16th July (Issue 456)

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

Fumbally Lane, Dublin 8 BCP Asset Management has appointed CBRE to sell the Fumbally Estate office complex in Dublin for approx. €25m (29% discount to purchase price of €33.5m). The complex consists of four buildings with 44,186 sq. ft of Grade A office space. The sale also includes four two-bedroom apartments and a 0.37-acre development site to the rear of the complex. The site has full planning consent for a six-storey enterprise centre, extending to approx. 57,329 sq. ft. Currently, the Fumbally Estate is generating an annual rental income of €1.7m from its existing tenant line-up. Green Street News, 12th July

Wilton Park, Dublin 2 EY Ireland has confirmed it has selected Wilton Park, developed by IPUT Real Estate, as the location for its new Dublin headquarters. As revealed by Green Street News earlier this month, the company has agreed a long-term lease at the Wilton Park estate located alongside the Grand Canal and expects to begin occupying the building in the summer of 2026. EY will bring all of its Dublin team together at the new city centre location. Green Street News, 16th July

Cavendish Row, Dublin 1 The Rotunda Hospital has paid €4.275m for the “Cavendish Collection”, a portfolio of two Georgian office buildings located next to the hospital’s main campus in Dublin city centre. Nos. 1-2 Cavendish Row (11,485 sq. ft) briefly comprise a four-storey, over-basement building while 5 Cavendish Row (5,748 sq. ft) comprises a two-bay building facing the entrance to the Gate Theatre. The subject property will be used as offices by the Rotunda. The Irish Times, 10th July

Sandyford, Dublin 18 Aldgate Developments has secured its seventh tenant at its Termini Building at Sandyford. John Paul Construction has signed a 12-year lease for its new corporate headquarters and will occupy 20,000 sq. ft of space on the fifth floor of the LEED Gold-rated office scheme. While the rent has not been disclosed The Irish Times understands the company has agreed to pay close to the quoting rent of €35 per sq. ft. The Irish Times, 10th July

QRE Market Update The Dublin office market demonstrated notable improvement in Q2 2024, with 930,190 sq. ft of office space transacting across 52 deals. This is a significant increase from the 177,000 sq. ft from 33 transactions in Q1. This brings the total take up of H1 to 1,107,190 sq. ft. from 85 transactions which is an increase of 375,000 sq. ft from H1 2023. The average deal size increased to 17,890 sq. ft., from 7,770 sq. ft. in Q2 2023. The financial sector led the market, contributing to 30% of the total take-up. Geographically, the CBD dominated the market, accounting for 80% of the total take-up with 755,450 sq. ft. QRE, 12th July

 

RETAIL

Letterkenny and Killarney Investcorp has bought Letterkenny Retail Park in Letterkenny and Deerpark Retail Park in Killarney from Davidson Kempner. Financial details have not been disclosed by Investcorp, although sources said the deal was approx. €40m (blended NIY approx. 9%), which span 337,000 sq. ft. Letterkenny Retail Park is currently fully leased to 34 tenants. Deerpark Retail Park is currently 94% leased to 11 tenants. Green Street News, 11th July

Tyrrelstown, Dublin 15 NewKey Homes continues to expand its retail portfolio with the acquisition of a site known as Kilmartin Local Centre in Tyrrelstown from Glenveagh PLC. The price is understood to be approx. €4m, which was the asking price quoted by Cushman & Wakefield. Extending to 4.53 acres, the greenfield site received full planning consent for a 50,000 sq. ft retail centre last year, including a supermarket unit extending to 36,630 sq. ft, three retail units, a cafe, medical centre and surface parking for 157 cars. The Irish Independent, 11th July

 

HOSPITALTY

North Dublin Two of the best-known hotels on Dublin’s north side have been put up for sale with a combined price tag of approx. €70m. The 203-bed Grand Hotel in Malahide is understood to be marketed with a guide price of approx. €60m, while the 48-bedroom Marine Hotel in Sutton is priced at approx. €10m. Both hotels are owned by the Ryan family. The Irish Times, 15th July

Aungier Street, Dublin 2 Paddy McKillen Jr has sold The Lucky Duck pub at 43 Aungier Street. The sale price was not disclosed, however it is believed to have been bought by a private investor for less than the €2m which CBRE had been quoting for it earlier this year. Oakmount development group acquired the property in 2017 from Dublin city council for €831k after it had been closed for a number of years. The Irish Independent, 11th July

