A giant German investment fund is poised to snap up Dublin's Gibson Hotel
Deka, which owns Cork’s Mahon Point shopping centre, intends to take over the building.
DEKA, A HUGE GERMAN investment fund, has made a bid to buy the leasehold of the Gibson Hotel in Dublin’s docklands.
The company recently notified the competition watchdog that DekaBank, a Deka subsidiary, intends to acquire a long leasehold for the property at which the Gibson Hotel is currently trading at the Point Square.
A leasehold gives the on a property gives the owner the right to use the land for a term of years, often 99 years. It differs from a freehold, which gives the holder outright ownership of a property.
The Gibson Hotel is currently controlled by receivers who were appointed to the property by state ‘bad bank’ Nama. The hotel interest is being sold by Savills on behalf of the receivers.
The property is fully let to Galsay Limited, a subsidiary of Ireland’s biggest indigenous hotel group, Dalata, under a 25-year lease that started in June 2010. DekaBank is part of Germany’s Deka group, which has total customer assets of around €220 billion.
Deka already owns several major assets in Ireland, including Cork’s Mahon Point Shopping Centre and the Whitewater Shopping Centre in Kildare.
In 2016 it also acquired the former Burlington in Dublin, which is now operated by Dalata under the Clayton brand. The Gibson was put up for sale with a guide price of €87 million at the end of August.
Harry Crosbie
Named after the famous Gibson guitar brand, the Gibson is a 4-star hotel comprising 252 bedrooms that is located just across from the 3 Arena in Dublin’s docklands.
It has recently gained prominence as the setting for RTÉ’s First Dates Ireland reality TV show.
Both the 3 Arena and the Gibson Hotel were built by Harry Crosbie, one of the most prominent developers in Ireland during the Celtic Tiger.
Crosbie led building on some of Ireland’s best-known venues, such as the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre and Vicar Street.
The Bord Gáis Energy Theatre
As previously examined by Fora, Crosbie then became more ambitious and looked to get a major project close to his heart, the Point Village, off the ground.
While much of the development was halted due to the recession, the Gibson was completed.
Crosbie’s loans were later transferred into Nama and in 2013 the state bad bank appointed receivers to many of Crosbie’s developments, including the Gibson.
The company operating the Gibson saw its revenues rise last year, increasing from just over €14 million to slightly more than €15 million.
