€40m hotel complex to provide 150 new jobs

AT least 150 full-time jobs will be created in a new €40 million hotel development that will transform the centre of Clonmel.

A planning application has been lodged with the local Borough Council for the development of the former Clonmel Arms Hotel site. It will include an 80-bedroom hotel, a multi-storey car park for 500 vehicles, 10 retail units, and 16 two-bedroom apartments.

The planning application has been submitted by Borc Partnership, a group of investors who say their development is a vote of confidence in Clonmel.

The consortium acquired the former Clonmel Arms Hotel from Mitchelstown-based Rory O’Brien last November, and spokesman Mitchell O’Brien said that while their proposed development will transform the town centre, that transformation will not be at the expense of existing businesses.

The project will create at least 150 full-time jobs when up and running, as well as 200 jobs during an 18-month construction programme. Clonmel Chamber of Commerce is supporting the development.

Mr O’Brien said the multi-storey car park will be at the core of the project. It will be constructed with a reflective material that will mirror the changing colours of the sky so that it won’t just be a “concrete mesh” in the centre of the town.

It is intended to that the upper levels of the car park will be used for all-day parking, providing discount rates on a weekly or monthly basis for people working in the town centre.

“It will be a national project in a regional location with significant interest from national and international retailers in acquiring units within the development,” said Mr O’Brien.

Meanwhile, 18 jobs are to be created in Thurles with the announcement of a new RehabCare centre for the town.

It will provide a respite service for people with intellectual disabilities, a residential centre for people with autism and a supported accommodation service for adults with intellectual disabilities, and is scheduled to open next summer.