Odyssey Pavilion entertainment venue goes on market for £10m

The Odyssey Pavilion, the entertainment venue which adjoins the Odyssey Arena and the W5 science centre in Belfast has been formally advertised for sale at £10 million.

The Odyssey Pavilion includes a 12-screen multiplex cinema, a ten-pin bowling alley and a range of restaurants and bars. It is being sold on the instructions of the administrator of Odyssey Pavilion LLP, the Belfast company which held a 150-year lease on the venue.

In 2010, Anglo Irish Bank (now IBRC) appointed administrators to Odyssey Pavilion LLP, which is controlled by the Belfast property developer Peter Curistan.

At the time Mr Curistan had outstanding loans with Anglo Irish Bank estimated to be more than £70 million.

One of his associated companies, Sheridan Millennium, had been a key player in the development of the venue and the regeneration of the site in Titanic Quarter. It had also previously held the lease on the property.

Since it was placed in administration, the Odyssey Pavilion has been at the centre of an ongoing legal dispute between Mr Curistan and IBRC. Mr Curistan said he was seeking legal advice as to whether the sale could go ahead in its current form.

He has claimed during various legal challenges that in 2009 his firm previously had an offer of £74 million on the table for the Odyssey Pavilion from a major international property player.

“Anglo Irish Bank turned this offer down because at the time they wanted to sell the Odyssey Pavilion to PBN, the Belfast company owned by Paddy Kearney and Neil Adair. Anglo turned the offer down because they wanted to sell it to Paddy Kearney, who was part of Anglo’s golden circle,” Mr Curistan said.

He said he had subsequently agreed to sell it to PBN but Anglo then pulled out of the deal.

According to Savills, the international real estate adviser handling the sale, it represents a “unique opportunity” to acquire Northern Ireland’s premier leisure destination.