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Kennedy Wilson Turned Near $100-Million Profit on Dublin Shelbourne Sale

SEC Filings Revealed Lower Year-on-Year Occupancy in Last Quarter Before Sale

Kennedy Wilson Holdings netted a nearly $100-million profit on its sale earlier this year of The Shelbourne Hotel in Dublin. (Bloomberg/Getty Images)
Kennedy Wilson Holdings netted a nearly $100-million profit on its sale earlier this year of The Shelbourne Hotel in Dublin. (Bloomberg/Getty Images)

According to a May 9 filing with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission, Beverly Hills-based Kennedy Wilson Holdings made a profit of $99.1 million on its sale of Dublin's 265-room Shelbourne Hotel earlier this year. The hotel is part of Marriott International’s Autograph Collection.

The California firm sold the hotel, which first opened in 1824, to London- and Amsterdam-based Archer Hotel Capital in January for $285 million, or approximately $1 million per room, according to CoStar data. Kennedy Wilson bought the hotel in August 2014 for $149 million, or $563,000 per room, according to CoStar.

At the time Kennedy Wilson announced the sale, the company did not disclose the purchase price, but this latest SEC filing shows that during the three months ending March 31, the company "recognized gains on sale of real estate, net of $106.4 million. These gains were primarily due to the company's sale of the Shelbourne hotel ... resulting in a gain of $99.1 million."

At the time of the sale, Dominic Seyrling, Archer’s co-CEO said, “this acquisition aligns perfectly with our commitment to investing in exceptional assets with enduring value. Archer is dedicated to preserving the Shelbourne Hotel’s legacy while enhancing its offering."

Archer owns 14 hotels and 4,195 rooms in eight European cities. One is the 192-room Conrad Dublin, which it bought in 2019.

Kennedy Wilson revealed that its revenue from its owned hotels decreased 12.3% in the first quarter of 2024 in year-on-year terms, from $10.6 million to $9.3 million, “primarily due to lower occupancy and decreased food-and-beverage revenue [and] also due to lower occupancy at the Shelbourne Hotel during the three months.”

On the other side of the equation, hotel-related expenses in the same period fell, again, the firm said, because of its exit of the Shelbourne.

“Hotel expenses decreased to $7.6 million … as compared to $7.9 million … primarily due to decreased level of activity at the Shelbourne Hotel during 2024,” the SEC filing added.

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