Belfast hotel Ten Square was sold to property developer Paddy Kearney for slightly more than £6m, it can be revealed.
The award-winning city centre venue was once owned by businessman John Miskelly.
But his company lost control of the hotel in January, when administrators EY moved in.
It is now in the hands of Mr Kearney, who heads up the Kilmona Holdings company.
The hotel deal was worth £6.1m, with the property itself going for £5.2m, according to the latest administration documents filed to Companies House under the firm which formerly ran the business.
The remainder of the purchase price was for fixtures, fittings and contents.
Ten Square has already undergone a facelift since the change of ownership, but it is also set for a multi-million pound extension, which will see 71 bedrooms added in the near future
The £3m addition will be based at Lancashire House beside the hotel – and 20 new jobs are being added to the business as part of the project.
According to the administration report, the firm earned £2.2m between January, when Mr Miskelly’s firm Yorkshire House went into administration, and November 21.
The document said trade and assets were sold on September 4, and that “there are funds to distribute to unsecured creditors, and the administrators intend to move from administration to creditors’ voluntary liquidation”.
That means creditors, including suppliers and others, will be able to start receiving some of the cash freed up after the sale.
The hotel owed Promontoria Eagle Ltd – a company set up by Cerberus to deal with its assets after buying loans from Nama – almost £3m.
When administrators EY moved in in January, hotel group Dalata was appointed to run the business.
Speaking about the hotel’s expansion plans, Mr Kearney said the building has “been a landmark in Belfast city centre for many years, but increasing numbers of tourists and a more competitive hotel market mean it’s time to invest in the future”.
“We now have an excellent management team in place and the ability and willingness to revamp and expand the hotel with at least a £5m capital programme over the next 12 months, in addition to our recent purchase,” he added.
Day-to-day running of the hotel is down to general manager Stephen Perry, who spent 10 years working in the US with the Hilton Hotels Group, and also worked for Hastings Hotels.
Ten Square is the latest in new hotel projects and revamps under way across Belfast – around 20 are planned. Ten Square’s former owners, the Hill brothers, are to transform the Scottish Mutual Building close to their former venue into a hotel.
View this article and more at the Belfast Telegraph.
