Controversial landlord owns range of properties bought with funding from Luxembourg

A landlord who evicted tenants from an apartment block in Dublin last year, telling them he intended to sell the property but then advertised the apartments on Airbnb, has made a series of property investments in the State over the past decade using finance from Luxembourg.

Marc Godart (34), a native of Luxembourg, has been a director of a company called Green Label Property Investments Ltd since it was incorporated in 2014. The other director of the company is Denise Godart (63), also from Luxembourg.

Last month Dublin City Council issued an enforcement order against the short-term letting of Reuben House, Reuben Street, Dublin 8, which was advertised on Airbnb. In March a company of which Mr Godart is a director, Reuben Street Hot Desks Ltd, applied to the council for a change of use for Reuben House to an aparthotel.

[ ‘It is frustrating to see my room on Airbnb’: evicted tenants tell of landlord’s move to short lets ]

Mr Godart is a director of 56 Irish companies, according to Companies House records, and a search of Land Registry files shows that the companies have made a number of investments over the past decade. In recent months he has incorporated a number of companies that describe their main business activity as “holiday and other short-stay accommodation”.

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The latest filed accounts for Green Label Property Investments are for 2022 and show it had property worth €2.7 million at the end of that year.

The company, which describes itself as a cross-border property investment business, is owned by Hesper SA, of Luxembourg, but is ultimately controlled by Mr Godart, according to the accounts.

Filings in Luxembourg show that Hesper SA had assets of €4.29 million at the end of 2021, during which year it recorded a loss of €44,465.

The Green Label accounts for 2022 state that the company had recently purchased The Foundry, St Judes, Railway Street/Beaver Street, Dublin 1. The property was purchased with funding from Hesper SA, according to the accounts. There are no mortgages registered against Green Label Property Investments for the Railway Street or any other properties.

Green Label recorded a loss of €93,000 during 2022 and added €504,000 to the value of its investment properties, according to the accounts. It had no employees and paid director’s remuneration of €298,410 to Mr Godart.

Land Registry files show that in November 2014 Mr Godart became the owner of a number of properties and car parking spaces in Block A, Reuben Square, Reuben Street, Dublin 8. Four months later the properties transferred to the ownership of Green Label Property Investments Ltd.

In January 2015 Green Label was registered as the owner of a number of retail outlets at Barley House, Cork Street, Dublin 8. Four years later another company of which Mr Godart is a director, Barley House Retail Units 2-4 Ltd, was registered as having an interest in the same properties.

Barley House Retail Units is also owned by Hesper SA and it had investments worth €164,500 at the end of 2021, according to its latest filed accounts.

A company called Merrion Road Real Estate Holdings Ltd, of Reuben House, Dublin 8, has been the owner of land in Mangan, Gorey, Co Wexford, since June 2019. The company is involved in property development, according to its latest accounts, and had land, buildings and work in progress valued at €791,000 at the end of 2020. It is owned by Hesper SA and had debts to related companies of slightly more than the value of its assets at year’s end.

In December 2015 Green Label became the owner of 53 Sarsfield Road, Dublin 10, the address of Cleary’s public house. In April 2017 it became the owner of two apartments on Main Street, Borrisokane, Co Tipperary. In November 2017 it became the owner of property at Daleview Road, Ballybrack, Co Dublin, Land Registry files show.

Mr Godart is a director of a company called Horsehill Beg Holdings Ltd, which was incorporated in 2017 and had fixed assets valued at €119,666 at the end of 2021. Described as being involved in “cross-border real estate investment”, the 2021 accounts show it had loans of €148,042 from its owner, Hesper SA, at year’s end, and was considering offers it had received for the sale of land.

Another company of which Mr Godart is a director, Cashel Lettings Ltd, of Reuben House, has been the owner of a property on Main Street, Cashel, Co Tipperary, since August 2016, according to the Land Registry. The latest accounts for Cashel Lettings are for 2020 and show it had investment property worth €267,522. The company owed €236,000 to a “connected party” called Green Label Finance Corp Ltd, according to the accounts. Green Label Finance Corp is not registered in Ireland or Luxembourg. Cashel Lettings is owned by Hesper SA.

Reuben Street Hot Desks Ltd, which submitted the planning application for the change of use of Reuben House to a 16-bed aparthotel to Dublin City Council, is owned by a company in Luxembourg called Itzig Sarl. Filings in Luxembourg show it had assets of €619,000 at the end of 2021, during which year it recorded a profit of €64,998.

Mr Godart is also a director of a company called Green Label Short Lets Ltd, which is described in company filings as being involved in the management of real estate. The company produced a profit of €21,434 in 2021, according to its latest accounts, and paid a dividend of €48,000. The company is owned by Hester SA.

The records of the Residential Tenancies Board show that Green Label Short Lets has been the subject of a number of disputes with tenants, as has Mr Godart, with Mr Godart having been both the complainant and the respondent in the various disputes. Among the properties mentioned in the records are a property on Emmet Street, North Circular Road, Dublin 1, Reuben House, Innisfallen Parade, Dublin 7, and Chapel Hill, Innishannon, Cork.

[ Landlord advertising apartments on Airbnb after he evicted tenants and said he was selling up ]

[ What happened when 45 tenants were evicted so their homes could be Airbnb holiday lets? ]

Mr Godart owns half of Itzig’s shares, with the rest held equally by Rene Godart and Denise Wester. Itzig has its registered address on Rue De Hesperagne, Alzingen, Luxembourg, an address usually given by Mr Godart in his company filings in Dublin.

Other Irish companies with which Mr Godart is a director include Sarsfield Guesthouse Ltd, of 53 Sarsfield Road, Dublin 10, which was incorporated in June 2019 and is owned by Itzig Sarl. It had assets of €1 at the end of 2021, according to its latest accounts.

A company called Mobile Homes Phoenix Park Ltd, with an address at 53 Sarsfield Road, Dublin 10, is also owned by Itzig Sarl. It describes its main business as “camping grounds, recreational vehicle parks and trailer parks” and was incorporated in November 2019. It is not clear if it has commenced trading.

Over the past three months Mr Godart has been associated with the incorporation of a number of companies that describe their principal business activity as “holiday and other short-stay accommodation”.

These include Capel Grand Inn Ltd, of 11 Capel Street, Dublin 1; Kish Land Ltd, of Unit 2, Block G, the Foundry, Beaver Street, Dublin 1; Knockaphuca Ltd, of Reuben House, Dublin 8, and Derrynaflaw Ltd, of 53 Sarsfield Road, Dublin 10. All are owned by Itzig Sarl of Luxembourg.