14th June (Issue 351)

Westmoreland Street, Dublin 2 One Westmoreland is being offered to the market by CBRE at a guide price of €6m. The property comprises a six-storey building with full planning permission for the development of a 38-bedroom boutique hotel. The proposed hotel is set to include a ground-floor reception area and a cafe space with capacity for 40 covers. The Irish Times, 8^th June

Monasterevin, Co Kildare Building works at Paddy McKillen and U2 frontman Bono’s €50m whiskey distillery and visitor centre along the banks of the Grand Canal on the site of Ballykelly Mills in Monasterevin, Co Kildare has been completed. Developed by McKillen’s Dublin-based company Jewelfield, the Church of Oak distillery and visitor centre spans 37,436 sq. ft. and involved restoring the 200-year-old building with the help of ODOS Architects. The Business Post, 11^th June

Dundalk, Co Louth Kennedy Wilson, an American real estate investor, is preparing to bring Marshes Shopping Centre in Dundalk, Co Louth, to the market for an estimated €40m. Marshes, which was built at a cost of €150m in 2005 has big-name tenants including Penney, Dunnes Stores, H&M, River Island and JD Sports. The shopping centre, which has 285k sq. ft. of retail space, also includes development land with potential for a second phase of construction. Kennedy Wilson purchased Marshes in August 2014 for €44.5m. In 2017 the centre was part of a €284m refinancing that the American giant completed with Bank of Ireland across seven of its Irish assets. The refinancing extended the debt term and released €54m of equity for the company. It also owns the shopping centre Stillorgan Village in Dublin. The Sunday Times, 12^th June

Clane and Newbridge, Co Kildare QRE Real Estate Advisers is seeking a combined guide price of €3.75m for two retail warehouse assets in Co Kildare. The first asset is located on the Dublin Road in Clane and extends to 25,000 sq. ft. over ground and mezzanine levels and comprises retail/warehouse space, and first-floor office accommodation. The asset is situated on a 1.61-acre site with extensive car parking and is held under freehold title. The entire property is let to Multi-Home Retail Limited, trading as The Choice under a 20-year FRI lease from May 1^st, 2021. The passing rent is €200k pa. The guide price of €2.6m reflects a NIY of 7%.
The second property comprises Units 6E & 6F Cill Dara Industrial Estate in Newbridge. Unit 6E comprises 6,588 sq. ft. of trade-counter retail space and back-of-house warehouse space. Unit 6F extends to 2,099 sq. ft. and comprises ground-floor retail warehouse accommodation, with staff ancillary space. Unit 6E is let to Screwfix Direct (Ireland) Ltd on a 10-year lease with open-market rent reviews at a passing rent of €52k pa. Unit 6F is let to Crown Paints Ireland Ltd with 10 years of term-certain income, and open-market rent reviews at a passing rent of €28.5k pa. The combined rent for the two assets equates to €80.5k pa. The guide price of €1.15m reflects a NIY of 6.37%. The Irish Times, 8^th June

Penney’s Flagship Store, Cork City Centre Plans for the redevelopment of Penney’s flagship store in Cork City centre have been delayed following an appeal. While planning permission was granted last month the decision is now being appealed by a third party. The plans included an increase in the store size by 17,000 sq. ft. to 54,000 sq. ft., with the project encompassing a site that stretches from Robert St to Cook St, and from St Patrick’s Street to Oliver Plunkett St. The grant of planning last month followed a lengthy consideration of the application lodged last August, which included a request for further information amid planners’ concerns about the scheme’s potential impact on the built heritage of the area. In response, Penneys said the redevelopment project would help reduce the number of vacant premises in the city. The Irish Examiner, 13^th June

Clonskeagh, South Dublin La Francaise Real Estate Managers (REM) has secured its first healthcare asset in Ireland, paying €10.65m for Ballintaggart House in the south Dublin suburb of Clonskeagh. The acquisition of the property, which is let in its entirety to Sims IVF until March 31, 2033, will provide the French investor with a NIY of 4.77%. Ballintaggart House is a three-storey building comprising 19,558 sq. ft. of refurbished, high-quality accommodation in medical clinic use and 57 car parking spaces. The property sits on a substantial site of just under one acre. The subject property is well located in Clonskeagh and sits just 5km from Dublin city centre and a 10-minute drive from the M50 motorway. The Irish Times, 8^th June

Kinsealy, North Co Dublin Works are under way on 32 detached two-storey houses: six at Greenwood Close, 16 at Greenwood Drive, and ten at Greenwood Park on Kinsealy Lane, in Kinsealy in north Co Dublin. The houses are part of a €7.9m housing development by Michael Woods’ Kinsealy Lane Ltd and Town Park Estates. The Business Post, 11^th June

Ballincollig, Co Cork O’Flynn Construction has lodged a SHD application to build 123 apartment units and a crèche in Ballincollig, Co Cork. The proposed development includes 39 one-bed and 84 two-bed units. The overall floor area would be 112,579 sq. ft., and the estimated cost €19.7m. The Business Post, 11^th June

