15th July (Issue 505)
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
Haddington Road, Dublin 4 One Haddington Buildings is guiding €27.1m through HWBC and Savills. A four-storey over basement office building extending to 42,252 sq. ft, the asset is multi-let to four tenants, including CPL Resources and Stepstone Group, at a combined rental income of €1.94m pa. Passing rents average €46.76 psf on the offices & €3,848 each on the 23 car parking spaces. The asset was recently extensively refurbished achieving a nearly zero energy building rating and a BER of A3, with the works completing in 2022 at an approx. cost of €13m. HWBC Press Release, 9th July
Sandyford, Dublin 18 HWBC is guiding €24.2m for The Hive, a 73,473 sq. ft four floor office building on Carmanhall Road. The Grade A building was extensively refurbished in 2019, preserving the embedded carbon in the original structure and comes with 126 no. car spaces including 12 no. e-charge, 6 no. accessible spaces and 5 no. ground floor visitor spaces. Current rental income of €1.95m pa is being generated from 4 tenants, with €1.14m of that figure from Cubic Telecom. WAULT to expiry is 8.2 years and 6.9 years to break. Letting the remaining ground suite may bring the net initial yield to 8.1%, from 7% on current rental income. Stillorgan LUAS stop is adjacent to the building, offering a 17-minute commute to Dublin City Centre. HWBC Press Release, 11th July
Sandyford, Dublin 18 Kennedy Wilson has secured Roughan and O’Donovan as tenant for the part fourth-floor office suite at the Chase Building. The company has agreed to a new 15-year lease on 14,000 sq. ft of office space, with a break option at year 10. The rent is in the region of €28 psf, together with tenant incentives. The letting, which was handled by BNP Paribas Real Estate, was agreed following an extensive refurbishment of the Chase Building’s fourth floor and ground-floor reception area. Located on Arkle Road, the Chase Building comprises a total area of 175,600 sq. ft distributed over 10 floors, including two basement levels dedicated to parking. Roughan O’Donovan joins a number of international occupiers in the building including Google, Ericsson and Regus. The Irish Times, 9th July
MIXED-USE
Kimmage, Dublin 12 Developed in 2002 on the site of the former Apollo Cinema, Apollo House is being presented to the market by JLL guiding €3m. The property is positioned directly across from the entrance to Sundrive Shopping Centre and comprises a four-storey over-basement building, extending to 17,826 sq. ft, with 13 basement car-parking spaces. The entire ground floor is let to two established tenants, Boylesports Bookmakers Ltd and EuroLee Discount Store. These tenants are generating a combined passing rent of €130,000 pa with both leases expiring in April 2027. Floors one and two of the building come with vacant possession, while the third floor features a large penthouse apartment. The apartment will be vacated once the sale of Apollo House is agreed. The Irish Times, 9th July
HOSPITALITY
Pub Closures More than 2,100 pubs across the country have closed since 2005 according to a study commissioned by the Drinks Industry Group of Ireland, which shows that between 2005 and 2024 the number of publican licences declined by almost 25%, from 8,617 to 6,498. According to the research, over the 2005 to 2024 period the rate of closure is highest in rural counties. The highest decrease was in Limerick at 37.2%, followed by Offaly at 34.1% and Cork at 32.7%. While the lowest decrease was in Dublin at 1.7%, followed by Meath at 9.5%, and Wicklow at 10.8%. The report also stated that in the absence of Government intervention, we are likely to see a further 600 to 1,000 pubs close over the coming decade. Rte.ie, 14th July
Dalata Sale Scandinavian property companies Pandox and Eiendomsspar have agreed to buy Ireland’s largest hotel group Dalata Hotel Group for €1.4bn. Dalata shareholders will get €6.45 in cash per share. Dalata had rejected an initial proposal in early June from Pandox and Eiendomsspar, valuing it at €1.3bn, saying that the price undervalued the group. The latest offer, which has the backing of the board, concludes the Dublin-based company’s strategic review that was launched in March to drive up shareholder returns. The cash offer of €6.45 per share represents a 35.5% premium to the Dalata share price before the launch of its strategic review and formal sale process in March and a 49.7% premium to the 12 month volume-weighted average Dalata share price. Dalata operates 55 hotels under the Maldron Hotel and Clayton Hotel brands, mostly in Ireland and the UK, and aims to open new hotels in Europe including in Berlin and Madrid. Rte.ie, 15th July
RETAIL
Ratoath, Co. Meath Cushman and Wakefield is guiding €1.15m for a retail investment opportunity in Ratoath. The investment, which is let to Tesco Ireland and trades as a Tesco Express, forms part of Riverwalk Court, a mixed-use scheme comprising apartments, offices and retail situated just off Fairyhouse Road. Located on the ground floor of Riverwalk Court, the property has a gross floor area of 4,038 sq. ft and is laid out as an open-plan retail unit along with staff facilities, a stockroom and back-of-house storage. The property is leased to Tesco Ireland Ltd on a 25-year lease from December 2003 with a passing rent of €88,000 pa. Tesco Ireland has 177 stores in Ireland. The Irish Times, 8th July
