Sale of historic Mayo hotel property not going ahead

THE proposed sale of the former Imperial Hotel in Castlebar is not going ahead.

The prospective buyers have decided not to progress their acquisition of the property from Mayo County Council.

An offer was received from a leading boutique hotel chain for the building, which it intended to renovate in a major investment, at the end of last summer.

Local councillors have been informed that over the intervening period, discussions were undertaken, the property was valued and heads of agreement for the sale of the property were drafted between the prospective purchasers and Mayo County Council.

However, the local authority has now been informed by the prospective purchasers that due to other current and pipeline projects being pursued by them, they have taken the decision not to progress the acquisition of the property.

Members were told that the council had continued to pursue the original proposal for the building as part of the overall URDF project for Castlebar and the property is included in the work underway to complete the final business case (Decision Gate 2 Submission) for submission to the department.

The council will now continue with that approach and proposal and expect that approval to proceed with the project as originally envisaged will be attained in the coming months.

Councillor Cyril Burke today described the decision by the hotel chain as 'disappointing'.

He commented: “It is very disappointing news that the proposed hotel is not proceeding but all is not lost in the overall project.”

Councillor Ger Deere, commenting on what he described as 'another setback in getting this historical building back into use', said: “When we were first informed of the potential sale to a hotel group I had suggested that the adjacent motor tax office be included in the sale to make it more economically attractive to those interested in purchasing it for a hotel. And this latest information we received today confirms that.

“If council want to continue the possibility of securing a buyer from the hospitality sector they need to consider the motor tax office as part of the sale. If not, it needs to brought back in to some use urgently as it is an embarrassment after the council purchased it nearly 15 years ago to let such a historical building in a prime location to fall into such dereliction.”