Rose set to seal Fels Point hotel deal within days

THE Rose of Tralee company are set to finalise the purchase of Fels Point Hotel in Tralee in the next week The Kerryman has learned.

The hotel, which has been the home of the festival since 2007, was placed on the market by NAMA last year.

Last November Rose of Tralee CEO Anthony O’Gara confirmed the festival company had secured backing to bid for the hotel.

The sale of the hotel, which was included in a portfolio of seven Irish hotels, is being handled by estate agents CBRE with several parties initially bidding for the property.

Following a second round of bidding in recent weeks the Rose of Tralee has now emerged as NAMA’s preferred bidder.

A source close to the deal said the Rose of Tralee company are in final negotiations with CBRE and the contract to purchase the hotel is expected to be signed within a week.

When the deal is finalised, as now appears almost certain, The Rose of Tralee will be in a position to move ahead with its long held plans to build a permanent ‘Rose Dome’ to house the pageant on the extensive empty site adjacent to the hotel.

This new permanent Dome would also be used to house a variety of other events, including conferences and concerts, throughout the year.

The Rose of Tralee said it is not in a position to comment on the Fels Point Deal or plans for the Dome at this stage.

However a source closely involved with the project confirmed to The Kerryman that when the sale is finalised work will immediately commence on the permanent Rose Dome.

It is hoped that the new Dome would be complete in time for next year’s festival in August 2017.

Hotel group Dalata have been managing the hotel on behalf of NAMA since May 2014 and it remains unclear if a similar arrangement will be made between the hotel chain and the Rose of Tralee.

Financial backing for the deal is coming from the father of the late Dott Henggeler, the Washington Rose in 2011, who passed away in 2014 following a long illness aged 27.

Miss Henggeler was buried in her mother Eibhlín’s native Killarney and her parents have always retained close ties with Kerry and the Rose of Tralee.

Her father Dick Henggeler is the founder and head of Maryland based communications technology firm Henggeler Computer Consultants which was sold to defence industry giant Raytheon in late 2011 for an undisclosed sum.

Founded in 1996 Henggeler Computer Consulting is one of the USA’s leading security software firms and it has several government contracts.