Two profitable Dublin-based Clarion hotels are to be offered for sale at a combined total of €40 million.
The hotels, located at the IFSC and Dublin Airport, are to be put on sale at €30 million and €10 million respectively, with Tom Barrett of Savills appointed as sales agent by receiver Kieran Wallace of KPMG. Both hotels are currently managed by Choice Hotels Ireland.
The four-star IFSC hotel has 247 bedrooms and is likely to be purchased by an overseas hotel group, while the Dublin Airport Authority is expected to make a bid for the Clarion Hotel Dublin Airport, which has been in business for more than 40 years and bills itself as 'the closest hotel to both airport terminals'. The airport-based hotel stands on a site of 5.5 acres and has the key advantage of 224 on-site parking spaces.
Property developer Paddy Kelly, the McCormack company, Alanis and Pearse Construction are believed to have borrowed in the region of €40 million to redevelop and fit out the IFSC hotel, and draws much of its custom from the financial district, along with nearby stadia, such as the Convention Centre, the O2 arena, the Bord Gáis Theatre and the Aviva Stadium. The hotel also has a fitness centre and ten conference rooms.
Barrett described the sale of the two properties as a 'fantastic' opportunity for hotel groups to gain a significant foothold in the Dublin market, with the two hotels offering a total of 412 bedrooms between them. According to Savills, the hotels are being offered at a significant discount in order to recover "distressed" loans advanced by the then Anglo Irish bank during the property boom.
