Stokes brothers’ former city centre bar back on the market

Another Dublin city bar bought at the peak of the property boom for €7 million is back on the market at more than €1.6 million.

John Ryan of CBRE is seeking a buyer for the high-profile Clarendon Inn at Clarendon Street, close to Grafton Street, which is to be sold on the instructions of receiver Declan Taite of Duff & Phelps.

The bar was originally bought in 2002 for €2.7 million by Christian and Simon Stokes who went on to demolish it and replace it with a four-storey over-basement building.

The brothers then sold the investment to developer Bernard McNamara for €7 million and leased back the premises around 2006 at a rent of €400,000 per annum.

Both McNamara and the Stokes later ran into financial difficulties – McNamara was one of the biggest players in the property market with debts of €2.7 billion when it crashed in 2008; the Stokes brothers later had their Bang cafe restaurant wound up with debts of €2.4 million.

Now that much of the financial turbulence has abated, CBRE is confident of finding a buyer for the Clarendon Inn which occupies a pivotal corner trading position at the junction of Clarendon Street and Chatham Street, halfway between Grafton Street and South George’s Street in an area once dominated by the rag trade and now best known for its bars, restaurants and speciality shops.

The purpose-built licensed premises has an overall floor area of 378sq m (4,068sq ft) including a ground-floor lounge bar with an outside seating area.

The first floor also has a lounge and customer toilets; the second level has a catering kitchen while the top floor has a function room with outstanding views over much of the city centre.

The basement is used as a cellar and cold room.

John Ryan says that while he expects considerable interest in the Clarendon Inn from publicans, the building could well be put to alternative retail purposes.