Company `has no funds' to complete Dublin hotel

The development company building the Four Seasons Hotel in Ballsbridge, Dublin has no funds to complete the project, according to accounts filed by the company two weeks ago.

The project's £51 million budget has been "significantly exceeded" and "substantial additional funds" are needed to finish the hotel.

However, notes to the accounts state that the directors expect the funds needed to finish the hotel "will be made available, that the project will be completed and that the company will be in a position to pay its creditors as they fall due".

"The project bankers and other related parties have appointed independent consultants to carry out a review of the project to establish the overall cost of its completion.".

The report was due to be completed one week ago today, according to the notes. It could not be established last night if the report had been completed or what the current situation was regarding the development.

Simmonscourt Holdings Ltd, the company behind the development, was listed for strike off by the Companies Office before it filed its accounts. It has now been taken off the list.

Mr Sean Dillon, a Dublin based director of Simmonscourt Holdings, said there had been "significant delays in construction completion" but that the building was "98 per cent complete".

He referred further inquiries to Mr Robert Radovan, a director of the company based in the USA. However, Mr Radovan was not available for comment.

The main bank involved in the project is ACC Bank. The new five star hotel "was to be completed by February 2000 but due to delays and other factors, the project has not been completed", according to the notes to the accounts.

"To date the project has significantly exceeded the targeted budget of £51 million and it is expected that it will require substantial additional funds to complete. The company at present has no funds to complete the project."

The principal building contract for the hotel amounts to approximately £37 million, according to the notes. The principal contractors are G&T Crampton. A spokesman for the company said he did not wish to comment.

A registered charge in the Companies Office shows ACC gave Simmonscourt a facility of £3 million in March 1998 and that the bank had earlier made a facility of £50 million available to Harvard Properties Ltd, another company associated with the development. The directors of Harvard are accountant Mr Dan McGing, former chairman ACC Bank and the Irish Press, and a Mr Barry Kenny, a financial adviser. Harvard also has a charge over Simmonscourt. The company has a "pre-opening services agreement" with Four Seasons Hotels Ltd and "the Nollaig Partnership", according to the accounts.

The developers are understood to have pre-sold the hotel to a group of ten Irish investors who have an agreement with the Four Seasons group, which will run the hotel.

Mr Derek Quinlan, a businessman who put the consortium together, could not be contacted last night. The identity of the investors has not been revealed. Significant tax benefits are to accrue to the investors as part of the deal.

Mr John Brennan, the hotel manager, said no opening date has yet been set for the hotel. Bookings have been taken for next year. Bookings taken earlier for this year were subsequently cancelled. "We notified customers and worked with them to find alternatives to satisfy their needs."

He said the hotel is monitoring the situation on an ongoing basis, evaluating whether bookings taken can be accommodated.

The five star hotel is to have 259 rooms, including 67 suites. The smallest room available will be 42 square metres, "as big as some of the apartments being built around here these days" he said. The hotel will also have conference and banqueting facilities.

"We are disappointed and as you can imagine a bit frustrated by the delays but we are not in control as it is in the hands of the developer," Mr Brennan said. The delays "has caused significant inconvenience to both our employees and our customers."