Madam, - It is a widely held belief that a newspaper should be properly judged by the fairness and accuracy of its Editorials. Over the years when reading your newspaper, it has been customary for me to first turn to the leader article and, indeed, customary to believe that it had been written without bias and with a level of fairness, understanding and expertise.
The number of grossly inaccurate and misleading articles which have been written over the past two years about my company and the Jurys/Berkeley Court site by now outnumber the number of rugby fans who claim to have been in Thomond Park when Munster beat the All-Blacks in 1978.
However, the leader article "Changes in Dublin 4" in The Irish Timesof Saturday, August 18th, that blamed me and my company for the decisions made and actions taken by a then public, and now private company (Jurys Doyle Group), two years ago was so vindictive, misleading and inaccurate that it trumps them all.
Your Editorial began by blaming my company, Mountbrook Homes, for the recent closure of Jurys and the Berkeley Court Hotel. You may recall that in June 2005 the owners of Jurys Hotel Ballsbridge, being Jurys plc, offered for sale by tender Jurys Hotel Ballsbridge. It was an express condition of the sale of the property, by the inclusion of a restrictive covenant on the title, that no other hotel could be developed and operated by the purchaser of this site.
Jurys plc at that time operated seven other hotels in Dublin city and was obviously endeavouring to minimise future competition.
On acquiring the Berkeley Court some three months later, Mountbrook Homes successfully negotiated the removal of the restrictive covenant and the right to build a hotel on the combined site, if we so choose. It is our intention to include a hotel in the proposed redevelopment of Jurys/Berkeley Court. Given that your newspaper has not seen our plans I am amazed you chose to make the false assumption that no hotel would be built on this site again. In fact, I am amazed that you have chosen to make any comment at all on our plans, given that such commentary is akin to judging a beauty competition in the dark.
The current owners of the Jurys Doyle Group are the Doyle and Beatty families who took Jurys plc private in 2005. Jurys Doyle still control and own the operating companies for both Jurys and the Berkeley Court Hotel.
The decision to close both hotels was taken by Jurys plc and in respect of which neither any of my companies nor I had any hand, act or part.
My company only takes ownership and control of Jurys Ballsbridge on September 6th with no residents, no employees, and the contents from the doors of the bedrooms to the elevators removed - in essence a carcass.
Prior to Jurys Hotel closing this month, we sought to acquire, intact, the full contents having been approached by other hotel operators who had an interest in keeping the hotel in operation until development commences. The owners refused to sell us the contents for reasons only known to themselves.
I have, however, successfully managed to purchase those contents which were for sale in the Berkeley Court and over the next couple of months will investigate the viability of keeping that hotel open for the foreseeable future. Ownership and control of the Berkeley Court does not pass to our company until October 8th.
Your article also stated that Jurys and the Berkeley Court are two thriving, profitable hotels, a statement obviously made without any knowledge of the profitability of these properties. In 2005, Jurys plc, in the best interests of their shareholders, decided to dispose of these two hotels. I fully understand why the company decided on this course of action.
Good economics is based on the return of capital and the reason these hotels were sold is that Jurys plc were no longer realising an adequate return on capital deployed in relation to both properties. The "ruthlessness" you refer to in your article is also hypocritical given that The Irish Timesitself embarked on a controversial rationalisation programme over the past four years for similar reasons, namely: disposing of its head office - a Dublin landmark; moving to rented accommodation; and laying off approximately 300 staff. Judging by this recent Editorial, this rationalisation unfortunately appears to be to the detriment of your previously high journalistic standards.
Your Editorial spoke of the loss of 600 stable long-term jobs. The proposed redevelopment of Jurys/Berkeley Court will employ over 400 on-site full-time construction workers over a six-year period and 4,300 full-time jobs when completed. The added value to the economy will be in excess of €400 million per annum, a substantial improvement in terms of employment and returns to the Exchequer over and above that which is being replaced.
In a recent Irish Timesinterview, Mr John Gallagher, the public face of the current owners of Jurys Doyle Hotels, revealed that they had made €750 million from the sale of the hotels. This includes the sale of the Burlington for €280 million for similar reasons that Jurys and the Berkeley Court were sold, with the further loss of over 500 jobs and a 506-bedroom hotel closing in January 2008.
This invoked no negative comment from you. I wish the Jurys Doyle Group every success, both with the profits they have made and their future investments in the British and European property market. However, I do have a problem with The Irish Times misdirecting its wrath over the closure of the hotels and loss of jobs at our door.
