Businessman Eamon Waters has revised plans for a hotel on Baggot Street in central Dublin, says The Sunday Times.
A company linked to Mr Waters, Peachbeach, last week withdrew an appeal against Dublin City Council’s refusal of permission for a plan that attracted several objections, including from likely rival the Merrion Hotel.
Peachbeach is preparing to lodge a new planning application to demolish buildings at 13 to 15 Baggot Street Lower and replace them with a six-storey 113-bed hotel with a cafe or restaurant on the ground floor, the newspaper reports.
PwC Dublin HQ up for sale
Accountants PWC’s Dublin HQ is poised to go on the market with a €200 million price tag, according to The Sunday Independent.
Middle Eastern owners of One Spencer Dock on Dublin’s northside, the firm’s Irish head office, have hired estate agents JLL and CBRE, to sell the 21,000 sq m property, say the newspaper’s sources.
The move indicates that the Irish office property market is “gaining confidence following many turbulent years”, it notes.
Irish commercial property values had plunged 27 per cent last year since the pandemic with offices among the worst hit, the Sunday Independent points out.
ITV takes stake in Ufurnish
ITV Adventures Invest, the investment arm of the British broadcaster, has taken €2.4 million shares in Ufurnish, the online interiors marketplace cofounded by Sligo businesswoman, Deirdre McGettrick, says The Sunday Times.
The business provides a website for more than 110 furniture and homeware shops, including giants John Lewis and B&Q along with many independent businesses.
ITV Adventures Invest takes shares in potentially high-growth businesses in return advertising space on its TV network. The idea is that the media spend boosts the new company’s sales and its value.
Ufurnish has already raised cash from Tony Smurfit of Smurfit Westrock and businesswomen Rosaleen Blair and Ciara McElligott, according to the Sunday Times.
UK energy company pledge
The UK’s new state-owned energy company has pledged £110 million sterling (€130 million) to schools, hospitals and community groups for solar panels and other clean energy equipment, according to the Financial Times.
Set up by the country’s Labour Government last year to invest in clean technology to benefit communities, Aberdeen, Scotland-based GB Energy announced its first commitment at the weekend, says the FT.
The company intends to provide £110 million in grants to help pay for solar panels and other clean energy production for schools, hospitals and community groups.
Other government agencies will match the funding “amounting to total taxpayer investment of about £200 million for the projects”, the newspaper calculates.
Hotel planned for Quinns pub
The company behind the redevelopment of Quinns pub near Croke Park in Dublin is proceeding with plans to build a 131 bedroom hotel, according to the Business Post.
Discipulo Developments is preparing a planning application for a two to four storey hotel on a vacant part of the Quinns site, its founder Simon Kelly told the newspaper.
The planning application for the development is likely to be ready for submission in the next six to eight weeks, he added.
