Dublin Airport set to get third hotel in major investment plan

Dublin Airport is to get its third hotel, with the owners of the Radisson Blu there planning the multi-million euro construction of a new seven-storey, standalone venue on the site.

CG Hotels wants permission for the 144-bedroom hotel, as well as restaurant and other facilities. It will be located in the car park of the existing Radisson Blu hotel.

CG Hotels is owned by investors including hotelier Patrick Coyle, founder and chief executive of Windward Management, which manages the Gresham Hotel.

Windward took a tilt at buying the iconic Dublin property this year, in a bid that was backed by Boston's Pyramid Hotel Group. Spain's Riu Hotels eventually clinched the deal to buy the Gresham for €90m.

CG Hotels had previously secured planning permission for a €59m extension to the existing Radisson Blu at Dublin Airport.

That would have seen it add 314 bedrooms to the existing property, which already has 229 rooms and employs 150 people. It also had permission to add conference facilities.

CG Hotels acquired the existing four-star 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 the planned extension at its Dublin Airport property was on hold because of the "insecurity and uncertainty surrounding the hotel following the sale of our loan to an unregulated entity". It added that the hotel had been trading profitably since its acquisition.

Ireland's largest hotel group, Dalata, operates the only other hotel located on the Dublin Airport campus, the Clayton.

Dalata secured a 10-year agreement in 2013 to operate that hotel, after it was bought by the DAA when it was put up for sale by NAMA.

Dalata also owns the former Bewley's Hotel close to Dublin Airport, which has 467 bedrooms. It operates under Dalata's Maldron brand. Dalata is pursuing a planned extension of that property that would add 140 bedrooms.

In June, Windward Management completed the €12m acquisition of the Hilton Dublin Airport Hotel, which is located a few kilometres from the airport.

That was bought in conjunction with London-based Emerald Investment Partners from PJ Walls Holdings. The consortium intends to embark on a significant refurbishment of the 166-bedroom property.

Emerald is owned by Scottish accountant Alan McIntosh, who is also a major shareholder in CG Hotels, and also a founding executive of Irish listed building firm Cairn Homes.

From Irish Independent (21/10/2016)