Group plans €40m Interstate hotel

McCabe Builders and developer Paddy Kelly are investing €40 million in a hotel that will be the first in the country to operate under the Interstate brand.

The new, four-star 148-bedroom hotel in Ashbourne, Co Meath is set to open its doors in early 2007 under the US-based Interstate Hotel and Resort Group flag.

Its backers are McCabe Builders, the construction group owned by developer John McCabe, well-known property investor Paddy Kelly, who is behind the Clarion Hotel group, and his associate John Walsh.

The actual cost of the development has not been revealed, but The Irish Times understands that the figure is in the region of €40 million.

It will be Interstate Hotel's first venture in the Irish market. The company already operates 230 properties around the world, which generate revenues in the region of $2.5 billion (€1.94 billion).

Seán Worker, Interstate's chief executive, told The Irish Times yesterday that the company was keen to build a presence in this country, as it was a "particularly strong market".

The hotel will be aimed at a mix of the corporate and leisure markets and will include function rooms and a fitness club, which will be open to the public.

Mr Worker, who is originally from Galway, said its location was particularly good. "We're on the north-south corridor; we're close to the upgraded N2/M2 and 15 minutes from Dublin Airport," he said. He added that the business would be very much "self generating".

John McCabe junior said the development was designed to exploit a gap in the market on the north-south corridor, as there was a lack of four-star hotels on this route.

The McCabe group is controlled by John McCabe. It is based in Ashbourne and consists of two companies: McCabe's Builders Ltd and McCabe's Builders (Dublin) Ltd.

It is working on a number of contracts, including a substantial public-private partnership apartment development with Dublin City Council near Finglas. Under its terms, it will hand over 150 units for social and affordable housing.

It has also worked on a number of inner city projects for the local authority. The business began in the 1970s and has done work in this country and in New York.

The developers approached Interstate to manage its new property through Mr Kelly.