Grand Canal Harbour, Dublin 8 Marlet Property Group is progressing the occupancy at its 75,000 sq. ft of retail and amenity space at its Grand Canal Harbour development beside the iconic Guinness Storehouse. It has secured Tesco as the occupant of its 7,400 sq. ft supermarket unit. In addition, it has received an offer for the 2,410 sq. ft creche from a potential operator. Last year the ground floor creche space in Block 2 was offered for let, quoting a rent of €40,000 a year. Of the three cafe spaces available for rent from 1,366 sq. ft to 3,900 sq. ft, terms are agreed on one of these spaces. The remaining commercial space totalling 54,500 sq. ft is suitable for a variety of uses including office, medical and tourism. The Irish Independent, 11th July
Waterford City Jack & Jones is preparing to unveil its new outlet this month at City Square. The addition of the Danish menswear retailer complements a strong apparel offering at the scheme, which includes Vero Moda, River Island, and JD Sports. Anchored by Dunnes Stores spread over two levels, City Square spans over 200,000 sq. ft of retail floor space. The recent arrival of Aldi, which opened in February of this year, has pushed average weekly footfall to well over 110,000. The city itself serves a catchment of over 635,000 people within a one-hour drive. The centre has undergone a series of significant upgrades in recent months, notably to its food court and key retail frontages. A prime unit of approx. 4,100 sq. ft, with direct access from the Peter Street mall, is now available for occupation through Colliers. The Business Post, 12th July
Chancery Street, Dublin 1 The €44m redevelopment of Dublin’s Victorian fruit and vegetable market has started, a decade after planning permission was granted for the work. The project, which is expected to take just over two years, involves the conservation and restoration of the 127-year-old market building on Mary’s Lane close to Capel Street, along with new buildings to the southside of the market facing the Luas line on Chancery Street. Once completed, the revamped market will house at least 80 stalls along with a “restaurant and food demonstration space” as well as an outdoor “farmers’ market” under canopies at the Chancery Street Yard. Dublin City Councillors last March approved borrowing of up to €30m as part of the overall €44m estimated cost of the project, and ministerial approval was subsequently sought and granted for work to begin. The new facility will be a “quintessentially Irish food market” operating seven days a week to “support the city’s north retail core and highlight the food offer to locals and visitors alike”, the council said. The Irish Times, 12th July
Residential/Development
Sandyford, Dublin 18 DLRCC has granted planning for a seven-storey 71-unit apartment scheme in Sandyford. Westleton Ltd had sought planning permission for a nine-storey 100-unit apartment scheme, and retail units, part of which is located over the western part of the existing retail/commercial units at Balally Shopping Centre on Blackthorn Drive. The Council has granted permission for the scheme after ordering the removal of two floors, resulting in 29 units being omitted from the original proposal. Records show that two Council planners recommended and endorsed a refusal to the scheme but were over-ruled by the Council’s Senior Planner who recommended a grant of permission. The Irish Independent, 10th July
Drumcondra, Dublin 3 Hines has put an indicative price tag of €64.57m on 113 apartments and studios it is planning to sell for social housing to Dublin City Council. The planned sale forms part of Hines’s revised plans to build a 1,131-unit apartment scheme on the grounds of the former Holy Cross College on Clonliffe Road. Hines partner fund, CWTC Multi-Family ICAV, is seeking a 10-year planning permission for the scheme that includes a 13-storey apartment block. The documentation shows that the Hines entity is planning to sell 39 studios, 11 one-bed units and 63 two-bed units to comply with the Part V obligations to provide 10% of the overall scheme for social housing. The indicative prices range from €717,843 for the two-bed units, €569,892 for one-bedroom units and €360,266 for studios. The Irish Times, 10th July
Pre-Budget Submission The Government must accelerate home building to meet the need for 93,000 homes every year into the next decade, Davy stockbrokers has urged in a pre-budget submission. The stockbroker said infrastructure gaps risk damaging the competitiveness of the Irish economy. The firm said that “sustained public and private investment” in housing and renewable energy is needed to “support a growing workforce and to position Ireland as a leader in the green economy”. The Irish Times, 14th July
Local Property Tax Members of South Dublin County Council have voted to reduce the Local Property Tax by 7.5% for the next four years. The annual charge on residential properties is used to fund services provided by local authorities. Each local authority may reduce or increase the rate of the tax in its administrative area by 15%. The decision to cut the rate for the next four years was approved by members in a vote by a margin of 25 votes to 14. The Irish Times, 14th July
OTHER
Savills Report Investment in Irish property slumped by over a third in the second quarter of the year, with yields also showing signs of tightening. A report from Savills shows that €381.5m was invested in the Irish market in the second quarter, down 34% on the second quarter last year. But total spend in the first half of 2025, at €924m, was 27% higher year-on-year. Savills said real estate markets have struggled for momentum in the absence of a clearer and more stable economic backdrop. Savills still expects the value of deals this year to exceed the €2.5bn recorded in 2024 and that the second-quarter performance reflects a smaller number of big transactions, but that overall activity remains “well-diversified” across sectors and geographies. A total of 21 deals closed in the period, with an average size of €18.1m. The Irish Independent, 10th July
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