The Burlington Hotel in Dublin 4 is set to be sold by Jurys Doyle for €280 million to Bernard McNamara, one of the country's biggest property developers. Ciarán Hancockreports.
It is understood that the successful businessman submitted the highest bid for the 3.8-acre site near Donnybrook. This equates to a price of €73.7 million per acre, making it one of the most expensive land deals in the State.
It is understood Jurys Doyle plans to close the hotel at the end of January 2008 with the loss of about 480 full- and part-time jobs. Mr McNamara is expected to seek planning permission for a mix of apartments, retail, offices and car parking. The site has frontage on to Upper Leeson Street, Sussex Street and Burlington Road.
Mr McNamara is understood to have trumped bids from Seán Dunne, Seán Mulryan's Ballymore Properties, Derry-based Taggart Holdings and McAleer & Rushe Group, another Northern Ireland-based developer. A Navan-based consortium is also believed to have submitted a tender for the site.
The tender process, which closed last week, was handled by CBRE and bids were assessed by Crownway Investments, a vehicle controlled by John Gallagher and his wife Bernie, a daughter of the late PV Doyle.
Mr McNamara, an investor in the recently opened Shelbourne Hotel and the Conrad Hotel on Earlsfort Terrace, had been tipped as the favourite to secure the site once it was placed on the market.
Mr McNamara recently acquired the Montrose Hotel from Jurys Doyle for more than €50 million. He also recently paid more than €100 million to buy the head office of insurer Allianz, which adjoins the Burlington. Securing the hotel gives Mr McNamara control of about five acres of prime land in one of Dublin's most affluent areas.
Mr McNamara also secured control of the former Irish Glass site in Ringsend for €412 million in 2005.
The Irish Times revealed last week that accounting firm KPMG has made tentative expressions of interest in acquiring a large amount of office space in any new development on the site of the Burlington.
With 500 rooms, the Burlington is one of the biggest hotels in Ireland. It is also one of the most profitable in the Jurys Doyle group.
No comment was available from Jurys Doyle.