Proposal to convert former nursing home into hostel
A Dubai-based businessman is planning to convert a former nursing home in Salthill to a hostel.
Steven Mayne, an Australian national who runs several businesses in Dubai, bought the former Pointe Boise nursing home last year for a figure believed to be in the region of €700,000 to €800,000.
He has now applied to Galway City Council for permission for a change of use of the building to hostel accommodation with 22 en-suite rooms.
The ground floor will include a reception area and dining room/recreation room, bathroom, conservatory and two bedrooms.
There will be eleven en suite rooms on the first floor and nine en suite rooms on the second floor.
Mr Mayne is the Managing Director of a business set-up consultancy firm and a partner in SwissGulf Partners, a recruitment agency, both of which are based in Dubai.
He formed a property management company in Ireland last July called SLK Management Services Ltd with his wife Lorna – who is originally from Salthill – and her brother Keith Kissane.
The 25-bed Pointe Boise Nursing Home was built in 2002, but closed its doors in 2011 after the introduction of new standards set down by the Health Information and Quality Authority, which meant it was no longer viable for the operators to keep it open. The home subsequently became part of St Mary’s Nursing Home on St Mary’s Road.
The entire Pointe Boise development – which includes more than 30 apartments behind the separately-owned nursing home – was originally developed at a cost of around €6.5 million.
A decision on the hostel application is due from the Council at the beginning of November