Spain's Riu Hotels and Resorts has acquired The Gresham hotel in Dublin for a price in excess of €90 mln.
Ireland's bad bank Nama initially mandated agents Christie & Co and CBRE Hotels to sell the historic hotel with a guide price of over €80 mln back in February 2016.
The sales figure falls short of the €117 mln price paid for it in 2004 by Precinct Investments. Nama took over loans tied to the Gresham in 2011.
'The Gresham was a highly attractive proposition in that there is potential to improve the trade significantly through repositioning of the business, along with the active consent to extend the property by up to 145 bedrooms,' commented Dave Murray, director at Christie & Co Ireland. 'Furthermore, the fact that a global hotel investor such as Riu Hotels and Resorts prioritised Dublin, ahead of cities such as London and Paris, as their second European city for their Plaza brand speaks volumes for the demand for Dublin hotels from international investors.'
'This sale provides further evidence of the health of the Dublin hotel sector, after the recent sale of the Burlington Hotel, and we believe Dublin will continue to attract international hotel operators and investors,' said Stanley Watson, chairman of the Board of Precinct Investments Limited.
According to STR Global, Dublin hotels have enjoyed the highest growth in Europe for two consecutive years with RevPAR growth in 2015 of 23% and RevPAR up 21% y-o-y. in the first six months of this year.
LeBruin, Matheson and PwC advised Precinct.
