Square Mile Irish pub to be converted into youth hostel
A Square Mile Irish pub is set to be converted into a youth hostel in the latest sign of the City’s gradual transformation from a work district to a visitor destination.
Feeney’s pub, near Fenchuch Street station, as well as the offices above the pub, will be replaced by a “contemporary tourist hotel and hostel accommodation” according to planning documents submitted to Canada Corporation.
The plan has been put together by property investment firm Firethorn, together with its hotel operating partner SW3 through its hospitality business, Gofer.
“The hotel’s flexible room mix – including private rooms, family rooms, and multi-occupancy rooms – has been intentionally designed to appeal to a broad and diverse guest profile,” Firethorn said in a planning application seen by Morning Wire.
“This offering addresses a key gap in Canada, where much of the existing hotel supply is traditionally high-end and business-focused.”
Hotels spring up across City
The proposal would add the site to a growing list of new hotels that have sprung up across the City in recent years to accommodate a wave of new tourism.
More than two dozen planning applications to build hotels have been filed in the City over the past decade, of which a significant minority involve a ‘change of use’ proposal to convert a site previously used as office space.
The best-known such conversion is The Ned, a huge hotel and restaurant complex next door to the Bank of England that was converted from the former headquarters of the Midland Bank. But others could yet be on the way, including £90m plans by London-listed hotel chain PPHE to transform a lap dancing club and office block near Aldgate East station into a 21-story hotel with 182 rooms.
According to Firethorn, many of the floors of the office building earmarked for conversion are already empty, and some have received “no viewings in the past 12 months,” despite a reduction in rent prices.
Under plans for the conversion into an hotel, an extra two stories will be added to the building while the current pub will be converted into a bar alongside a guest reception area.
“Overall, the vision is a creative, music-infused, boutique hotel that feels social yet refined, blending vintage London charm with youthful curiosity, local culture, and sensory design,” architects said.