17th December (Issue 227)
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.
RESIDENTIAL
Sandymount, Dublin 4 The Sunday Business Post is reporting that 19 large apartments at The Willows in Sandymount, Dublin 4 has come to the market with a guide price of €8 million. The entire Willows scheme comprises 42 apartments in two self-contained blocks overlooking the YMCA sports grounds off Claremont Road and close to Sandymount Village. The investment comprises 19 of the 21 apartments in Block B. These include a one-bedroom apartment of 699 sq.ft, 15 two-bedroom apartments of c.936 sq.ft. and three three-bedroom penthouse apartments, which average 1,603 sq.ft. There is ample car parking provided at both surface and basement levels. The passing rent, when one vacant show unit is let, will be c.€465,000 per annum. The Sunday Business Post, 15th December
Middle Abbey Street, Dublin 1 A major Airbnb-style short-term rental development at Nos 60 and 61 Middle Abbey Street in Dublin has been granted planning permission. Permission for planning was applied for in May to convert the upper three floors of offices into nine apartments for use as short-term rentals. The plan included two studios, with four one-beds and three two-bed apartments. The plan was rejected in July as Dublin City Council argued that the development could harm residential housing provision in the area. An Bord Pleanála overturned that ruling stating that the proposal “would not result in the loss of long-term residential stock within the inner city and would increase the provision of tourist accommodation”. The Sunday Business Post, 15th December
Donnybrook, Dublin 4 Richmond Homes is seeking to add more than 50 apartments to a development in Donnybrook. Planing permission was approved this year from Dublin City Council to build 94 apartments on a corner site at Eglinton Road, near Donnybrook village, despite more than 70 objections to the seven-storey project. Some residents appealed against the decision to An Bord Pleanála, but it upheld the approval. Richmond Homes has now started consultations with An Bord Pleanála about building 148 apartments on the site. The Times, 15th December
Dublin Docklands RGRE has secured permission from An Bord Pleanála to develop 464 Build-To-Rent (BTR) apartments and 200 co-living bed spaces in the Dublin docklands. Located adjacent to Salesforce’s new European headquarter campus, which is under construction, the units at Spencer Place will be distributed across two blocks rising in height to 11 and 13 storeys respectively. The apartments have been designed to cater for the upper end of the residential rental market, and will include a hotel-style lobby reception with concierge desk manned on a 24/7 basis, an electric car share club, a rooftop residents’ lounge and garden with fitted barbeque facilities, a penthouse residents’ gym, private dining spaces and a multimedia room. Upon completion, the residential units will account for 370,354 sq.ft. of the 717,000 sq.ft. of space RGRE is set to deliver as part of its wider mixed-use scheme at Spencer Place. The Irish Times, 13th December
The Irish Times reports that property prices are now rising by just 0.9% per annum, the lowest level of increase in almost 12 years, as the pick-up in housing supply continues to cool the market. The latest official figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show prices in Dublin, which has seen the largest increase in residential construction, dropped 1.5% in the 12 months to October. The figures come after the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) said earlier this week that “prices are as high as they can possibly go given affordability in the domestic economy.” The institute added that the cost of supply is one factor that needed to be addressed. The Construction Industry Federation noted that 41% of the cost of delivering an apartment was related to costs such as taxes, levies, the cost of finance and land costs. The Irish Times, 12th December
INDUSTRIAL
Blarney, Cork The Sunday Business Post is reporting that JCD Group, the new owner of Blarney Business Park in Cork, has committed to a €10 million investment in the site, which will see the next two phases delivered in early 2020 and a commitment to invest further and develop all the land at the campus in the next two years. Since 2018, JCD has completed a c.51,000 sq.ft. Grade A high bay warehouse/light industrial warehouse in Blarney, which was fully let before completion. Another c.60,000 sq.ft. site was also completed and is now also fully let, while two more buildings, which are being built on spec, measuring c.12,000 sq.ft. and c.60,000 sq.ft, are under construction. The Sunday Business Post, 15th December
