Portmarnock hotel and links for €15m

Another leading Dublin hotel is to be offered for sale in the coming weeks on the instructions of the

National Asset Management Agency

. The

Portmarnock Hotel

and

Golf Links

on the north Dublin coast is expected to make at least €

15-€20 million – a long way short of the €70 million paid for it in 2005 by Capel Developments as part of a property play.

Simon Coyle of Mazars, named receiver by Nama, is due to appoint selling agents in the coming weeks to handle the marketing of the property.

As with most of the other large hotels sold over the past 18 months, Portmarnock is likely to be bought by overseas interests attracted by its strategic location not far from the city centre and the potential for capitalising on the appeal of its 180-acre links course among business executives.

Capel’s decision to buy the hotel and golf links in halcyon times was prompted by the prospect of doing a land swap with another northside golf club in Clontarf and ultimately redeveloping those grounds for expensive housing.

Though the members of the Clontarf club duly voted to accept generous compensation and move to the new course, the plan was blocked by Dublin City Council, which owned the freehold of 62 of the 77 acres in Clontarf.

Like many other house builders, Capel also bought several expensive development sites in the Dublin area before the property market crashed.

One of the costliest was at Ashtown in west Dublin where it had sold more than 200 apartments in a relatively short period and then went on to pay €77 million for an adjoining site with planning permission for more than 500 apartments.

Last September Nama also forced the sale of Sandford Close, a high-quality development of 119 apartments and an office block in Ranelagh which Capel had planned to hold as a long-term investment.

The rent roll of more than €2 million has risen since then under the management of US investors Kennedy Wilson and a partner who paid €27 million for the development.

Valuing the four-star Portmarnock hotel and golf course will not be an exact science.

Rooms in the Shelbourne Hotel have been valued at €400,000 each following the recent sale of loans on the prestigious property for €110 million. The sale of the Clarion Hotel in the IFSC for €33 million worked out at €200,000 per room key.

Even a modest valuation of €100,000 for each of the 138 guest rooms in Portmarnock would equate to almost €14 million. And then there is the expansive 180 acres of golfing and shoreline facilities which even at a value of €40,000 per acre accounts for an additional €7.2 million. In addition to these considerations, the hotel itself has other top-class attractions including conference and business facilities, a sauna and a fitness centre.