30th May (Issue 98)

Welcome to the Origin Capital Weekly Irish Property Review. This update is designed to provide you with a full recap of the latest property news from the media over the last seven days.

 

 

LOAN / PORTFOLIO SALES

Cerberus Portfolio: The Sunday Business Post reports that Cabot Financial has purchased a c. €200m distressed loan portfolio from Cerberus at a price which reflects a substantial discount to the par value of the portfolio. The portfolio is believed to consist of impaired loans, which the paper cites as “tails and residuals”, which Cerberus acquired from Ulster Bank in the last few years. The majority of the loans are believed to be non-recourse. The Sunday Business Post, 28th May

 

RETAIL

Lidl Development: Lidl Ireland GmbH has sought planning permission from Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council for a c. €9.3m development on the site of the Shankill Shopping Centre on Corbawn Lane, Dublin 18. The development will extend to c. 40,000 sq. ft. and will include a café, medical centre and pharmacy. The Sunday Business Post, 28th May

Dublin 2 Development: Adelaide Real Estate Investment Plc has been granted planning permission for a c. 66,700 sq. ft. mixed use development at Chatham Court, Chatham Street, Dublin 2. The development will include commercial and residential space. The Sunday Business Post, 28th May

Stillorgan Mall: The agents Coldwell Banker Commercial has secured c. €2m for a mixed-use neighbourhood mall located on Lower Kilmacud Road and Slieve Rua Drive in Stillorgan, Co. Dublin. The 4,154 sq. ft. mall has a rent roll of c. €193k p.a., and its units include a two-bed apartment and a Spar retail unit. The Irish Times, 24th May

 

OFFICE

76 Lower Baggot Street: The Sunday Times reports that Credit Suisse will acquire the former Bord Na Móna HQ at 76 Lower Baggot Street in Dublin 2 for c. €40m. The acquisition will represent an investment rather than a potential base for Credit Suisse staff, as the property is already fully occupied and generating c. €2m p.a. in rental income. The current tenants include Fitbit, Storyful and investment groups DMS Governance and Sanne Group. The five-storey property was built in the 1970s but has since been completely refurbished. The Sunday Times, 28th May 

South Dublin Office Investments: Cushman & Wakefield is guiding €4.4m and €1.6m for two south Dublin office investments it is selling on behalf of Gannon Properties. Block 8 of Richview Office Park in Dublin 14 is being sold with a guide price of €4.4m, offering a net initial yield of c. 7.94%. The building extends to 10,780 sq. ft. and contains 32 parking spaces, and is let to Liberty Mortgage Corporation on a 25-year lease from July 2007 at a rent of c. €365k p.a. The second investment, Castle House in Rathfarnham, is being sold with a guide price in excess of €1.6m, offering a yield of c. 7.60%. There are more than eight years to run on the five tenancies, which generate an annual rent of c. €127k. The tenants in the 8,985 sq. ft. building include PTSB, Enigma Grill and Corporate Underwriting Ltd. The Irish Times, 24th May

33 Fitzwilliam Place: Colliers International is inviting offers of €2.65m for a Georgian property located at 33 Fitzwilliam Place in Dublin 2, a property which includes a rear mews at 33 Leeson Close. The main property, which extends to 4,824 sq. ft., is currently vacant and recently received an extensive refurbishment. The mews extends to 2,034 sq. ft. and is let under a 25-year lease which expires in 2021, at a rent of €25k p.a. The Irish Times, 24th May 

The Priory: Offers of €2.25m are being sought by QRE for The Priory, a distinctive redbrick office block near Christchurch in Dublin city centre. The 10,021 sq. ft. property, which dates back to 1878, is generating rental income of c. €195k p.a., offering a net initial yield of 8.25%. The current tenants include Each & Other Ltd, Adaptics Ltd and Silvercloud. The Irish Times, 24th May 

Spruce House: The OPW has received planning permission for a c. €11m, seven-storey, c. 81,000 sq. ft. office block on the site of Spruce House on Leeson Lane in Dublin 2. The Sunday Business Post, 28th May 

