Citywest hotel and centre sold for €30m

The Citywest Hotel, along with the adjoining convention centre and one of its two golf courses in west Dublin, have been bought by an overseas investor for close to €30 million as part of the sell-off of distressed properties held by the businessman Jim Mansfield.

London asset manager agents Micheles & Taylor are advising the new owner, who has not been identified.

Citywest , Dublin’s largest hotel with 789 bedrooms, and the adjoining facilities had been valued at more than €100 million before the property crash. These assets were the centrepiece of Mansfield’s substantial property portfolio which was first taken over by receivers in early 2012.

Liability order
Nama were first to move against Mansfield, securing a €74 million liability order in the High Court. Bank of Scotland subsequently obtained a €214 million summary judgment against him arising from his personal guarantees of debts of various firms he controlled.

Citywest Hotel, along with its leisure centre, is managed by Pat McCann’s Dalata company which is also running a range of other hotels in Dublin and the provinces.

The Citywest convention centre can accommodate more than 4,000 people and continues to function under the direction of receiver Martin Ferris. The receiver was advised on the sale of the hotel portfolio by Tom Barrett of Savills.

Yesterday’s sale did not apparently include the standalone 300-bedroom Citywest Golf Hotel which has been closed for some time. Most of the hotel rooms were sold as suites to investors. There were unconfirmed reports last night that the ground floor of the golf hotel may have been included in the sale.

Earlier this year a second golfing estate owned by Mansfield, Palmerstown House and 668 acres on the Dublin-Kildare border, was sold for a knockdown price of €8 million to Galway property developers the Comer brothers.

Another valuable asset owned by Mansfield, Weston Executive Airport near Lucan in west Dublin, was sold to a German engineering company for €2.5 million.