A UK hospitality group has purchased a popular Belfast bar and announced plans for a new city centre hotel.
Glendola Leisure and Carlton Hotel Collection, which operates 21 bars and restaurants in Britain, has acquired the Tipsy Bird and the adjacent Prince's Buildings on Ann Street for an undisclosed sum, with a view to opening a four-star boutique hotel and retail offering in the near future.
Glendola Leisure managing director, Alex Salussolia explained that they have been looking to enter the Belfast market for some time and believe the city has a "bright future" for hotels and food and beverage outlets.
"The Tipsy Bird and adjoining site is the perfect fit for our long-term development plans and we are really looking forward to our expansion into Belfast," he said.
Carlton Hotel Collection managing director, Alfred Bree believes Belfast presents a "really exciting opportunity" for the company.
"We are building a new design hotel in The Old Town of Edinburgh, which will be opening in May 2019. The Belfast development will be our next focus and we’re confident we will build a hotel of which the city can be proud," he said.
Formerly the home of nightclub, Mono, the Tipsy Bird opened in March 2017, after the site and adjacent Prince's Buildings was acquired by W & R Holdings Ltd in 2016.
Prince's Buildings was the former home of hardware firm, Jamison & Green for nearly a century before the business closed in 2015.
Barclays has supported the initial acquisition from Glendola, while Belfast-based O'Reilly Stewart Solicitors advised on the purchase.
Linus Murray, director at O’Reilly Stewart Solicitors added:
“We were delighted as one of the leading legal advisers to the hospitality trade to have assisted Glendola Leisure and The Carlton Hotel Collection on what is their first entry into the Northern Irish hospitality market. We wish them every success with this development and have no doubt that their exciting plans will only add further to Belfast’s growing hotel and leisure offering.”
Glendola Leisure and Carlton Hotel Collection is a privately owned hotel, bar and restaurant company set up in 1973 by Peter Salussolia. Glendola operates a number of businesses in London, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Manchester as well as the south coast of England while Carlton Hotel Collection has 10 properties in the Netherlands, Belgium and Scotland.