Lower Baggot Street: MKN has applied to Dublin City Council for permission to construct a new six-storey, 50,000 sq. ft. office building with a single storey basement on Lower Baggot Street in Dublin city centre. The project will involve the demolition of the current 15,000 sq. ft. building on the site, which is owned by Sean McKeon. NAMA Wine Lake, 28th May

 

HOTEL

Jurys Inn Group: The Irish Times reports that Lone Star has retained Credit Suisse and Eastdil to advise on its disposal options for the Jurys Inn hotel group and six Hilton hotels. The portfolio is reportedly valued at c. €1.15bn and includes six Irish hotels, including the Hilton Garden Inn at Customs Quay in Dublin. Lone Star acquired the Jurys Inn group for c. €900m in 2015. The paper cites a report by The Times in London which states that a sale of the portfolio is believed to be Lone Star’s preferred exit route, however an IPO has not been ruled out.  The Irish Times, 24th May 

Mount Wolseley Hotel: The Sunday Times reports that Austrian investor Tomas Roeggla has signed contracts to acquire the Mount Wolseley hotel, spa and golf resort in Co. Carlow for close to the €14.25m asking price. The 170-acre resort includes the 143-bedroom hotel, a golf course and 16 four-bed lodges. The sale will offer a significant return for the current owners, Tetrarch Capital, who purchased the resort out of examinership in 2014 for c. €7.5m. The resort, described as ‘highly profitable’ by selling agent CBRE, was offered for sale with no hotel group brand or management company, giving the buyer options to rebrand the property. Mr Roeggla has acquired several hotels in Ireland through his Strategic Capital Investment Fund, including the Clarion Hotel in Co. Limerick and the Radisson Farnham Resort in Co. Cavan. The Sunday Times, 28th May  

Tayto Park: Tayto Park has sought planning permission from Meath County Council to construct a c. €48m, 250-bedroom hotel on their grounds in Ashbourne, Co. Meath. The proposed seven-storey, c. 344,000 sq. ft. hotel will have accommodation facilities for up to 1,000 guests. Tayto Park had c. 765k visitors in 2016. The Irish Times, 25th May

Dublin 13 Hotel: Gannon Homes has received planning permission for a c. €28m, seven-storey, 209-bedroom hotel in Station Square, Clongriffin, Dublin 13. The hotel will include 20 apartments which can be used for short-term lettings and business use. The Sunday Business Post, 28th May 

Abbey Street Upper Hostel: Abbey Ltd has applied to Dublin City Council for permission to construct a 144-bedroom hostel on Abbey Street Upper in Dublin city centre. The plans involve the demolition of a 4,000 sq. ft. building on the site and the construction of a new nine-storey, 50,000 sq. ft. ‘tourism hostel’ on the site. NAMA Wine Lake, 28th May

 

RESIDENTIAL / LAND

Sandyford Sites: Aldgate Developments has been named as the acquirer of two high-profile sites in Sandyford, Co. Dublin. Aldgate has acquired the former FAAC Electronics site at the entrance to Sandyford Industrial Estate and the Innovation House site on nearby Arkle Road. Aldgate reportedly acquired the FAAC site last year for c. €2.35m an acre, a fraction of the €20m an acre the site sold for during the property bubble. The 1.66-acre Arkle Road site was on the market in 2016 with a guide price of over €6.5m, and Aldgate is understood to have paid close to that price. Arkle Road previously sold for c. €10.16m in 2000. The Irish Times, 24th May 

Sandyford Apartments Appeal: IRES REIT, the State’s biggest private landlord, has appealed Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council’s decision to refuse its application for the development of 467 apartments at Rockbrook in Sandyford to An Bord Pleanála. In its appeal, IRES REIT has argued that the project would help fulfil government policy in addressing the housing crisis and that it meets the conditions contained in the 2016-2022 Sandyford Urban Framework Plan. The company also contests the council’s assertion that the project would set an “undesirable precedent” for development in the area. The Irish Independent, 29th May

