£4.5m quoted for Leeson Street houses

The Fitzpatrick Hotel Group is to sell five adjoining Georgian houses at Lower Leeson Street, Dublin 2, following its failure to secure planning permission to extend and convert them for use as a 140 bedroom hotel. Agents Druker Fanning and Partners are quoting a guide price of £4.5 million for numbers 48 to 52 Leeson Street, which are to be offered for sale by tender on December 10th. The property also includes a large site at the rear fronting on to Adelaide Road. The sale is likely to be of interest to a wide range of users because of the highprofile location of the houses and the scarcity of development opportunities.

Mr Paul Fitzpatrick, managing director of the Fitzpatrick Hotel group, said it had planned to open a four-star de luxe hotel on the site with 140 large bedrooms, five suites, a leisure centre with 18-metre-long swimming-pool, restaurant and bars. Because it could not proceed with the entire complex, the group had now decided to move on and look elsewhere in the city centre. It seems prudent to sell the Leeson Street property in the present buoyant market.

Neil Love of Druker Fanning said the planners may allow a smaller-scale hotel to go ahead.

The five Georgian houses have more than 25,000 square feet of floor space and surface car-parking for 70 cars. "While some refurbishment is required, the real value will be unlocked by the redevelopment potential of the sites at the rear."

The houses are also likely to be considered for an office scheme including a corporate headquarters and an apartment development. Apart from the strong office letting sector, rents in the Georgian market have gone through the roof in the past year, rising by over 33 per cent. The demand for large apartments in the city has also been particularly strong over the past few years. A large proportion of them have been bought by investors and, according to agents specialising in this end of the market, there is still a considerable number of people looking to buy.

The Leeson Street buildings could be converted into top-class apartments and there is also scope to develop further units along Adelaide Road.

Fitzpatricks paid £3.8 million for the five buildings in April, 1996. Three of them formerly occupied by Ansbacher Bank are to be sold in one lot and the other two, Numbers 48 and 49, will be sold separately.