14th September (Issue 314)
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
Tralee, Co Kerry A private Irish investor is selling Manor West Neighbourhood Centre in Tralee, Co Kerry, and it is guiding €4.85m. The move comes just weeks after the adjoining and much larger Manor West Shopping Park was offered for sale with a €55.175m guide price. Manor West Neighbourhood Centre sits on 1.6 acres and generates a contracted rental income of €464,957 per annum. Selling agent Savills says its guide price reflects an 8.72% net initial yield with over 9.77 years income certain. The entire scheme extends to 20,593sq ft in two distinct blocks. Block 1 fronts onto the R875 and includes a Circle K filling station, a Fine Wines off-licence and Starbucks, with Kerry Co Council offices on the first floor. Block 2 is located adjacent to Manor West Retail Park and includes Boylesports in addition to several essential neighbourhood services. It has 95% occupancy, with just one vacant first-floor unit. The Irish Independent, 9th September
O’Connell Street, Dublin 1 Clerys landmark premises on O’Connell Street in Dublin looks set to welcome a new set of shoppers when it opens its doors for business next year. Swedish fashion giant H&M has agreed a deal to occupy half of Clerys Quarter’s 5,575sq m (60,000sq ft) of retail accommodation. The remaining 2,787sq m (30,000sq ft) of retail space, meanwhile, is understood to be the subject of negotiations between developer Paddy McKillen junior’s Oakmount, and Flannels. Due for completion in the first quarter of 2022, the overall Clerys scheme, which is being delivered by Oakmount and Derek McGrath’s Core Capital in partnership with Europa Capital, will also comprise 8,600sq m (92,600sq ft) of new grade-A office space across two buildings, a 1,670sq m (18,000sq ft) panoramic rooftop restaurant, bar and events venue, five new food-and-beverage units, including the newly refurbished tea rooms, and a new 213-bedroom four-star hotel. The Irish Times, 10th September
The Parks Collection, Ireland Three of Ireland’s best-known retail parks are to be sold for about €78 million. Pat Crean’s Marlet Property Group is understood to have seen off bids from Hudson Advisors; French asset management company Corum; UK private equity fund Kildare Partners; and Simon Kelly’s RQTwo. The Parks Collection, which is being sold by agent Cushman & Wakefield on behalf of New York-headquartered Marathon Asset Management, comprises Belgard Retail Park in Tallaght, Dublin 24, the M1 Retail Park in Drogheda, Co Louth, and Poppyfield Retail Park in Clonmel, Co Tipperary. Belgard Retail Park is fully occupied, and the scheme also has planning permission for an additional retail warehouse unit of 2,404sq m (25,877sq ft). The total current rent is about €3.13 million per annum. The M1 Retail Park extends to a total of 24,805sq m (267,000sq ft), along with 600 car-parking spaces. The total current rent is €2.44 million per annum. Poppyfield Retail Park extends to 12,821sq m (138,000sq ft) and comprises a mix of 14 retail warehousing units, a neighbourhood centre and 393 car-parking spaces. The park is 99% occupied and the total current rental income is €1.43 million per annum. The Irish Times, 10th September
OFFICE
Cherrywood, Dublin 18 Accenture has signed a 10-year lease to occupy the entire 36,500sq ft first floor in Building 10 at The Campus. The completion of the deal gives Accenture office space to accommodate an additional 300 workers and brings Accenture’s overall footprint in Cherrywood to about 80,000sq ft. Apart from carrying out comprehensive improvement works to the Campus’s existing buildings, Spear Street oversaw the construction of two new blocks: F1 which is now fully let to Elavon, and F2 where a total of 80,000 sq ft is available to lease. Joint letting agents JLL and Cushman & Wakefield are marketing the remaining space at Building F2, which can accommodate occupiers ranging from 8,000 to 80,000sq ft. Last September Spear Street secured €27.7 million from the sale of Block 12 at the scheme to French asset management company, Corum. Block 12 is fully occupied by the global insurance giant Aviva on a 25-year full repairing and insuring (FRI) lease from July 2002 with no break options. The annual rental income is €1.81 million, reflecting a rental rate of €21.50 per square foot. The Irish Times, 8th September
HWBC Report, Dublin The level of “grey market” subletting has risen to 24% of all activity in the central Dublin office rental market, as Covid-19 restrictions continue to ease, according to commercial property firm HWBC. The figure for the first half of the year is up from an estimated 15% before the pandemic struck and is expected to rise further in the first half of next year as companies make decisions on future space requirements, the firm said in a report on activity in the first half of the year. HWBC said that an 81% decline in take-up of new office space in the 12 months to June has seen rent levels soften in the Dublin office market, though the lifting of restrictions and successful vaccine rollout has led to a “marked increase” in tenant activity in recent months. Dublin city-centre grade-A rent levels were being set, on average, at €57.50 per square foot in the first half, down 7% compared with last year and at their lowest level in five years. Just 209,000sq ft of space was let in the first half of the year, according to the report. Assuming no serious Covid variants emerge, HWBC expects that 2022 will see a return to more normalised levels of demand activity with transactions back to the long-term average for the market. This will likely see rents stabilise and then return to growth from 2023 onwards. The Irish Times, 9th September
