The HSE has purchased The Blarney Hotel & Golf Resort in Co. Cork and intends to transform it into a public residential care facility for older people.
It is understood by The Irish Times that the HSE has acquired the property on behalf of Cork Kerry Community Healthcare for approximately €3 million, and that the HSE will have to invest a significant sum of money to transform the property into a HIQA-compliant facility.
Estate Agents' Comments
The hotel's sale was handled jointly by John Hughes of commercial real estate services firm CBRE's hotel division and Donal Culloty of Coyne Culloty Killarney.
According to The Irish Times, while neither agent was prepared to comments on the price that was paid for the property, Hughes said that its sale highlights the "increasing demand for hotel properties for alternative use and a trend to conversion to healthcare use."
The Irish Times quotes Culloty as saying, "Given the high cost of construction in addition to the lengthy time factor to build a facility of this size, this sale presented an excellent opportunity to acquire a modern hotel which had been developed in 2004 as part of the Blarney Resort at a total cost of €25 million."
Unsuccessful Serdang Planning Permission Application
The property includes 61 bedrooms, 25 of which are suites, as well as 56 holiday cottages.
In September of 2020, Serdang Ltd applied to Cork City Council for planning permission to transform the property's 56 holiday cottages into residential properties. However, the planning permission application was not approved.
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