CG Hotels cleared for €60m expansion of airport venture

CG Hotels has been given the go-ahead for two expansion projects beside its Radisson Blu property at Dublin Airport that are likely to cost in the region of €60m.

The hotel operator has just received permission for a six-storey extension to its existing property that will include 131 new bedrooms.

It has also got permission from Fingal County Council to build a new hotel right beside the Radisson Blu at Dublin Airport.

That seven-storey property will have 144 bedrooms and bring the total for the two to more than 500 - a significant expansion of the number of rooms available on the airport campus.

CG Hotels is owned by investors including hotelier Patrick Coyle. He is the founder and ceo of Windward Management, and also manages the Gresham Hotel.

Windward took a tilt at buying the iconic Dublin property this year, however, it was bought by Spain's Riu group for just over €90m.

CG Hotels acquired the existing four-star Radisson property - formerly a Great Southern Hotel - when it was sold off by DAA's predecessor, Aer Rianta, in 2006.

CG Hotels told the Central Bank last year that a planned extension at its Dublin Airport property, for which it had previous planning permission, was on hold because of the "insecurity and uncertainty surrounding the hotel following the sale of our loan to an unregulated entity". It added the hotel had been trading profitably since its acquisition.

That previous planning permission was for the addition of 314 bedrooms.

Ireland's largest hotel group, Dalata, operates the only other hotel on the airport campus, the Clayton Dalata. It also owns the former Bewley's Hotel close to Dublin Airport. Dublin Airport has seen a surge in passenger numbers which will pass 27m this year.

From Irish Independent  (16/12/2016)