Fits the bill at €1.5m

One of Munster’s largest stand-alone sports facilities, the Sources Health & Fitness Centre in Cork’s Tivoli is back for sale, now guiding €1.5million via Lisney, for a sizeable complex.

The privately-owned centre above the Silversprings Hotel was last offered for sale back in 2007, with a €5m price guide then quoted.

Developed around the 1980s as a facilities centre for the 1960s-built Silversprings Hotel, it was bought separately to the hotel which was sold by the Fitzpatrick family to the Moran family, owners of the Red Cow Inn in Dublin, and the leisure complex is also understood to be owned by Dublin investors.

Location is three kilometres east of Cork city centre, on a 2.6 acre walled site by the Silversprings Moran Hotel, with an amount of residential development also undertaken in the hotel’s former hillside grounds (for a time, a non-GUI operated golf course) by builders O’Brien and O’Flynn.

Reckoned to be one of the region’s biggest leisure centres, it includes a detached 48,000 sq ft two storey/part three storey purpose-built fitness and leisure centre with 25m swimming pool, gym, sauna, steam room, Jacuzzi, crèche, two squash courts, two indoor tennis courts, aerobics studio, beauty salon, café and outdoor tennis court.

There’s parking for 120 cars.

There are currently in the region of 2,450 members. Back in 2007 when put for sale, the membership was reported to be 4,000, and it included a restaurant with bar, so it would appear that gym membership, like golf club membership, was a casualty of recessionary belt-tightening. The centre has been popular down the years with members of GAA and other sports clubs, both on a team and individual basis.

Among those who may have an interest could be the Silversprings hotel — whose guests can use the facilities under agreement terms with the leisure centre owners - and other local and national gym operators, such as Ben Dunne.

This time last year, a former sports grounds (ESB social club) sold with 14,000 sq ft of facilities on seven acres at Curraheen, for circa €1 million. It was pitched at sports clubs and groups, and was bought by Enable Ireland, which is based in suburban Ballintemple.

Agent Edward Hanafin of Lisney seeks offers by best bids, in writing, by May 29 for the Tivoli set-up, indicating a €1.5 million guide.

* Details: Lisney 021-4275079.