Over €3m for Wicklow hotel on 186 acres

‘Distressed’ asset heaviTINAKILLY COUNTRY House Hotel, an upmarket Victorian hotel and restaurant on 186 acres near Rathnew, Co Wicklow, is to be offered for sale by CBRE at a heavily discounted price of over €3 million. The estate includes 60 acres zoned for a housing development.ly discounted in receiver sale

The decision to sell the four- star hotel and land was taken after Ulster Bank appointed Luke Charleton and Niall Coveney of Ernst & Young as receivers to the operating companies. The 51-bedroom hotel and its 10-acre grounds were bought at the peak of the property market in 2007 for a figure believed to have been in the region of €10 million.

Tinakilly was particularly popular for formal functions and corporate business events during the Celtic Tiger era when executives frequently opted for boutique-style country venues to entertain staff and clients.

The hotel continues to trade and is currently charging between €90 and €140 per night for double rooms with breakfast.

It is located on the outskirts of of Rathnew and within 3km of Wicklow town.

Tinakilly is owned by two companies, Crackington Ltd and Covewood Properties, which assembled an additional 176 acres around the hotel. The 60 acres zoned for housing would have accommodated at least 500 houses. The remainder of the land has a range of zonings from hotel and leisure to open space and a conservation area. Part of the eastern boundary has direct frontage on to the coastline.

Fleetwater, a company owned by the O’Grady Peyton family, has a 15 per cent shareholding in Crackington Ltd which controls Covewood Properties Ltd. Other shareholders with 5 per cent or more of the shareholding are JJ Murphy, Kevin Fitzsimons, Kilian Fitzsimons, Kieran Finane, Patrick Shine, Brendan Fitzsimons and William Mulrooney. Another company, Freshwood Ltd, also has a 5 per cent stake in the hotel and lands.

The Tinakilly hotel is based on an exceptionally fine house and terraced gardens which date from 1883. The facilities include 51 en suite bedrooms, a function room to accommodate 100 guests, a restaurant and four meeting rooms which have proved popular for functions, leisure and corporate business. The hotel stands on 14.5 acres (5.86 hectares) and includes a four-bedroom house which accommodates hotel staff.

Wesley Rothwell and John Hughes of CBRE will initially offer the hotel for sale along with the entire land holding and if a buyer does not emerge it will then seek offers for the hotel on 14.5 acres (5.86 hectares). The remaining lands extending to 171.5 acres (69.4 hectares) will then go for sale separately.

Tinakilly House was built for Captain Robert Hallpin, Commander of The Great Eastern which laid the transoceanic telegraph cable between Ireland and Canada in 1866. Halpin was reputed to have been given an open cheque by the British government to build Tinakilly.