Temple Bar, Dublin 2 Lisney Commercial Real Estate is guiding €8.75m for the River House Hotel and Mezz Bar in Dublin’s Temple Bar area. The subject property, which has been owned and operated by the Conway family since it was originally developed in 1995, briefly comprises a 29-bedroom hotel and a licensed premises. The Mezz licensed premises extends to 7,200 sq. ft. The Irish Times, 10th July

Herbert Street, Dublin 2 QRE is guiding €1.25m for a Georgian building at 9 Herbert Street. Herbert Street links Mount Street Crescent and Baggot Street Lower in the Dublin’s traditional CBD and Georgian Quarter. No. 9 Herbert Street is a tenanted mixed-use property with a variety of commercial and residential tenancies. It comprises a two-bay, four-storey-over-basement, mid-terrace Georgian building extending to approx. 3,500 sq. ft. The guide reflects a gross initial yield of 7.72% and a capital value of €357 per sq. ft. The Business Post, 12th July

 

INDUSTRIAL / LOGISTICS

Santry, Dublin 9 Chancerygate and its joint-venture partner, Bridges Fund Management, have secured planning permission for 119,500 sq. ft of logistics space at a site on Swords Road in Santry. Approval for the new urban logistics park comes just more than two years on from Chancerygate and Bridges Fund Management’s acquisition of the five-acre site for €4.5m from Carey Building Contractors. Construction of Airport Trade Park, as it will be known, is scheduled to commence this autumn, and the scheme will have a gross development value of approx. €40m upon completion. The Irish Times, 10th July

 

STUDENT ACCOMMODATION

Lease Term Emergency legislation to ban 51-week student leases has been signed into law, in a bid to prevent accommodation providers from forcing students to pay for accommodation over the summer period. The Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Act was signed into law by President Michael D Higgins. The legislation ensures that leases will be based on a 41-week academic year instead. The typical academic year lasts around 35 weeks and runs from September until May. The Journal, 12th July

 

Residential / Development

Mount Merrion, South Dublin Oakmount development business is selling the former Union Cafe site in Mount Merrion and JLL is guiding €5.75m for it. An Oakmount subsidiary had received planning permission for a development of 50 apartments on the Union site across two four-storey blocks and a 12,530 sq. ft three-storey commercial block, along with 32,130 sq. ft of basement parking. It is also located next to The Pinnacle development where Oakmount is building 100 apartments. Last November, Press Up Hospitality Group, which operated Union Cafe, closed the premises so the building could be demolished to make way for the new apartment blocks. The Irish Independent, 10th July

Santry, Dublin 9 Chadwicks, a building materials supplier, has appealed the approval of a 321-unit apartment block in Dublin. Dwyer Nolan Developments applied for permission to build the €120m, 13-storey residential project at the junction of Santry Avenue and Swords Road, Santry. Dwyer Nolan Developments’ application to build the project was made under the Large-Scale Residential Development scheme. This is the developer’s third attempt to build housing on the site. The Business Post, 10th July

Dunboyne, Co Meath Approx. 13 acres of zoned lands in Dunboyne Business Park are for sale through Coonan Property with a guide of approx. €5.2m (€400k per acre). The lands are zoned Objective E2 General Enterprise and Employment in the 2021-2027 Meath Development Plan. The Business Post, 13th July

 

OTHER

BidX1 Survey As many as 78% of respondents to a property investor sentiment survey said that they intend to buy a property within the next 12 months although as many as 63% consider that purchasing is somewhat or very risky at the moment. BidX1 conducted the survey with its database and generated 1,439 responses and found that 77% of respondents preferred to buy a residential property with only 7% focused on commercial investments. The remaining 16% are open to either type of property. Those focused on commercial properties included people with a wide range of targets ranging from retail (17%), to industrial at 14%, but offices are attracting only 5% of buyers. The Business Post, 13th July

 

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


Origin Capital funds senior debt transactions in the CRE investment sector, typically in excess of €3m, and has lent over €200m to clients since April 2015.

Origin Capital is a wholly owned subsidiary of LeBruin, a leading provider of corporate finance solutions.

If you would like to discuss how Origin Capital can help with your funding requirements, please contact us on 01 662 9264.