Donegal property developer Pat Doherty has acquired the former headquarters in London of the Conservative Party in a £30.5 million (€45.72 million) deal. Arthur Beesley, Senior Business Correspondent, reports.
Famous for its close association with Tory leaders such as Margaret Thatcher, the storied Central Office building at Smith Square in Westminster was synonymous with many an electoral triumph and scene of most bitter intrigue when fortunes waned.
Among the wealthiest Irish real estate investors, Mr Doherty is likely to redevelop the 1920s office block that was home to the Conservatives for 50 years as an upmarket residential or commercial complex. His firm Harcourt Developments confirmed its purchase of the building but said it could not confirm an Evening Standard report that the Tories stand to claw back 50 per cent of any gain in excess of £1 million on a future sale of the property.
The Harcourt deal is not the first Irish connection with the iconic seat of establishment power in British politics. AIB provided a £15.65 million loan to the Tories last March when they bought out the freehold on the property.
The £15 million profit on the Harcourt transaction is enough to clear the Conservatives' debts at a time when Labour teeters on bankruptcy. The party moved out of the offices in 2003 but restrictions on a £1 per year lease from the 1980s meant it could not develop the building.
Offshore companies twice acquired the freehold, which ended up in a British Virgin Islands company owned by unidentified Middle Eastern clients of Citibank. This group realised a £3.38 million profit when the Tories bought out the building with loans from AIB, which is the biggest lender to the Conservatives.
The records of Britain's Electoral Commission indicate that AIB gave further loans of £2.8 million to the party last April.
The building was the backdrop to Mrs Thatcher's three election victories and the location of celebrations when Harold Macmillan, Edward Heath and John Major prevailed in the polls. Well known for its "War Room", the historic building was also the scene of plots, schemes and backstabbing on a grand scale.
Central Office is now in the control of a firm whose directors recently included Phil Flynn, the former Sinn Féin vice-president who resigned from its board two years ago when it emerged that a business he backed was at the centre of a Garda investigation into alleged money-laundering by the Provisional IRA. Mr Flynn denied any wrongdoing.
The current directors of Harcourt Developments include Mike Murphy, the former RTÉ broadcaster, and businessman Andrew Parker Bowles who was the first husband of Camilla Parker Bowles, now married to Prince Charles.
With operating profits of €16.25 million on sales of €97.91 million in 2005, Harcourt Developments boasts shareholders' funds of €147.61 million. Mr Doherty's own political affiliations are difficult to determine. His company made small donations to Fianna Fáil, the PDs and Fine Gael in 2005.
Big-spending investors from Ireland have been on the march in the international markets and several other landmark properties in London are in Irish hands.
Treasury Holdings owns Battersea Power Station, Seán Mulryan owns the former Westminster Hospital and Gerry Barrett owns the former Bow Street Magistrates Court. A group involving Derek Quinlan, Moya Doherty, John McColgan and Paddy McKillen owns Claridges Hotel, the Connaught and the Berkeley.
