The Jurys Montrose Hotel in Dublin is to be bought by the owners of the Superquinn chain.
A deal has been agreed for the Stillorgan hotel with the Jurys Doyle group, for a price understood to be in excess of €40 million. The hotel, which is believed to have been underperforming, was on the market for some time.
Select Retail Holdings, the owner of the Superquinn group, comprises property developers Jerry O'Reilly and Bernard McNamara, estate agents Bernard Doyle and David Courtney, hotelier Terry Sweeney, chartered accountant Kieran Ryan, financier Simon Cantrell, and retailer Simon Burke, chairman of Superquinn.
One of the most acquisitive investors in the commercial property market, Mr McNamara has built up a large hotel portfolio in recent years. However, the Montrose site may have been bought for its redevelopment value.
Mr McNamara co-owns the Shelbourne Hotel with four other investors and controls the Mercer Hotel in Dublin. He also bought out the Great Southern Parknasilla Hotel in Co Kerry last summer and co-owns the Radisson SAS Hotel in Galway.
He was recently involved in two of the most prominent property transactions in Dublin. He was the largest single shareholder in the consortium that bought the former Irish Glass Bottle site at Ringsend for €412 million, and is a member of the group that this month acquired the Allianz building on Burlington Road for €100 million.
The Allianz property is adjacent to the Burlington Hotel, which was put on the market last month by the Jurys Doyle group. Mr McNamara is considered a possible bidder for the hotel, which is likely to fetch at least €250 million.
Jurys Doyle is believed to be preparing to close the Berkeley Court and Jurys hotels in Ballsbridge later this year. The three hotels were sold last September to property developer Seán Dunne for €380 million.