New hotel to create 100 city jobs

The hotel is to be completed in 2009

A new £20m hotel in the centre of Belfast is expected to create more than 100 jobs.

The 131-room Fitzwilliam Hotel will be built on a site adjacent to the Grand Opera House on Great Victoria Street.

The site and hotel are owned by businesswoman June Burgess, through her company Graffan Properties Ltd.

She said the hotel would "complete the development of the site" and Lord Mayor Jim Rodgers said a ground-breaking on Tuesday was symbolic for the city.

"It means increased jobs for area residents, growth opportunities for local business owners and forward movement on a rejuvenated Belfast tourism trade," he said.

The Belfast hotel will be managed by Hotel Partners, a specialist hotel management company and is expected to be open by February 2009.

The Fitzwilliam Hotel Group currently operates the five-star Fitzwilliam Hotel in Dublin.