Nama to put Gresham Hotel up for sale for reported €80m

The National Assets Management Agency (Nama) is set to put Dublin's Gresham Hotel up for sale with a reported price tag of €80 million.

It has been known for several months that the State agency has been planning to sell the property on O’Connell Street in the centre of the capital.

A number of potential suitors have been linked with the hotel, including quoted group Dalata, which raised €160 million late last year.

However, Dalata’s chief executive Pat McCann, has said it will buy the hotel only if it meets the company’s investment criteria.

Estimates of the price Nama is likely to get for the Gresham have ranged from about €60 million in the middle of last year to €80 million, as it emerged that demand for hotel rooms in Dublin was growing on the back of increased tourism and the improved economy.

The hotel has more than 300 rooms and is understood to have scope for an upgrade.

Precinct Hotels, controlled by builder Bryan Cullen and a number of other investors, took the Gresham private 12 years ago.

Nama subsequently acquired its debt, which stood at €131 million at the end of 2014, the last year for which figures are available.