Ireland: The Ascott Limited has bought the 136-unit Temple Bar Hotel in Dublin for for €55 million.
The property, the company’s first in Ireland, is located on Fleet Street, close to Dame Street – the main city centre thoroughfare – and near the Convention Centre Dublin, Central Bank of Ireland, Allied Irish Bank and Ulster Bank, and the International Financial Services Centre that houses more than 500 companies.
Lee Chee Koon, Ascott’s chief executive officer, said: “Europe is a key market for Ascott’s global expansion. Ireland’s pro-business environment has attracted some of the world’s biggest companies such as Google, Facebook, Microsoft and LinkedIn to establish their European headquarters in Dublin. Ireland is also used as a launch pad to the European Union by many US companies and the US is amongst Ascott’s top source markets globally. Ascott’s entry into Ireland will cater to these rising demands for accommodation by corporate and leisure travellers. The acquisition will boost Ascott’s EUR1.2 billion (over S$1.5 billion) portfolio in Europe and bring us closer to our target of 10,000 units in the region by 2020.”
Alfred Ong, Ascott’s managing director for Europe, said: “Ascott has built a strong presence in Europe as one of the region’s largest international serviced residence owner-operators. We look forward to bringing our signature hospitality to Ireland with a centrally located and quality accommodation in Dublin for our corporate and leisure guests. Acquiring an operating property in Dublin will give us a much faster time-to-market. The property has been achieving over 80 per cent occupancy in the last few months and we are confident that we will be able to add value to this prime asset. This acquisition brings Ascott’s portfolio in Europe to more than 5,400 units in 45 properties across 19 cities in Belgium, France, Georgia, Germany, Ireland, Spain and the United Kingdom.”
The deal for Ascott caps a year in which it achieved record growth with more than 10,000 apartment units added globally, and launched Lyf, a new brand designed for and managed by millennials, as part of plans to grow to 80,000-units globally by 2020.
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