Pubs sell for over £1m as trade expects boom

The North's main licensed trade specialist, The Whelan Partnership, is experiencing unprecedented levels of sales as the trade positions itself for an anticipated lift in the sector arising from the continuing peace process. Whelans is quoting £1.1 million sterling for Opus One, at 1 University Street, in the heart of the city's restaurant and nightlife area. Opus One has a ground-floor licensed restaurant with a function room on the first floor.

The partnership is also selling one of the North's most historically significant pubs, Kelly's Cellars in Bank Street, a laneway off Castle Junction. Kelly's was a meeting place for the United Irishmen and is the city's oldest continuous licensed premises, dating from 1720, when Belfast comprised only a few streets. The pub and an adjoining licensed premises, Kavanagh's, are being sold by Guinness as part of a restructuring of its retail outlets in the North which are held under Croft Inns. The agent is quoting £1.5 million sterling.

The same agent is also handling the sale of the Lansdowne Court Hotel on the Antrim Road, a property also being sold by Guinness. The hotel has 25 en suite rooms. Whelans is understood to be quoting £2.5 million.