13th May (Issue 496)
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.
OFFICE
Ashtown Gate, Dublin 15 Savills is guiding €20m for two office blocks in which the Government is the major tenant. Blocks A&D Ashtown Gate are generating €1.82m in combined annual income which would equate to a net initial yield of 8.20%. The larger Block D contributes 72% of the total income and is let under a single lease to the OPW, with 5.4 years remaining to the break option and 12.4 years to the expiration of the lease. Block A is leased to the HSE as office and medical use, and to electricity provider Energia. The office buildings extend to 70,532 sq. ft and 23,150 sq. ft, and come with 226 car-parking spaces. Savills is also willing to accept offers for separate sales and is guiding €15.25m for Block D and €4.75m for Block A, which are located at a high profile location facing the N3 roadway. The Irish Independent, 8th May
Kevin Street, Dublin 8 CBRE has brought the Camden Yard development site to market for around €90m on behalf of the Receivers. In September 2019, Westridge Real Estate acquired the 3.6-acre site, paying €140m. The original development plan included four Grade A office blocks totalling more than 600k sq. ft, circa 300 apartments and around 7,500 sq. ft of retail and dining space on the ground floor. A further €65m was spent on excavation and construction on the project, which was estimated to have a gross development value of €475m. Westridge’s acquisition was backed by several New York-based high net worth family offices, and debt for the deal was provided by Fairfield Real Estate Finance and BentallGreenOak. In December 2024, BentallGreenOak appointed Grant Thornton as Receiver. Main contractor Bennett Construction initiated legal proceedings in January, claiming nearly €8m in unpaid fees. Bisnow, 12th May
RETAIL
Rathfarnham, Dublin 14 Clarendon Properties has instructed Cushman & Wakefield to find a buyer for Nutgrove Retail Centre. Having paid a total of €12.8m in 2015 to acquire both the Nutgrove Retail Centre and the mixed-use Beacon South Quarter in Sandyford, Clarendon is offering the Rathfarnham scheme to the market at a guide price of €11.8m (6.5% NIY). Nutgrove Retail Centre extends to 43,659 sq. ft of retail warehouse accommodation along with 200 surface customer car-parking spaces. The scheme comprises four interconnected retail warehouse units and is anchored by Home Store & More. Other occupiers include Dealz, Pet World and Pat McDonnell Paints. Each unit comprises open-plan retail warehouse accommodation and ranges in size from 4,179 sq. ft to 28,766 sq. ft. The total current rent achievable is €842,934 inclusive of top-ups and the WAULT is 6.2 years to break options and 10.1 years to expiry. The Irish Times, 7th May
Westmoreland Street, Dublin 1 The UK master franchise holder for Popeyes, a US fast-food brand, plans to open its first outlet in Dublin. Late last month, a company owned by Popeyes UK, PLK Chicken Ireland Limited, submitted a planning application to Dublin City Council (“DCC”) seeking permission to develop a unit on Westmoreland Street. Last year, Popeyes opened an outlet in Belfast’s Lesley Forestside Shopping Centre, marking its first restaurant on the island of Ireland. Popeyes arrived in the UK in November 2021 and now has more than 65 British sites with an annual sales run rate of £150m. Popeyes was founded in 1972 in New Orleans and now has more than 4,000 restaurants around the world. The Sunday Independent, 11th May
HOSPITALITY
Harcourt Street, Dublin 2 Having secured the highest price paid for a pub in the Dublin market in 2022 with the €5m sale of 4 Dame Lane, publican Paul Keaveny has instructed Lisney to find a buyer for The Odeon, which is being offered to the market as a going concern at a guide price of €6.5m. Developed originally in 1857, the building served as the terminus for the Harcourt Street railway line between Dublin and Bray until its closure in 1959. The venue itself is laid out over two principal levels and comprises a main bar alongside three additional bars at ground-floor level (capacity 650), together with the Bourbon Bar at first-floor level (capacity 200). The two floors can accommodate multiple events simultaneously and have an overall capacity of 850 guests. The Irish Times, 6th May
Killaloe, Co. Clare Savills is guiding €3.5m for the Killaloe Hotel & Spa. The property, overlooking the River Shannon and Lough Derg, comprises a well-established and successful boutique hotel with 35 guest bedrooms and a full range of onsite amenities. Apart from its guest accommodation, the Killaloe Hotel & Spa also features a large bar and restaurant overlooking Kincora Harbour and the River Shannon; a popular wedding venue with a spacious function room; a new spa with six treatment rooms and suites, and extensive grounds with surface parking. The hotel offers the prospective purchaser the potential to add 20 guest bedrooms, subject to planning permission, according to the agent. The Irish Times, 6th May
PURPOSE BUILT STUDENT ACCOMMODATION
Clonskeagh, Dublin 14 A Bain Capital vehicle, Harley Issuer DAC, is seeking planning permission for 439 purpose-built student bed spaces for the former Smurfit Paper Mills site at Clonskeagh. The beds will be across five blocks from one storey to part seven storeys along with 16 apartments. The Large Scale Residential Development (LRD) also includes the extension and renovation of 14 existing homes at Clonskeagh Road. A report with the application states that excluding overseas students, the total UCD student population is currently 37,899. An accompanying planning report by consultant John Spain states that the proposed PBSA scheme, “will fulfil an identified need for student accommodation for UCD” and “represents a suitable form, design and scale of development for this strategically located underutilised site, which will provide for an effective and efficient use of this site which is highly accessible and well served by public transport”. The Irish Times, 9th May
INDUSTRIAL
