Big setback as investors withdraw from historic Mayo hotel renovation plan

Mayo County Council has received confirmation that the nominated purchasers of the historic Imperial Hotel in Castlebar have withdrawn from their investment.

The authority passed a Section 183 resolution last December for the sale of the hotel - and potentially the adjoining Glenpark building on the Mall.

But the investors, PJ Staid and J. Egan, who own the Cill Aodáin Hotel in Kiltimagh and the Gateway Hotel in Swinford, have decided not to proceed with the purchase of the property for a sum understood to be €700,000.

No reasons have yet been given for this decision.

A spokesperson for the council stated: "We are very disappointed that this venture did not come to fruition.

"Whilst we still believe that a hotel at this location would be the best use of this historic building, we must be cognisant that expressions of interest were sought on two separate occasions for this building and examined for the re-development of this property.

"We do not believe that a third exercise to seek expressions of interest would be any more successful and would further prolong the time period for the redevelopment of the property.

"We now propose to immediately revert to the original proposal as approved under the urban regeneration and development fund (URDF) project for Castlebar which is the redevelopment of the building for use as an Innovation Centre.

"The Castlebar Municipal District team will now prioritise work needed to procure the sub-consultants to progress the preparation of the necessary drawings and documents which will form the basis of the tender package for the project."

Councillor Michael Kilcoyne has called for an emergency meeting of Castlebar Municipal District to discuss what he described as 'a disaster' for the county town.