10th February (Issue 531)
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.
RETAIL
Churchtown, Dublin 14 Nutgrove Shopping Centre, which was developed in the early 1980s at a cost of IR£12m, is expected to guide approx. €30m when it is brought to the market by Savills. Nutgrove Shopping Centre extends to a total area of 228,593 sq. ft distributed across 80 units, along with an 825-space surface car park. Although not all of the centre units will be included in the sale as they are owned by their occupiers, the centre’s current rent roll is understood to be about €2.8m. The scheme serves a wide and relatively affluent catchment area that takes in Churchtown, Rathfarnham and Terenure, and is anchored by several large retailers including Dunnes Stores, Tesco and Penneys. Other key occupiers include Omniplex (five-screen cinema), Boots and Carrig Donn. Nutgrove Shopping Centre has also been home since 1984 to McDonald’s first drive-through restaurant in Europe. The development is managed by Lanthorn. The Irish Times, 4th February
Dundrum, Dublin 14 Hammerson has announced a spate of new openings and investments at Dundrum Town Centre. The London-listed property investment firm said M&S has extended its lease and is undertaking a multimillion-euro transformation of its store, set to relaunch in the summer. Zara has also made a major investment in Dundrum Town Centre to expand its store size by 43% to 37,700 sq. ft. The new, upgraded store is expected to be completed by late autumn. Other than the headline investments from M&S and Zara, Hammerson said Irish skincare brand Pestle & Mortar is set to open its first-ever shopping centre location in early 2026. British lifestyle brand Crew Clothing will also open its first shopping centre store in Ireland in the first quarter of 2026, with a 1,933 sq. ft unit, while luxury jewellery and accessories brand Swarovski is set to launch a new 1,443 sq. ft store. On the food front, Vice Pizza will open a new 1,884 sq. ft restaurant in Pembroke District in January and salad bar Sprout & Co is set to open a new 1,132 sq. ft outlet. The Business Post, 4th February
Flagship Stores Apple, Uniqlo, Sephora and other major international brands have struggled to open flagship stores due to a lack of suitable properties on Dublin’s high streets, finding the units either too small or unsuitable in design for flagship venues. The Business Post understands Uniqlo, one of the world’s biggest clothing retailers, and Sephora, the major beauty chain owned by LVMH, are actively searching for space in Dublin but have faced difficulty finding suitable locations. Nike, Adidas, Zara Home, Abercrombie & Fitch, Michael Kors, Guess, Sandro, Coach and Hollister have also not opted to take vacant spaces on the market as they don’t meet their requirements. The recent proposal for St. Stephens Green shopping centre included a reconfiguration of the ground floor to create medium-size units which are in short supply but are needed to attract higher profile retailers. Bannon said in the planning application the units desired by these brands are typically in excess of 37,500 sq. ft and are difficult to create on Grafton Street given the large number of protected structures and buildings of architectural and historic merit. Bannon said the South King Street side currently has “dead frontage” that would be replaced with restaurant units that would open onto the street. Last year, research by CBRE indicated growing demand for retail space on Dublin’s high streets, with vacancy down from “double-digit highs”. Between the second quarter of 2023 and the final months of last year, the vacancy rate on Henry Street fell from 11.9% to 6.4%. In the second quarter of this year, the vacancy rate on Grafton Street declined at a faster rate, down 8.8%, to 4.4%. The Business Post, 7th February
Nationwide The High Court has appointed Interpath as liquidators to the companies which operate the EuroGiant chain. The discount retailer has 77 stores across the country, employing around 640 staff, which are now under threat. EuroGeneral Limited and Bushgrove Limited, which trade as EuroGiant, have blamed rising costs for the decision. EuroGiant stores will remain open and continue trading as normal while a full review of the store network is carried out. EuroGiant was established as a single store on Moore Street in Dublin in 1990. It later expanded nationwide, with a presence in over 20 counties. Rte.ie, 5th February
Patrick Street, Cork City Details of Irish clothing retail giant Penneys revised expansion plans for its Cork city centre store are revealed in a new planning application which proposes a 6,000 sq. ft extension, a substantial reduction from the 17,000 sq. ft originally envisaged. The development would bring several long-vacant units back into use, including the former Jack & Jones store on St Patrick’s St, as well as a vacant unit at No 1 Cook Street. These units, along with neighbouring Flying Tiger, are set to be incorporated into an enlarged Penneys. The new store size will offer 40,500 sq. ft of retail space. The new application is a substantial redrawing of what was originally planned when Penneys first sought permission to expand its premier Cork store in 2021. That €60m project, which took two years to get through the planning system, was subsequently put on hold. The redevelopment will include new fixtures and fittings, flooring and lighting and the cleaning and painting of all facades, as well as new exterior signage. It will also include new and refurbished back of house areas. Penneys spent c 10 years assembling almost an entire block on St Patrick’s St with the help of the O’Flynn Group. The Irish Examiner, 6th February
MIXED USE
