Council agrees plans to turn Portstewart's York Hotel into apartments

The council has granted planning permission for the demolition of the existing building and erection of an apartment development comprising 10 apartment units, access, parking and stores.

Work will also involve landscaping, widening of the footpath and other associated site works.

The development represents an investment of £4 million from the private sector and will create an estimated 30 to 40 jobs during the construction phase.

According to the Design and Access Statement, the existing hotel was purchased by applicant Jeeves (Portstewart) in 2015 “with the hope of revitalising the Station Road site”.

However, the York Hotel is “no longer viable to run as an 11 bedroom hotel” so the proposal has been brought forward to provide “quality apartments […] that will tie in with the existing fabric of Portstewart”.

The proposed apartment building is four storeys in height when viewed from Portmore Road or Station Road and 2.5 storeys in height when viewed from York Avenue.

It is finished in a range of materials, including dark stone cladding to the ground floor with light stone cladding, light coloured render and light grey precast bonding to the upper levels.

All apartments have private balconies or terraces, assigned storage units and there is a communal roof terrace.

According to the Design and Access Statement, the proposal “represents a contemporary and sustainable apartment development that will provide a high quality residential environment on brownfield lands, in close proximity to Portstewart town centre”.