Business

Armagh City Hotel placed on the market with £9m asking price

Well known Armagh venue set to change hands for the first time since 2002 opening

The Armagh City Hotel.
The Armagh City Hotel will go up for sale within weeks, The Irish News can reveal. (Google)
By Ryan McAleer

The Armagh City Hotel is being put up for sale, with its owners seeking offers in excess of £9 million.

The 101-bedroom venue includes a leisure centre and conference rooms on Friary Road.

The hotel’s owners have instructed CBRE Ireland to sell the asset.

Opened in early 2002, the Armagh City Hotel was originally developed by Felix Mooney, Kieran McAnallen, Brian McCormack and the late Bertie Fisher.

The venue and its 1,200-seater conference facilities quickly became a major hub for events in the city, hosting everything from galas and awards nights to weddings and party political conferences.

The hotel is also a major hospitality employer in Armagh City, with a workforce of around 175 people.

However the hotel has experienced a challenging period since the Covid-19 pandemic.

It lost its four star rating in the past number of years and last year suffered a pre-tax loss of £185,000.

The latest accounts for Armagh City Hotel Limited show it enjoyed a 6% uplift in revenue to £5.9 million for the year ending July 31 2023.

But the directors said rising costs and the “continued contraction of margins on food and beverage sales” hit the profits of their hospitality business.

The hotel shareholders, who are aged between 69 and 83, have now decided the time is right for new ownership.

It’s the latest well-known Ulster hotel to be placed in the market in recent times.

Roe Park hotel and golf resort in Co Derry went on the market last month for £14m, while the Slieve Russell in Co Cavan went up for sale in April with a £30m price tag.

The Londonderry Arms in Carnlough, The Lodge Hotel in Coleraine and the former Radisson Hotel in Belfast’s Gasworks estate, have all changed ownership in recent months.

The latter has been restyled as Voco Belfast by Irish hotel group iNua, which also owns the Hillgrove Hotel in Co Monaghan.

View of the hotel's reception area.
The Armagh City Hotel first opened in 2002.

Hotel industry insiders anticipate the sale of the Armagh City Hotel could spark the group’s new interest in the northern market.

Another major Irish hotel group has also entered the northern market in recent months.

The MHL Hotel Collection, which owns the Powerscourt Hotel in Wicklow as well as Dublin’s five star College Green and interContinental hotels, bought the former Park Inn Hotel in Belfast city centre in April.

The 145-bedroom venue on Clarence Street West is expected to open next year as a Moxy Hotel following a £7m refurbishment programme.