Santry, Dublin 9 QRE Real Estate Advisers has been appointed to handle the sale of Northwood House, a modern office investment in Northwood Campus, Santry, Dublin 9 for which the agent is quoting a guide price of €10.75 million. The tenant mix includes Enercon, Shell, Mazda, Bluestone Motor Finance, Amdipharm Mercury, Quest Diagnostics, Celtic Anglian Water and the Gaelic Players Association, among others. The property comprises a modern five-storey over basement, third-generation office building providing 24 office suites extending to 4,129 square metres (gross internal area), along with 115 surface and basement car parking spaces. Northwood Campus is strategically situated between Dublin’s central commercial hub and Dublin Airport. QRE’s guide price reflects a net initial yield of 7.46% (allowing for standard purchaser’s costs of 9.96%) based off a contracted rent of €882,112 per annum. The property benefits from 93% occupancy, with an estimated rental income of €950,000 per annum upon letting of the two vacant suites, representing a yield in excess 8%. The Business Post, 12th September
INDUSTRIAL
Western Industrial Estate, Dublin 12 Industrial specialist Harvey has been instructed to offer an industrial and office facility in Western Industrial Estate for either sale or to let with an asking price of €1.8 million (exclusive). The premises, which comes with a large yard and future residential redevelopment potential, is located on Knockmitten Lane North. It comes with a 90-metre reverse profile to Nangor Road and was recently rezoned to REGEN, providing for future residential redevelopment, subject to planning. The property has operated as a civil engineering depot for the past 30 years and benefits from a large concrete surfaced yard. There are two buildings on the generous 1.56-acre site; the front building is semi-detached and comprises industrial space with two storey offices and staff facilities, totalling 1,008 square metres. The rear building is detached and comprises 751 square metres of industrial space, including a section used for vehicle maintenance. The yard is gated and fenced and there is a car parking area at the front of the property. The Business Post, 12th September
HOSPITALITY
Blackrock, Co Dublin Located on the corner of Temple road and Carysfort Avenue in the south Dublin village of Blackrock, the Three Tun Tavern is being offered to the market by Savills as a going concern or with full vacant possession at a guide price of €2.5 million. Its proximity (3km) to another of JD Wetherspoon’s southside pubs, the Forty Foot in Dún Laoghaire, is understood to have informed its decision to sell. The Three Tun Tavern was the first of JD Wetherspoon’s venues in the Republic of Ireland. Acquired by UK pub group for €1.5 million in December 2013, the former Tonic Bar underwent a €1.5 million refurbishment before opening for business under its new name in 2014. The Three Tun Tavern comprises a large open-plan bar and restaurant dining area extending to 498sq m at ground-floor level complemented by a beer garden. The first floor of the premises extends to 385sq m and consists of a kitchen, storerooms, office, and customers’ toilet facilities. The pub site area extends to 0.08 acres. The Irish Times, 8th September
Capel Street, Dublin 1 An Bord Pleanála has issued a rebuke to Dublin City Council’s contention that there are too many hotels in the capital’s city centre area. The appeals board has given the green light to Ringline Investments for a nine-storey 142-bedroom hotel for Capel Street in Dublin which overturns a ruling by the council refusing planning permission after expressing concerns about the “existing over-concentration” of hotels in the area. The council said plans for the hotel at the corner of Capel Street and Strand Street Little would “exacerbate” the over concentration of hotels and fundamentally undermine the vision for the provision of a dynamic mix of uses within the city centre area. The council pointed out that around 2,150 hotel rooms had been permitted in recent years within 350m of the proposed hotel site. However, the appeals board has granted planning permission after concluding that the hotel would constitute an acceptable quantum and density of development in the area. The Irish Times, 13th September
Townsend Street, Dublin 2 The Windjammer, on the corner of Townsend Street and Lombard Street East has been brought to the market, and agent Bagnall Doyle MacMahon is seeking offers over €1.6m. One of Dublin’s last early-morning pubs, it is situated in an area that has seen major office developments and where new hotels are currently being developed. Its compact two-storey over basement premises is full of traditional character. Extending to 3,218sq ft, its accommodation includes the ground-floor lounge bar and back bar, and a self-contained two-bedroom apartment on the first floor, with own-door access and a roof garden. The Irish Independent, 9th September
RESIDENTIAL