Merrion Square, Dublin 2 Having failed to find a buyer after it was offered to the market at a guide of €10m in February 2025, the Merrion Square Collection is now being marketed by Cushman & Wakefield at a reduced price of €8m. Extending across a total area of 18,634 sq. ft on a 0.4 acre site, the properties in question are 54 Merrion Square, Clifton House, Clifton Hall, Clifton Mews, the car park at Clifton House and a portion of the rear yard of 55 Merrion Square. The subject property is currently operating as a serviced office known as the Clifton House Business Centre. All occupiers hold flexible licence agreements. The site has dual frontage on to Merrion Square and Fitzwilliam Street Lower. The property’s car park can also be accessed via Fitzwilliam Street Lower, with an additional access point off Fitzwilliam Lane. Most of the property is Zoned Z8, Georgian Conservation Area, with a small portion to the rear Zoned Z2. These zoning classifications allow for a broad range of uses, subject to planning permission. The Irish Times, 4th February
BidX1 auction Next week’s BidX1 Auction will offer 44 lots, mostly residential properties around the country, which have combined guide prices totalling €11m.The most valuable lot is a block of 13 apartments on Emmet Street, Ballina, Co Mayo, which is guiding €1,300,000. It is leased to the Peter McVerry Trust on a 25-year lease dating from March 2022 and is backed by a rental guarantee from Mayo County Council. The three-storey end-of-terrace building extends to 4,886 sq. ft and generates €87,672 per annum total income. If it sells for its guide price, that will generate an annual 6.74% gross yield. Also for sale is Mayfield House and Tannery in Portlaw, Co Waterford, which is guiding €795,000. In 2022, Haling Cove Limited bought the abandoned country mansion and its gate lodge on 6.05 acres, paying €300,000. That price was almost a third of the then guide price of €835,000. The company subsequently bought the almost 20 adjoining acres, so the lot for sale next week extends to 26 acres. The Irish Independent, 5th February
RESIDENTIAL/DEVELOPMENT
Glasnevin, Dublin 9 Developers and investors involved in the provision of purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) will be interested in the opportunity presented by the arrival to the market of lands in Glasnevin. Located on Hampstead Avenue near DCU’s main campus, the site extends to 5.36 acres and is being offered for sale, subject to planning permission, by joint agents CBRE and Deloitte. A feasibility study prepared by TOT Architects in advance of the sale suggests the site has potential to accommodate a PBSA scheme comprising 450 bed spaces. Offers in the region of €12.375m are expected for the property. The figure equates to €27,500 per bed space. The lands have dual zoning under the Dublin City Development Plan 2022–2028, comprising “Z12 – Institutional Land (Future Development Potential)” and “Z15 – Community Social and Infrastructure”. These designations allow for a range of developments, including educational, healthcare, residential and community-focused uses. The Irish Times, 4th February
Malahide, Co. Dublin Colliers are agents on the sale of a 42-acre land bank on the outskirts of Malahide. While the lands on Estuary Road are in agricultural use at present, Colliers believes they could, in time, be rezoned for residential use as Malahide continues to expand to the south and west of its existing footprint. The land bank, which is beside Malahide Rugby Club, just off the Estuary, and 3km west of Malahide village and Dart station, is guiding at a price of €4.2m. The lands are zoned a mix of Objective Ha – High Amenity measuring 17.5 acres and Objective GB – Green Belt measuring 24.5 acres, all in accordance with the Fingal Development Plan 2023-2029. The Irish Times, 4th February
Delvin, Co. Westmeath An attractive country estate in Delvin is to go for auction in three lots with a combined guide price totalling €1.6-€1.7m. Formerly St Mary’s School, the 123-acre South Hill estate is being sold by the Sisters of Charity. The country house, which extends to 11,000 sq. ft together with an additional 52,000 sq. ft of accommodation, is being included in lot 1 along with 68 acres and this lot is guiding in the region of €900,000-€1m. Unzoned, the agents Cushman and Wakefield and REA TE Potterton, believe that it could appeal to someone seeking a period country house or a farmer seeking its grazing. Lot 2 comprises 69 acres of agricultural land with a €700,000 guide price. Lot 3 consists of about two acres, which could accommodate a new house, and has a €30,000 guide price. The Irish Independent, 5th February
OTHER
Timahoe, Co. Laois A decision to refuse permission for a Co. Laois wind farm will be quashed after a Supreme Court judgment on the climate law obligations of planning authorities and public bodies. The seven-judge ruling made it clear that climate obligations were “real, effective, and if necessary enforceable” and created a “legal standard which must be complied with by a relevant body”. Such obligations were binding on bodies with no planning function and bodies “not normally concerned with issues of climate change”. Coolglass Wind Farm Ltd wants to build the 13-turbine wind farm at Timahoe, Co Laois, in a location 2km from the Kilkenny border and 11km southeast of Portlaoise. Planners had refused permission because the Laois county development plan prohibited wind farms on the site due to visual concerns. However, Coolglass claimed planners failed to approve enough green energy infrastructure projects to meet 2030 environmental targets. The ruling found the commission “did fail in its obligations to consider whether permission should be granted notwithstanding that it would amount to a material contravention of the development plan” in light of the 2015 Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act. Such obligations were amended in 2021. The Irish Times, 4th February
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