Press Up Entertainment has Bought the Leasehold Interest in Dublin’s Clarence Hotel
Main Photo: The Clarence Hotel, Dublin; Photo credit Dave Meehan
Date: June 2019
Location: Temple Bar, Dublin, Ireland
Name: The Clarence Hotel
No. of Keys: 59 rooms and suites
Seller: Rock Stars Bono, the Edge and Paddy McKillen Senior.
Buyer: Press Up Entertainment,owned by Paddy McKillen Junior!and Matt Ryan.
The move gives Press Up control of a property it has been managing for several years, reports the Irish Times.
The move cements Press Up’s control of a group of central Dublin properties, including retail, restaurant and club spaces. Ultimate ownership of the Clarence remains in the hands of Bono, the Edge and Paddy McKillen snr.
Paddy McKillen jnr and Matt Ryan’s Press Up Entertainment Group has moved to expand its growing empire of hotels, restaurants and venues yet again with the addition of the four-star Clarence Hotel to its portfolio.
While Press Up had already been managing the hotel’s operations for the last number of years, its has now taken full control of the venue with the acquisition of its leasehold interest and business. Bono, the Edge and Paddy McKillen snr continue to retain ownership of the hotel building following the conclusion of the deal.
in seeking the maximise a return on their investment, Press Up has also lodged plans for an additional 54 bedrooms at the hotel, which currently has 59 bedrooms.
The new rooms are to be located on the second, third and fourth floors of the adjacent Dollard House, which is a protected structure.
The plan – designed by Cathal O’Neill and Co architects – will be seeking to change the offices to hotel use.
The application comes 11 years after Bono, The Edge and Paddy McKillen snr secured planning permission for a Norman Foster-designed €150 million redevelopment of the Clarence arranged around a dramatic atrium and topped by a flying saucer-style roof.
The plan was shelved in 2009 due to the recession and planning permission for the scheme expired in 2013.
A spokeswoman for the Press Up group said on Monday the application was being made now “as we are excited to further expand the business and have no reason to delay”.
The spokeswoman said that the fit-out for the new rooms would take one year to complete.
Press Up Entertainment’s decision to acquire the leasehold of the Clarence consolidates its position within Dublin city centre and on Wellington Quay particularly. Prior to the transaction, it already owned the adjoining Dollard & Co Food Hall & Deli, Roberta’s Restaurant, Tomahawk and The Workman’s Club.
Press Up is set to expand its operations even further this autumn with the planned opening of a new restaurant in Dublin’s Docklands.
With a location on the ground-floor level of the newly-developed Opus apartment building at 6 Hanover Quay, MacKenzies – as it will be known – will offer what Press Up describes as “premium casual” dining.
Quite apart from catering to a traditional customer base, the new 5,000sq ft restaurant will also be offering a dedicated inhouse delivery service to the residents of the Opus, both to their apartments and to the building’s private roof garden.
The opening of MacKenzies will bring the number of venues operated by the Press Up Entertainment Group in Dublin to 47.
Update: Mid-August….There are plans to open a further 15 hotels, restaurants, bars and a cinema this year and next.
Revenues for 2019 are expected to hit €80 million before eclipsing the €100 million mark by the end of 2021, according to Ryan. Press Up’s latest set of accounts shows that its revenues came close to €58 million in 2017.
The hotels in Dublin will be joined shortly by the Mayson, which is being developed by McKillen jnr and Ryan’s development company, Oakmount, next to the Central Bank of Ireland’s new headquarters and Ballymore’s one million square foot Dublin Landings office and apartment scheme at North Wall Quay in the Dublin docklands. The company is also progressing plans for two new Dean hotels, which will be located in Cork and Galway.
Press Up’s current bar and restaurant stable meanwhile includes: Americana, Angelina’s Bison Bar, Captain America’s, DIME, Dollard & Co, Elephant & Castle, Everleigh, The Grayson, The Liquor Rooms, The Stella Theatre, Stella Cocktail Club, Stella Diner, Peruke & Periwig, Tomahawk and The Workman’s Club.
Outside of its plans to expand the Dean brand across Ireland’s main cities, the company recently established a new office in London with a view to scope out the market for the possible opening of a Dean Hotel in the UK capital.
THPT Comment: Rock’n’Roll has truly entered the world of Hospitality!
First Seen: The Irish Times
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