Hastings Group buys Windsor House
The Hastings Hotel Group, which already owns six hotels in Northern Ireland, has now acquired Windsor House in central Belfast for £6.5m with the intention of creating another city centre hotel.
It is one of the tallest buildings in Ireland at 22 storeys, dominating the Belfast City centre skyline since its construction was completed in 1974. It was last sold in 2006 as the burgeoning property boom began and at that time, it fetched £30m. It had been earmarked for apartments but these were never built. The Republic’s National Asset Management Agency took control of the building in 2012 after its previous owners, Lauderdale Properties, went into administration.
In a statement, directors of the Hastings Group said that planning permission for a hotel of “major city international quality” would be submitted within a few weeks. Award-winning Belfast Architects WDR & RT Taggarts have been engaged to develop the designs.
The hotel, when completed, will see the creation of 150 new jobs in the hospitality sector, added the directors.
“Its prime city centre location is ideally situated to meet the urgent demand that the hotel sector requires to satisfy the growing business activity and the increase in tourism prospects,” they added. “With our philosophy of continuous reinvestment, Hastings Hotels will also continue to extend, enhance and invest in its existing six Northern Ireland hotels and in the Merrion Hotel in Dublin.”
