THE Four Corners Premier Inn hotel in Belfast’s Cathedral Quarter has been sold for £12.2 million.
The sale of the 171-bedroom hotel was disclosed in a new CBRE report analysing commercial property transactions in the north during the third quarter (Q3).
The former bank building on the corner of Waring Street and Donegall Street was redeveloped by Corner Blok Ltd, which collapsed into administration in 2011.
It was bought out of administration for £9m in 2013 by CBRE’s investment management arm CBRE Global Investors, which was last year rebranded as CBRE Investment Management.
CBRE said the hotel, which had not been listed for sale, was acquired in July by a private local investor.
A Premier Inn Hotel in Belfast’s Alfred Street remains on the market for £9.93m.
CBRE said £20m of commercial property deals were done in Q3, including the £7.1m sale of Imperial House on Donegall Square East, Belfast.
Around £180m worth of commercial investments were brought to market in Q3, according to CBRE's analysis.
The property firm said the take up of office space in Belfast in Q3 (99,505 sq ft) was below the rolling five year average, but approaching pre-Covid levels.
CBRE NI managing director Brian Lavery said the UK Government’s mini-budget negatively impacted commercial property in the third quarter by creating “huge uncertainty in the financial markets”.
“In Northern Ireland, we now have close to £200m of commercial investment stock on the market and the success or failure of these sales will determine the final quarter in terms of performance.”
He added: “The increase in interest rates and funding costs will invariably impact on yields. However, we do expect assets with good property fundamentals, including lease, tenant covenant and ESG credentials, to be impacted less in terms of value than most secondary assets.
“We also expect to see increased interest from international investors and potentially US outbound capital seeking to take advantage of the exchange rate arbitrage during the next quarter.”
CBRE said approximately 900,000 sq ft of industrial and logistics space had been let or sold across the north for the year to date, dominated by the new 460,000 sq ft Ardagh Metal Packaging can factory in Global Point Business Park, Newtownabbey, which secured planning approval in August.
