THE LIMERICK STRAND Hotel is up for sale for the cut-price rate of €17 million – a fraction of its estimated value after it was redeveloped during the boom.
The four-star, former Hilton-branded hotel overlooking the Shannon River was rebuilt on the site of the old Jury’s Hotel in 2007.
According to the hotel’s website, the new seven-storey complex was worth €50 million after the 184-bedroom rebuild.
The hotel is owned and run by the the Lally family, headed by Galway developer John Lally – who has previously been behind a string of big-ticket property purchases.
In 2006 he bought Humewood Castle in Co Wicklow for €25 million and announced plans to turn the estate into a golf course, but in late 2012 the property was sold to US billionaire John Malone for €7.2 million.
More recently, Malone and Lally have been involved in deals to buy a string of other hotels, including a reported €65 million buyout of Dublin’s iconic Westin Hotel.
The Strand Hotel’s selling agents, Savills and CBRE, said the business was “a thriving hotel” that was well-regarded in the area and benefited from good existing trade.
According to the hotel’s most recent company records, it ran at a small loss in 2012 after turning a profit of nearly €50,000 the previous year.
Over the period it had expanded its staff to 170 workers from 155 in 2011.
The agents said the Irish hotel sector had seen better trading conditions in 2013 thanks to increased visitor numbers and Limerick had recorded the best growth in revenue per room in Ireland so far this year.
Over the past few years, a string of other hotels have been put on the market for a fraction of their pre-crash purchase prices.
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