Treasury Holdings plans to go ahead with its scheme for a major hotel at the edge of College Green in Dublin, following the failure of a legal challenge by Lancefort Ltd in the Supreme Court yesterday.
Details of the Treasury scheme for the triangular site bounded by College Street, Fleet Street and Westmoreland Street are to be announced next week. Although Treasury would not comment yesterday, it is understood a deal has been done with Western Hotels, a new US group which includes the Sheraton chain.
The group is expected to lease the 180-bedroom hotel on completion, rather than invest directly in the project.
When An Bord Pleanala granted permission for the controversial hotel scheme in December 1996, the Hilton hotel group was Treasury's prospective partner. But Hilton pulled out last summer, at least partly because of Lancefort's court action.
This action has held up the £35 million project for 18 months, costing Treasury Holdings up to £2 million. The potential bill to Lancefort for both Treasury's and An Bord Pleanala's legal costs is likely to be substantial and will be determined in October.
Lancefort was set up by Mr Michael Smith, chairman of the Dublin City Association of An Taisce, and other conservationists to fight high-profile planning cases. The Hilton case was its most prominent and long-running legal action.
Mr Smith could not be contacted yesterday to comment on the outcome, but Lancefort's web site on the Internet posted news of the Supreme Court decision. "No matter what way you cut it, this is a black day for all of us who love Dublin," the text declared.
Lancefort took the action because it felt strongly about Treasury's plans to demolish five unlisted historic buildings on the site and gut the interiors of others which are listed, including the prominent red sandstone building at the corner of Westmoreland Street.
Mr Smith and his colleagues believed the issues raised by Lancefort's legal challenge were so important in terms of EU law that they were prepared to go to the European Court of Justice. But the Supreme Court ruling would appear to leave no room for such an appeal.
Treasury intends to pursue Mr Smith personally to recover its legal costs as a notice party in the action, which was taken against An Bord Pleanala. When the board's costs and Lancefort's own costs are added, the sum is almost certain to exceed £1 million.
