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Belfast's landmark entertainment venue The Odyssey Pavilion is up for sale with a £10 million price tag.
Agents Savills have been appointed to sell the leasehold of the leisure complex, which is home to 15 units including The Box nightclub, restaurants, cafes, a 12-screen cinema and a defunct IMAX cinema.
The Odyssey was built on the former coalyard of Belfast Harbour as a millennium project for the city, and split into the Pavilion and Odyssey Arena.
Its ultimate owner is Belfast Harbour and the head lessee is Odyssey Trust Company. Neither the Arena nor W5 Science Centre are included in the sale.
Savills described the Pavilion as “a gateway to the ever expanding Titanic Quarter which now hosts the Titanic Belfast signature tourism attraction, the Paintworks Film Studio, Belfast Metropolitan College, Premier Inn, the Public Records Office (NI) and the Northern Ireland Science Park”.
Three businesses in the Pavilion — Ladbury Enterprises, the owner of a Pizza Hut, and Capital House 1 and 11, which run Odyssey Bowl and Soda Joe’s — are in administration. There are another three vacant units.
Savills director Ben Turtle said: “Our aim is to try and achieve the best price possible.
“One of the key things is get the best partner for stakeholders the Odyssey Trust and Belfast Harbour. It’s in everyone’s best interests to get a partner who knows what they are doing.
“This is an excellent property, a destination and landmark leisure venue in Northern Ireland.”
He denied suggestions that the scheme was failing, but said: “It’s not working to its full potential.”
He said a new owner was likely to increase its appeal as a family destination, adding: “We see it as complementing Titanic Belfast.”
Other agents agreed the Pavilion would benefit from an overhaul. Brian Lavery, managing director of agents CBRE in Belfast, said: “It needs a complete change of direction and to become a family attraction again.
“It has the benefit of a riverside location and needs some work to make it more appealing.”
Stephen Deyermond of commercial property agents TDK said: “It’s a fantastic location and a fantastic opporunity but the only problem is with the costs and the legacy issues of empty space.”
The Pavilion was owned by Sheridan Millennium, headed by developer Peter Curistan.
Mr Curistan lost control of the Pavilion after administrators KPMG were appointed to run the business by his lender Anglo Irish Bank over debts of £71m in 2010.
The leasehold interests in the Pavilion — and a separate lease for the IMAX — were assigned to Odyssey Pavilion LLP, now run by administrators KPMG.
Background
While the Odyssey Arena attracts major artists and events — comedians Michael McIntyre and John Bishop, popstar Cheryl Cole and singing legend Lionel Richie, are playing there this winter — adjacent venue the Odyssey Pavilion has failed to consistently pull a big-spending demographic. It is now predominantly known as a party venue for young people attending its nightclubs, The Box and Beach Club. The latter is hosting a Shorts and Shades Foam Party tonight — the sort of event which may not sit well with boosting its appeal for families.
