The Jerusalem Pearl Hotel, opposite the Old City of Jerusalem’s Jaffa Gate will be torn down and rebuilt, according to an article in the Jerusalem Post’s In Jerusalem.
The current hotel was built in 1996 by the Dan Hotel Group, with 120 rooms and commercial space, but notably without enough parking. The hotel shut down in 2003 after it proved to be financially unsuccessful. Due to its proximity to the Old City walls, the hotel could not receive permits to build higher from the Jerusalem District Building Committee.
A deal has been reached between the Jerusalem municipality, the courts and the owners, and the new hotel will be built with eight underground floors, a pool, halls, and a mikveh. While the height will remain the same, the hotel will have 170 rooms, including 16 residential units facing Koresh street.
The location has been hosting hotels since 1891, when the Armenian Patriarchate built a 100 room hotel on the site. It’s first name was the Hotel Howard, later changed to Hotel du Park, according to the AndoverCalling site. In 1907, the name was changed to the Hotel Fast.
In the 1930s part of the building served as the German Consulate, complete with Nazi flag hanging from the mast.