The UK's Osborne Group has applied for listed building consent to develop the £23-million Gaol Hotel in Armagh, Hospitality Ireland reported. The group has planned to convert the Gaol women's prisons into a hotel with 32 apartments, seven retail units and a spa as it generates 350 new jobs for the area.
The group received regular planning permission for the proposed hotel over four years ago. However, due to the Gaol's historic status, Osborne Group was still required to request special listed building consent.
The historic Gaol building was built between 1780 and 1852 and designed by architects Francis Cooley and William Murray. It has been vacant since it closed in 1988.
The developer has experience with similar redevelopments as it previously converted the Oxford Jail into a boutique hotel under Frasers Hospitality's brand Malmaison.