Mallow, Co Cork Reside Capital has been granted planning permission to build 299 residential units comprising 185 two, three and four-bed houses; 50 one, two and three-bed apartments/duplex units; and 64 one and two-bed apartments in two four-storey blocks with basement parking and a 4,843 sq. ft. crèche/childcare facility in a scheme with an estimated cost of €52m at Annabella, Mallow, Co Cork. The Business Post, 11^th June

Housing Construction, Ireland The number of new houses built is set to increase over coming years but will still fall short of the Government’s targets, according to predictions published by EY’s economic advisory arm. The firm estimates that house completions will rise to 25,000 this year, up from just under 20,500 in 2021. In a report compiled for the Euroconstruct industry forecasting network, EY estimates that completions will rise to 27,000 next year, and 32,000 in 2024, but these are still below the levels required to address the housing crisis as laid out in the State’s Housing for All plan. EY warns that rampant cost inflation in the construction sector is affecting the viability of many schemes and the challenges impacting upon the housing crisis are “gathering momentum”. The firm estimates that construction inflation will reach 10% this year, before slipping back to 6% in 2023 and 4% in 2024. Overall construction output this year is estimated by EY at €29.1bn, or c. 6.2% of the value of the economy as measured by GDP. Construction output last year was valued at €25.2bn, with much of the rise accounted for by inflation. The Business Post, 13^th June

Housing Legislation, Fingal County Council Locals will have first refusal on the purchase of large numbers of affordable homes in north Dublin under new measures due to be voted on by Fingal county councillors on Monday. Councillors are expected to approve plans to give priority to housing applicants who can prove they have lived in Fingal for at least five years when allocating c. 30% off new affordable homes. An applicant does not have to be currently resident in Fingal and may have only lived in the area as a child, as long as they can prove they spent five years in the area. The Government’s affordable housing regulations introduced in April allow local authorities to use their discretion in allocating 30% of the homes in affordable purchase schemes to locals. Fingal’s priority scheme has already been approved by the Department of Housing and is expected to apply to all its affordable housing development from now on. The Irish Times, 13^th June

Housing Legislation, Ireland A total of 16,000 new homes have been ring-fenced for individual buyers following a government ban on “bulk buying” by institutional investors. The planned sale of 115 homes in the Mullen Park estate in Maynooth estate to Round Hill Capital, a global investment firm, caused a political furore last year. It led to the government bringing in new legislation to impose a higher stamp duty charge of 10% on investment funds if they bought up ten or more houses in housing estates. New planning regulations were also introduced to prevent multiple housing and duplex units being sold to a single buyer. An Bord Pleanála has confirmed that the developers of 7,988 homes in 23 SHDs are banned from selling them in bulk under the conditions of planning permissions granted in the past 12 months. City and county councils have also imposed the same conditions on a further 7,895 homes which have got planning permission in the past 12 months, bringing the total number of homes ring-fenced for individual buyers to c. 16,000 homes. The Business Post, 9^th June

Castlemartyr, East Cork Land within and beside an East Cork village’s boundary is up for sale, zoned for development, and with scope to deliver up to 200 new homes, subject to planning permission. Listed with Lisney, is a block of 33 acres guiding €2m, the equivalent of €10,000 per house ‘stand’. The Irish Examiner, 9^th June

Clonburris, South Dublin Plans for the construction of 115 homes in the new Dublin suburb of Clonburris, just over half of which will be sold under the affordable housing scheme, have been approved by South Dublin county councillors. The council project will see 59 affordable purchase homes and 56 social homes built on a site just south of the Grand Canal and less than 10 minutes’ walk from Clondalkin train station. The low-rise estate will have 27 three- and four-bedroom houses, 42 apartments in two-storey blocks, 27 apartments in nine three-storey blocks, and a four-storey block of 19 apartments. The scheme will be the first developed by the council on its landholding in the new Clonburris Strategic Development Zone (SDZ), which is designated for more than 8,400 homes. The Irish Times, 13^th June

Cabra, North Dublin Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has emerged victorious in her opposition to plans for a 117-unit BTR apartment scheme at the former Matt’s of Cabra pub site. This follows the appeals board refusing planning permission to R&D Developments Ltd for the 67 one-bed unit and 50 two-bed unit apartment scheme at Faussagh Avenue, Cabra. Planning consultants for R&D Developments Ltd, Thornton O’Connor Town Planning, contended that the scheme would provide suitable alternative housing accommodation types for people seeking residential accommodation in Dublin. However, in her objection, Ms. McDonald argued that the BTR development does not meet the needs of the local community, neither does it foster active citizenship. The scheme also faced opposition from a number of local residents. The refusal by the board follows a recommendation by Dublin City Council to deny planning permission. The Irish Times, 13^th June

Lackaroe and Monkstown, Cork The appeals board has refused planning permission to O’Brien and O’Flynn for 171 units at a site 10km southeast of Cork city at Lackaroe and Monkstown, Passage West. The scheme — which faced local opposition — comprised 145 houses and 26 apartments. The appeals board refused permission after concluding that the scheme would endanger public safety by reason of traffic hazard. The Irish Times, 13^th June