Your Editorial bemoaned the loss of 600 hotel rooms. The residential accommodation proposed by us in the redevelopment in Jurys/Berkeley Court will allow for up to 2,000 residents in 536 quality family-sized apartments and a 220 bedroom hotel. This is a substantial net gain and in providing over 536 new apartments we are affording people the opportunity of living in Ballsbridge, an area of the city that has substantially under-contributed to the recent increase in population growth in Dublin.
You stated that Jurys and the Berkeley Court were an important part of the social and economic infrastructure of the city. Our vision for the redevelopment of Jurys/Berkeley Court has recognised that both hotels were civic centres. We believe our plans will enhance, enrich and enshrine this area of Ballsbridge for the next hundred years and beyond.
You also claimed that private companies, such as mine, do not always accord with the needs, desires or best interests of the wider community.
Our plans for the redevelopment of Jurys/Berkeley Court, which you inaccurately describe as "a high-density apartment and office complex" will be lodged with the city council within the next week.
These plans will accord with the needs, desires and best interests of the wider community from Malin Head to Mizen Head, as well as the citizens of Dublin and those who visit the city. They will greatly enhance the social fabric of Ballsbridge and the city, with no diminution in property values in the area.
Our vision for the redevelopment of Jurys/Berkeley Court will provide much greater facilities than those which currently exist in the gated and secluded areas of Ballsbridge. To use your own words, "business negotiations, press conferences, government negotiations, wedding receptions and debs' dances as well as tourists, rugby and soccer fans, farmers, equestrian enthusiasts and fans going to rock concerts" plus a lot more will all be better catered for and accommodated in the proposed redevelopment of Jurys/Berkeley Court. Bleary-eyed revellers, however, seeking to keep the night going will be diverted to other late-night hot spots nearer the city centre.
You stated that "the tangible sustainable profitability of the hotels has been swapped for an audacious bet on property development".
This is inaccurate, ill-founded and illogical. We acquired, in 2005, seven acres in Ballsbridge for an average price of €54 million an acre. Our bid for Jurys, at €275 million, topped two other bids which were in excess of €270 million.
Some four months later, another developer acquired an adjoining two acres at a cost of €83 million an acre. In 2006 another developer paid the equivalent of €125 million an acre for adjacent land.
The Burlington this year was sold at €83 million an acre. One does not need a degree in construction economics to know the position all would prefer to be in. These facts are public knowledge that your Editorial writer would have gleaned from even minimal research.
Since 1983 our business has been house building and property development. Subject to an acceptable planning permission it will be 12 months before site development work commences, a further four years before the first occupant resides there, in autumn 2012, reflecting a seven-year wait for any return on our investment.
The business of property development involves risk-taking, and, in this case, a belief in the sustainable success of the Irish economy.
While others have chosen to sell up now while the going is good and depart with their profits, I have chosen to put my trust, faith and money in the future of my country and its economy.
You talk of changes in Dublin 4. One change I would personally welcome is a change in the current trend among certain members of the media of blaming property developers for the ills of all society, a fad The Irish Timesis now championing.
However, change in Dublin 4 is good and necessary. Jurys and the Berkeley Court hotels were built in the 1960s and as buildings have outlived their usefulness. A unique, once in a lifetime opportunity has now arisen for the development of an 11-acre triangle of land in Ballsbridge which is in the ownership of five developers. Ballsbridge was recently described by Dublin city planners as "the heart of the city". It is obvious that a select group of residents in Dublin 4 believe that any redevelopment of the city should be in other areas such as Dublin Docklands, Ballymun, Fingal and surrounding counties.
Dublin cannot compete with other international cities without providing world-class architecture and mixed-use developments that allow people to live, work and play adjacent to each other. Ballsbridge must recognise its obligation to contribute to the future growth and development of our city.
Our plans, when unveiled, will speak for themselves. It is our intention to put these plans on public display to allow the professionals who have prepared them to answer any queries the public at large may have.
Kevin Myers wrote the following in his Irish Independentcolumn on June 28th : "What is the great unspoken hope that fills so many Dublin hearts? What ambition unites lefties, vegans, city councillors, bankers, accountants, surgeons, barristers, street sweepers, GAA officials and left handed lesbians? It is that Sean Dunne the property developer who paid three hundred zillion Kruger Rand for Jurys Hotel in Ballsbridge, and who now wants to build a complex of high towers there, fails totally."
Little did I think on reading this article that by the end of this year's silly season, The Irish Timeswould have joined the above select list. Thankfully there are many others along with Kevin Myers (a man I do not know) who hope we succeed.
I would greatly appreciate if you would ensure that any future comment on our plans in your newspaper are made by those who are qualified to do so, and provide a fair and balanced opinion, which is all your readers require. - Yours, etc,
SEAN DUNNE, Managing Director, Mountbrook Homes, Merrion Square, Dublin 2.