PROPERTY US billionaire pays cut price for N Ireland resort


Te five-star Lough Erne Resort in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland – which in 2013 hosted G8 leaders including Barack Obama – has been sold to a US businessman for what is believed to be a fraction of its £30m price tag. Chicago business man and former market


Te project has a proposed 2018 completion date


Warrington makes plans for £52m regeneration scheme


Warrington Borough Council has submit- ted plans in partnership with developer Muse for a £52m regeneration of retail and leisure offerings in the Bridge Street area. Te project proposes the creation of a


revitalised centre offering a family-friendly shopping, restaurant and leisure experience with a contemporary-style market hall at its heart. Te development will also spur the creation of a multiplex cinema and a new civic centre. Te plans have now been submitted for approval, with a decision expected to be made in December. If given the go-ahead, initial work is


slated to start on-site during January 2015, with an expected completion date of 2018. Te new market in the development is


to be built on the site of the area’s former Boots Building on Bridge Street, creating a street-front entrance feature for the Grade II listed brick façade of the building. Te Leach Rhodes Walker-designed plans then extend from Bridge Street and across the region’s existing Time Square development, encompassing the town centre’s existing market. Details: http://lei.sr?a=U9k6e


First phase of £100m South Shields revamp approved


Plans for the first phase of a £100m regen- eration project in South Shields have been given the green light by South Tyneside Council’s planning committee. Te 365 Master Plan project, drawn up


between Muse Developments and South Tyneside Council, will see the transfor- mation of South Shields town centre over a series of phases. Construction work can now begin on the first phase, which features the construction of a new FaulknerBrowns- designed Central Library and Digital Media Centre near Ferry Street on the Riverside, while improvements are also being made to the area’s adjoining Market Place. It is hoped that the building process will begin early next year. Details: http://lei.sr?a=7c4R4


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trader, Tony Saliba, is understood to have acquired the hotel for an estimated £8m, according to Te Belfast Telegraph. Te resort has been sold to Lough Shore


Road, a private hospitality company led by US-based investor Tralee Portfolio Management (TPM), which is an affiliate of the Saliba Family Office. Te new owner, TPM, and its operating partner Te Prairie Group, are now likely to upgrade the resort grounds and golf facilities as they aim to attract visitors both from the local area and internationally. Lough Erne Resort is TPM’s first hotel


acquisition on the emerald isle, having been exploring several other high-profile proper- ties since late last year. Te company is known


Te resort features a Nick Faldo-designed golf course


to have bid on Mount Juliet and is reported to be actively looking at Adare Manor in Limerick, according to Te Irish Times. The property opened in 2007 but was


subsequently placed into administration in 2011. Administrators Stuart Irwin and John Hansen of KPMG believe the deal will help safeguard the future of the resort. Details: http://lei.sr?a=A3x4H


Rank Group eyes Belfast casino proposal


Gaming giant Rank Group has pitched plans for a new mixed-use leisure develop- ment – including a casino – to Belfast City Council, but will require a reversal in Northern Ireland’s strict gaming laws if the scheme is to succeed. Proposals for an £18m


leisure and entertainment complex featuring a casino, bars, restaurants, cinema screens, bingo and bowling in Northern Ireland’s capi- tal were recently presented to Belfast City Council. Te authority has so far main- tained a poker face on its views of the project, although the country’s social development minister Nelson McCausland has laid his cards on the table, saying that he has no plans to legalise casinos in Northern Ireland. Dan Waugh, Rank Group’s strategic develop-


An artist’s impression of how the Belfast casino might look Te current law, which deems casinos illegal


ment adviser says any such proposals would rely on Belfast City Council’s agreement to seek a special dispensation from the Northern Ireland Assembly and additional planning laws allowing it to create its own gambling licence for a casino. “We want to determine whether or not there


is an appetite for a change in the Northern Ireland legislation which would eventually allow for a strictly regulated and monitored gaming operation to anchor a broader enter- tainment centre,” commented Waugh.


Read Leisure Opportunities online: www.leisureopportunities.co.uk/digital


in Northern Ireland, came into effect in 1985. Although plans are in the pipeline to over- haul gaming laws next year, it is believed that this legislation is specifically intended to focus on minimising the harmful effects of gaming. Northern Ireland is the only area of the


UK where casinos are not allowed, although betting shops and slot machines are permit- ted. Customers can currently stake up to £100 per spin on these games, while Waugh has moved to alleviate the societal con- cerns surrounding the casino by reportedly indicating that there would be a maximum stake of £5 on the casino games, includ- ing poker, roulette and gaming machines. Details: http://lei.sr?a=h4y9C


Twitter: @leisureopps © CYBERTREK 2014


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