Keypoint & Rosemount Business Park, Dublin 15 Units 1 to 4 at Keypoint Business Park and Units 7 to 9 in Block 31 Rosemount Business Park are being offered for sale through Harvey with a single tenant in place, and in one or more lots at an overall guide price of €4.75m. Units 1-4 Keypoint Business Park comprise 22,185 sq. ft of 10.3m high industrial/warehousing space with ancillary three-storey offices. Units 7, 8 & 9 at Block 31 Rosemount Business Park back on to the units at Keypoint and comprise 15,748 sq. ft of 8.1m high industrial/warehousing space with ancillary two-storey offices. Isopartner Technical Insulation Solutions Ltd leases the various units under three long leases in Keypoint and one long lease in Rosemount. All of the leases expire on August 31st 2031, and each lease is due for a rent review in 2026. The units are under-rented, according to the agent with a current annual rent roll of €315,775. The estimated rental value is €375,000 pa. The Irish Times, 7th May
RESIDENTIAL/DEVELOPMENT
Magheramore, Co Wicklow Wicklow County Council (“WCC”) has purchased 21 acres of land at Magheramore after the successful bidder at a recent auction for the site pulled out of the deal. A BidX1 auction for the beachside parcel of land took place on March 27th and saw three bidders, including WCC, battle it out, before it was sold to an unnamed bidder from China for €613,000, which was in excess of the €550,000 asking price. However, after the successful bidder decided not to proceed with the sale, the council was given the opportunity to complete the purchase of the important coastal amenity. The Irish Independent, 7th May
Terenure, Dublin 6W Lioncor has lodged revised proposals for its planned 284 residential units for lands at Terenure College aimed at overcoming DCC’s previous refusal. The scheme comprises 265 apartments and 19 four bed houses with the apartments located across four blocks with one block rising to six storeys. The council previously refused planning permission after concluding that it had “failed to demonstrate that the range of travel needs of the future resident population can be met by the proposed development”. As part of the revised proposals lodged with An Bord Pleanála as part of a first party appeal against the Council refusal, Lioncor is now proposing 38 additional car spaces for residents and An Bord Pleanála is now inviting submissions from local residents on the fresh proposals over the next five weeks. The Irish Times, 8th May
STAR scheme No private developers have drawn funds from a €750m state scheme set up to stimulate construction of 4,000 affordable homes. The Secure Tenancy Affordable Rental (STAR) scheme was launched in July 2023 and aimed to deliver 4,000 new cost rental homes by the end of 2027. The scheme provides an equity investment to private builders and approved housing bodies for the acquisition and development of homes if they are made available for rents at least 25% below the market rate. Companies such as Ires Reit and Cairn Homes have warned the scheme is not fit for purpose because the subsidy appears as debt on a company’s balance sheet. New data shows the only eight successful applications for the scheme were from the LDA, the state-controlled and funded affordable housing developer. The data showed €185.3m of the €750m total has been allocated to the LDA to deliver 1,423 cost rental units. A spokesman for the Department of Housing said the scheme is “on track to deliver against its targets”. The Business Post, 11th May
Dublin Industrial Estate, Dublin 7 Uisce Eireann has warned DCC over worsening water and sewage capacity that could jeopardise the local authority’s plans for a new suburb of 6,000 homes on one of the capital’s largest industrial estates. Water capacity for Dublin has deteriorated to “amber status” level, Uisce Éireann told the council, meaning supplies are now constrained. The utility company also said future population growth in Dublin is dependent on the construction of a new municipal sewage plant. Uisce Éireann wrote to the council in response to the draft Ballyboggan Masterplan, which will govern the redevelopment of the 190 acre Dublin Industrial Estate opposite Glasnevin Cemetery. Uisce Éireann said housing growth for Dublin is dependent on the delivery of two large-scale water and wastewater projects, which have been long delayed and are not now expected to be in place within the development plan timeframe for the Dublin Industrial Estate. Uisce Éireann chairman Jerry Grant recently told a Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland conference that the State‘s water and sewerage systems “are in a desperate state” because of “extraordinary complacency” and “passive indifference”. He warned that a new approach from the Government was needed if targets of 50,000 homes annually are to be met. The Irish Times, 12th May
OTHER
Bettystown, Co. Meath Strong demand for Irish trailer parks was reflected in the bidding for Bettystown Caravan Park, which was bought in recent days by another Irish caravan park operator. The McDonough family, who owned and operated the Bettystown park since 1979, are believed to have sold the business for well in excess of the €4m guide price quoted by their agent CBRE. Unlike many caravan parks which accommodate holiday makers, this park generates year-round income from renting out its 285 pitches to caravan owners, many of whom live there throughout the year. As well as being located in the heart of Bettystown village, it is only 300m from Bettystown beach which stretches 5km from Mornington bordering Co Louth to Laytown, Co Meath. The park benefits from proximity to commuter rail and bus services to Dublin and the nearby town of Drogheda. Although the 11-acre site is surrounded on three sides by residential development including four-storey apartment buildings on one side, it is not considered to have development potential in the near future because of the nature of the tenancies with the caravan owners. The Irish Independent, 8th May
If you have an article which you would like to have considered for inclusion in our next weekly report, please contact us at info@origincapital.ie