Development Land, Leinster Activity in the Leinster development land market stepped up this week with news of the sale of a Co Kildare site for around €676,000 per acre. Lagan Developments is paying more than €10.5m for the 15.69-acre Earl’s Court site in Kill, Co Kildare. The firm is expected to avail of the planning permission for 164 homes and build the detached, semi-detached, duplex and apartment units permitted under the scheme. Meanwhile two other ready-to-go sites have come to the market in Wicklow and Wexford. Near Wexford town, joint agents Savills and Kehoe & Associates are guiding €4.71m (or €302,500 per acre) for 15.57 acres at Coolcotts Lane which has planning permission for 157 houses comprising a mix of bungalow, terraced, semi-detached and detached units. Phase 1 permits construction of 70 units, with the other 87 units – along with a creche – in Phase 2. Separately, Savills is quoting €2.25m for a 2.3-acre site near Delgany village, Co Wicklow. The site, known as Killincarrig Lodge, has planning permission for 17 three-bedroom terraced houses, the refurbishment of Killincarrig House, and the construction of a 72.3sq m commercial unit. The Irish Independent, 9th September
Compass Hill, Kinsale Land for new homes development at the very top of Kinsale town, with views over the water, has come for sale with a €4.5m guide price, with a previous grant of planning permission for 64 homes, mostly apartments. The elevated site, crowning Compass Hill, by a popular walking route above the thriving town, extends to 5.9 acres, and is being sold for a local family. Location-wise, it’s just to the west of the nearly completed Cumnor Construction Convent Garden development. It is listed as ‘Established Residential’ in the 2009 Kinsale Town Development Plan 2009, and a draft released in May 2021 for the duration 2022-2028 indicates a zoning of ‘Existing Residential/Mixed Residential and Other Uses.’ Auctioneer Josie Dinneen reckons there’ll be very keen developer interest in this listing, with scope for 45-60 units, which could translate at c €90,000 per house ‘stand’ before construction, levies, and other costs. The Irish Examiner, 9th September
Bishopstown, Cork Cork city’s western suburbs are set for expansion after the planning board cleared the way for the construction of 276 new homes on the periphery of Bishopstown. The grant of planning permission on a 9.95ha site in Ardarostig to Dublin-based Ardstone Homes Ltd, with 26 conditions, will see a mix of terraced, semi-detached and detached three-bed and four-bed homes, 137 in total, as well as seven mainly four-storey blocks of apartments and duplexes, built on land between Dunnes Stores Shopping Centre and Marymount Hospice, just south of the N40. The development is of slightly higher density than the range outlined in a local area plan, but the Board said it could be justified, by reason, inter alia, of its potential to increase the delivery of housing as per the Government action plan for homlessness and housing. The Irish Examiner, 8th September
Corballis, Donabate A planning application for a major development of 1,365 residential units, a 32-acre nature park, three creches, including links to the approved Broadmeadow Greenway has been submitted recently to Fingal County Council. The site at Corballis in Donabate is being developed by Aledo Donabate Ltd, part of the Cannon Kirk Group, which has previously developed other highly successful projects in Donabate, including the Links and the Strand. The application was made under the Strategic Housing Development (SHD) planning application system. The application comprises 346 houses, 352 duplex units and 667 apartment units. The development is ideally located in the centre of Donabate with access from the Donabate Distributor Road and access from the existing Balcarrick Road and Smyths Bridge House, opposite Donabate Train Station. If An Bord Pleanála approves the scheme, Cannon Kirk anticipates being on site and starting construction in early 2022. The Business Post, 12th September
Housing, Greater Dublin Area Tetrarch, the Irish property group which owns the Mount Juliet and Citywest hotels, has got private equity backing for its plans to build 1,500 homes over the next five years. The company has secured the backing of Revcap, a London-based private equity firm, for the new €500 million venture, Tetrarch Homes. The company plans to build social, affordable and private housing across several schemes in the Greater Dublin Area, with a strong focus on senior living accommodation for over-65s. Dublin-based Tetrarch is active across the residential, hotel and leisure sectors. It co-owns or manages €600 million in assets at present and has several sites around the Greater Dublin Area, with a large holding in Kildare. In 2019, it bought Howth Castle and demesne on 530 acres in Howth and has plans to develop the land. It is also planning to build a 165-bedroom hotel in Cork city. The Times, 12th September
The Jam Factory Site, Coolock Having originally sought in excess of €170 million in a forward-funding sales process last November, London-based Platinum Land has changed course on its plans to deliver a scheme of 550 rental apartments on the site of the former Chivers factory in Coolock. The Jam Factory site, as it is known, is now being offered to the market by agent Cushman & Wakefield with the benefit of the planning permission secured by the owners at a guide price of €25million. The approved scheme comprises a mix of 67 studios, 205 one-bed units, 221 two-beds and 57 three-bed apartments with 340 car parking spaces and 616 bicycle spaces. The Jam Factory site is about 6km north of Dublin city centre and 3km from the M1/M50 interchange providing access to all arterial routes. The Irish Times, 8th September
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