The Mallaghan family and the Carton Development Partnership have confirmed they have reached consensual agreement with NAMA to put Carton House Resort on the market. As the ancestral home of the FitzGerald family, Earls of Kildare and Dukes of Leinster, Carton is one of Ireland’s most historically important stately homes.
Savills, and CBRE have been appointed as joint selling agents for the historic Carton House Hotel, Spa and Golf Resort. The 668 acre estate is being offered for sale by private treaty with a guide price of €60m.
The original Carton Demesne dates back to the 11th century, its centrepiece today is the 18th century Palladian mansion. Work began on the painstaking and detailed restoration of the manor house and estate in 1999. Carton House was subtly and sensitively transformed over 7 years, the restored house and modern hotel was opened in 2006.
Carton House itself is one of Ireland’s most historic buildings and dates from 1739. It was the country seat of the Dukes of Leinster whose Dublin residence, Leinster House, has been the seat of Dáil Eireann (the Irish Parliament) since the inception of the Irish State in 1922. Being one of Ireland’s most important houses, Carton hosted many important visitors to Ireland, including Queen Victoria who visited in 1849.
It contains two of the most important surviving eighteenth-century rooms in Ireland and Britain: the Gold Saloon created by the Lafranchini brothers and the Chinese Bedroom created by Emily, first Duchess of Leinster.
The Hotel
Carton House is only a 30 minute drive from Dublin city centre and Dublin Airport. The hotel provides 165 generously appointed bedrooms – including 18 suites located in the original house – all of which enjoy panoramic woodland and golf course views. The extensive food & beverage offering includes the Linden Tree Restaurant, the Kitchen Bar, Lobby Lounge , the Coach House and the Arch BBQ.
The Resort
The Resort offers an extensive range of meeting rooms, conference & banqueting facilities and is a popular and exclusive wedding venue, averaging 70 wedding receptions annually. The main ballroom can accommodate 350 guests. The luxury spa is located in an original stable block with 7 treatment rooms and an 18m pool.
The 668 acre property also features two 18-hole championship golf courses, designed by two time Major winner; Mark O’Meara and Ryder Cup Legend Colin Montgomerie. Carton House has already hosted many championships including the Irish Open on three occasions, most recently in 2013.
Carton House is the pre-eminent high performance sports training camp in Ireland, regularly used by the Irish national rugby team and most recently by the 2017 British & Irish Lions. The facility includes soccer, GAA and rugby training pitches developed to the highest specifications, which have been used in the past by such world famous clubs as Real Madrid and AC Milan as well as many UK based teams. Carton is also home to the Golfing Union of Ireland and the National Golf Academy.
The Resort is trading strongly with further growth forecast for the coming years. It is being sold as a going concern, free and clear of any management agreements. For its staff, suppliers and golf members it will be business as usual.
Irish Hotel Economy
Ireland has been the best performing economy in Europe for a number of years with robust GDP growth, significant employment gains and international visitors arriving in ever increasing numbers. The Irish hotel sector has been one of the prime beneficiaries of these healthy macroeconomic dynamics with Dublin outperforming the major European capital cities since 2013. Dublin hotel RevPAR was up 15.3% in 2016 and is forecast to grow by 6.7% in 2017. Irish luxury resort hotels also achieved impressive growth with RevPAR up 11% in 2016 and 10.5% in the five months to May 2017.
Conor Mallaghan, Carton House, said, “The Mallaghan Family are honoured to have had a 40 year association with Carton House and together with its Development Partners remain extremely proud of the standard of restoration achieved on this wonderful heritage property and estate. Carton’s future is now secure and it is very much part of the local community and an enduring and unique legacy for the Irish people. It is now time to pass its stewardship to a new owner whom I trust will continue with its recent revival and will appreciate this amazing place as much as we have.”
Tom Barrett, Head of Hotels & Leisure at Savills commented: “Carton House is the premier Irish Resort. The magnificent Palladian House has a rich history and combined with its more recent hotel development, will appeal to a wide pool of leading domestic and international buyers.”
Dave Murray, CBRE Hotels said: “Carton House represents a once in a generation opportunity to acquire an upscale resort comparable to the best Europe has to offer. While Carton House has robust and diverse revenues from leisure, corporate and wedding business, it has fostered an excellent profile from hosting international sporting events such as the Irish Open along with hosting international sporting teams – most notably the Irish Senior International Rugby Team, the British and Irish Lions and Real Madrid CF.”
Carton House Hotel, Spa & Golf Resort www.cartonhouse.com
For further information please contact: Dave Murray, CBRE +353 1 618 5583 or Tom Barrett, Savills +353 1 618 1415