The Shelbourne Hotel’s post-pandemic recovery continued apace last year as its owners, US property investment group Kennedy Wilson, prepared the five-star property for sale.
Audited accounts filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission in the United States on Friday for Kennedy Wilson Europe Real Estate Limited, the group subsidiary that bought the Shelbourne in 2014, show trading revenue at the luxury hotel climbed by more than 18 per cent to £45.7 million (€53.3 million) in the 12 months to the end of December.
Running costs also climbed sharply, from £29.6 million in 2022 to more than £35 million last year, according to the filings, leaving Kennedy Wilson with gross profits from the hotel business in excess of £10 million.
In a report attached to the accounts, the directors said the overall gross group revenue rose from £154.9 million in 2022 to £165.6 million in 2023, “mainly due to a strong performance of the Shelbourne Hotel”.
The hotel was sold in March to European investor Archer Hotel Capital, which also owns the Conrad Hotel on the other side of St Stephen’s Green. It is understood Archer paid slightly less than the €260 million guide price attached to the property when it was brought to market at the end of the last year.
The sale was part of a $335 million (€311 million) package that also included a retail asset in the UK and an office block in the US. In the latest SEC filings, Kennedy Wilson said the Shelbourne and the UK retail asset were offloaded after its 2023 financial year-end date “for a total sales price of £216 million” (€251.9 million).
Kennedy Wilson acquired the Shelbourne in 2014 via a prepack receivership. Ownership of the prized asset had switched from Jerry O’Reilly and John Sweeney, the remaining owners from a consortium that acquired the hotel in 2004. Other members of the consortium had included builder and developer Bernard McNamara. The sale price in 2014 was reported at $152 million.
Kennedy Wilson also sold two office blocks at Blackrock Business Park in Dublin to Remake Asset Management for €13 million, a discount on the €17 million price tag attached to the properties, for which it paid €14 million in 2016.
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