Laois Council could spend millions on housing 13 people in Portlaoise in a converted derelict hotel

Laios County Council officials at County Hall in Portlaoise have pushed ahead with a backup plan to convert a derelict landmark hotel into badly needed homes for about 13 people in the heart of the town.

The local authority has started a tender process with the aim of hiring an architect-led design team for the development of social housing at the property located at 102 Main St.

The goal of the tender is the delivery of a housing scheme with at least 11 and possibly 12 social housing units to replace the building, which has been derelict for many years, but which the local authority purchased in 2019.

Bidders for the four-year design contract have been told that the development would, if approved be advanced under the Government's Housing for All plan to "satisfy the housing need of an appropriate number of applicants on the council's Housing Waiting List".

Tender documents seen by the Leinster Express / Laois Live say that the council requires the demolition of the Portlaoise hotel to be replaced by up to 12 units at a cost of at least €5.2 million.

The project must include three one-bedroom apartments on the ground floor to accommodate one person each. Two one-bed apartments are required for the first floor, with one person living in each.

A further two-bed apartment is earmarked for the first floor to accommodate three people.

The council wants three apartments on the second floor. Two would be one-bed apartments to accommodate one person each, while the second would be a two-bed apartment in which three people can live.

The third floor would see two one-bedroom apartments built to accommodate one person each.

An original plan for the scheme envisaged a shop on the street-facing side of the ground floor but the Council says it will request the design team to examine the feasibility of providing an additional apartment on the ground floor.

The Design Team will manage and supervise the construction of the scheme and handover of the completed scheme to Laois County Council.  

The council also says the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is the relevant Government Department providing the funding for this project.

Bidders have been told that the €5.2 million budget excluding VAT has been set for the construction of the apartments and the only constraint on delivering this is financial, as the homes must be delivered "to approved budget".

In February 2025, County Councillors finally approved the construction process by passing a so-called Part VIII planning consent that allowed the county hotel to be converted to homes. That followed a long an intererupted process which would have seen the project developed by Chluid Housing, a voluntary housing body.

At the time, county councillors gave the green light for the construction of a new three-storey 864 m2 apartment building comprising of 10 residential units. It was signed off by Laois County Council CEO Michael Rainey.

However, just a few months later, the CEO broke the news to politicians that Clúid had pulled out due to the high cost. Their decision came just weeks before the building was to be demolished.

MORE BELOW PICTURE OF EXISTING PLANS OF WHAT THE COUNCIL WANTS THE APARTMENT BLOCK TO LOOK LIKE. 

"Their rationale was that the unit cost was too high. We have to accept that if we are bringing back places like old hotels, the cost will be high. We will take it on ourselves and drive it forward. We will take that detailed design and go to the Department and look for funding," Mr Rainey told councillors at the monthly meeting of Laois County Council.

The cost to knock the hotel and build eight one bed and two two bed apartments and the shop was estimated by Clúid back in 2022 as €7m.

The council bought the derelict hotel for €155,000. It has a long history for local people, followed by a sad history of falling into ruin. Read more and see internal photos of the county hotel as it looks now.

Laois County Council has already been involved in some major projects in the heart of Portlaoise in recent years that have involved significant investment of taxpayers' money.

Work is ongoing on the construction of apartments in the former school and Presentation Convent on Church Avenue with Sophia Housing.  The cost of this project, which is a five minute walk from the County Hotel site, rose to €26 million during the planning process.

The local authority also developed Portlaoise Library which ended up costing €7.1 m including VAT. Costs of this project rose on a number of projects during the planning phase.

Against the background of these two recent experiences of construction inflation, it remains to be seen if the successful bidders for the design contract can produce designs that can allow the county hotel to be demolished and replaced within the €5.2 million constraint outlined by the local authority.

The latest tender was published on August 13, 2025.