Scottish Mutual Building for sale again following George Best Hotel collapse

The Scottish Mutual Building in Belfast, which was due to be turned into The George Best Hotel, has been put back on the market.

It follows the desison in the High Court by Madam Justice McBride to grant an order for sale of the building with those who bought bedrooms off  plan set to lose up to £4m.

Commercial property agent Colliers has listed the landmark building in its ‘for sale’ section.

Just weeks ago a number of individual investors in the unfinished George Best Hotel project said they were fully behind its developer’s plans to purchase the building and complete the stalled project.

Reports said that property firm the Martin Property Group recently offered up to £4.5m to restart plans to open the George Best-themed hotel.

Bedford Hotel Limited, the company behind the Best hotel proposal, was placed into administration in 2020 with debts of around £12m, including £4.7m owed to a large number of “bedroom investors”.

Martin Property Group’s bid to acquire the debts was refused by the hotel company’s largest creditor, prompting the decision to allow administrators permission to sell

Colliers estate agency is acting on the instructions of Matthew Ingram and Michael Lennon of Kroll Advisory Ltd, the joint administrators of the hotel.

An advert for the property shows photos of the interior before refurbishment work ceased in 2019, and it is thought around 70% of the proposed refurbishment may have been completed.

“The works to date have mainly entailed the formation of bedrooms and en-suites in the upper floors and the amalgamation of the former ground floor shop units,” the listing states. Other information including key documents and a video walkthrough of the building is available on the website’s Data Room.