Dublin Apartment Developments: The Irish Times reports that the recently introduced cap on rental increases has impacted the sale of two Dublin apartment developments in different ways. A 52-apartment development known as Shelbourne Plaza in Silicon Docks has seen particularly strong offers from eight institutions, largely because the units are vacant and therefore not subject to the new rent restrictions. The development had been guiding €18.5m, however it is believed that the final sales price could range from €22m – €23m. In contrast, a second development of 105 individually let apartments at the Casino in Malahide has been withdrawn unsold, largely due to the limited scope for rental increases as a result of the new guidelines. The apartments will now be sold individually on a phased basis as they become available. The Irish Times, 24th May

Malahide Landbank: A well located landbank beside Malahide Village in north county Dublin is expected to generate considerable interest when it goes on the market with a guide price of €5.25m through estate agents Savills. The 75-acre site has extensive views over the Malahide Estuary and frontage on to the Swords Road, Estuary Road and the M1 motorway. The estate is currently held as agricultural land and is zoned as a “greenbelt”, although Savills advise that there may be potential to rezone it for housing, leisure, commercial or institutional uses. The land is located less than 10 minutes’ drive to Dublin Airport and is close to the suburbs of Malahide and Swords. The Irish Times, 24th May

Development Sites: Savills has brought three residential sites in Dublin and Wicklow to the market. The site with the highest guide price, at €2m, is in the centre of Enniskerry in Co. Wicklow. The Enniskerry site extends to 6.2-acres and is in an area designated “specific local objective 2” in the Enniskerry Local Area Plan 2016-2022. This designation allows for multiple zonings, such as open space, special residential and existing residential. The second site, which is guiding €1.5m, is in Rathmichael, south Dublin. This 3.9-acre site is in agricultural use but is zoned “A1 residential”. The third site, which is also guiding €1.5m, is at Church Lane in Greystones, Co. Wicklow. This site extends to 1.3-acres and has planning permission for four detached four-bed houses. The Irish Times, 24th May

2016 Mortgage Data: New figures from a Central Bank study show that first-time buyers (FTBs) borrowed c. 79% of the value of their property and c. 2.9x their income in 2016. The study found that there were 29,893 new mortgage loans with a value of c. €5.7bn issued in 2016. The figures show that the average loan drawn down was c. €186k, while the average property price was €250k. The average loan in 2016 was c. €173k, and the average house price was c. €235k. The average age of FTBs in 2016 was 34. The Irish Times, 26th May

 

OTHER

Personal Insolvency: New figures from the Insolvency Service of Ireland show that the number of people applying for a Personal Insolvency Arrangement (PIA) rose sharply in Q1 2017. The figures show that 1,114 homeowners applied for a PIA in Q1 2017, compared to 407 applications in Q1 2016. A total of 179 PIAs were agreed and implemented in Q1 2017. According to the head of the Insolvency Service, Lorcan O’Connor, where a mortgage write-off occurred, the average write-off was €93,338. PIAs allow the restructuring and write-off of mortgage and other debts up to €3m, and the PIA arrangement can last for up to six years.  The Irish Independent, 26th May 

Primary Healthcare Centre: British listed healthcare fund MedicX has paid c. €15.5m to acquire a new primary healthcare centre in Tallaght. The purchase represents the fourth investment in Ireland by MedicX, which has 157 primary healthcare centres throughout the UK and Ireland. The new centre will be let to a number of GPs, and will also provide space for the HSE and a pharmacy. The centre is being developed by refurbishing an existing office building, and is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2017. The pharmacy will be let on a 15-year lease, while other services will have 25-year leases. In both cases the leases will be subject to five-yearly rent reviews tied to the consumer price index. The Irish Times, 29th May 

Irish Commercial Property Market: According to the latest Cushman & Wakefield Investment Atlas, which monitors global property investment trends, Ireland’s commercial property market moved up from 19th to 13th place in the world, in terms of the amount of foreign investment it attracted in 2016. The improved ranking followed a 24.6% increase in the amount of investment to c. €5.68bn. However, as a country to invest in, Ireland is ranked only 35th based on a number of risk factors, which puts it in the bottom half of the 50 countries covered. Ireland was however ranked above the UK, which was ranked at 42. In terms of political stability, Ireland was ranked in 15th place, ahead of the UK at 26 and Germany at 23. The Irish Independent, 25th May

 


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