HOTEL
Dublin Hotel Market The 2019 Dublin Hotel market was driven by a number of “big ticket” hotel sales, with international investors, focused on high-quality Dublin hotels, accounting for two thirds of total transaction activity in 2019. Major Dublin deals included the €134 million sale of The Marker (which will be rebranded as Ananatara), the €116 million sale of the Conrad Dublin, the €50 million sale of Portmarnock Hotel & Golf Links and the €40 million sale of The Central Hotel. The average price per key achieved across all Dublin hotel sales in 2019 was € 400,000 per key. Furthermore, the sale of The Marker achieved a price of just over € 700,000 per key, a new high point in the Dublin hotel market. JLL Annual Hotel Report, The Irish Times, 4th December
Gloucester Street, Dublin 2 Premier Inn owner Whitbread, working with its development partner Red Rock Developments, has secured its fourth hotel location in Dublin city centre. Located on Gloucester Street in the city’s south docklands, the site will be redeveloped into a 10-storey hotel comprising 108 bedrooms. Since signalling its intention to expand into the Irish market in 2018, Whitbread has secured 635 Premier Inn rooms in Dublin city centre in four hotels – at South Great George’s Street, Jervis Street, Castleforbes Business Park and now Gloucester Street. The hotels, which are a mixture of freehold and leasehold acquisitions, are planned to open from early 2021 onwards. The Irish Times, 12th December
LAND
BidX1 Auction At a recent BidX1 online auction, two sites sold for greater than €1 million-euro. The first was 52 acres of residential zoned land near Mallow, Co Cork, which sold for €1.524 million (€29,308 per acre), 17% over its auction guide price but less than the €2 million it was on sale for in June. Planning permission for 112 residential units has expired on the site which is within walking distance of the railway station. The second site is a 7.19-acre parcel of residential development land at Dublin Road, Dundalk. The site sold for €1.011 million (€140,612 per acre), more than double its auction guide price. The Irish Independent, 11th December
OFFICE
Three Dublin Landings Iput has paid c.€115 million to acquire an office block on Dublin’s north quays, Three Dublin Landings. The Irish Times understands that the development of the office block is expected to complete within “the coming weeks” and will add 120,000 sq.ft. of office space set over five storeys with a lower ground floor and basement to the company’s portfolio. Iput’s net asset value stood at €2.6 billion at the end of September. Iput’s Dublin portfolio now consists of 2.1 million sq.ft. of office space with further space, including Wilton Park and the Tropical Fruit Warehouse, under development. The Irish Times, 16th December
Grand Canal Quay, Dublin 2 Dublin city council has approved plans to increase the size of the building at 1 Grand Canal Quay to 11 storeys, from its existing 7 storeys. The building is adjacent to the Dart line, close to the Grand Canal Dock station. It has been occupied by Google since earlier this year and sits across the Grand Canal basin from their European headquarters on Barrow Street. The expansion plan involves demolishing the existing seventh floor and stripping back the sixth floor, before adding the four extra levels. There would be balconies from the sixth to the 10th floors. The Times, 15th December
RETAIL
Tullamore, Co Offaly Planning permission has been granted for a new €20 million retail centre in Tullamore, Co Offaly. The Irish Times understands that the Riverside Centre will have a mix of 15 retail units, a cinema, cafes and restaurants, as well as eight residential units. The Irish Times, 12th December
OTHER
Irish Investment Property Market The Irish investment property market broke new records this year, with nearly €5.92 billion worth of investment deals. As much as €2.865 billion of the deals came in the last quarter of the year amounting to almost half of the value. Much of that appears to have been in train before finance minister Paschal Donohoe increased the stamp duty rate on non-residential property to 7.5% from 6%. Among the late commercial deals to close this month was Aberdeen Standard’s sale last week of Allianz House, one of the office blocks at Elmpark, Dublin 4, for c.€53m. It was purchased by German fund Quadoro Doric which already owns office blocks in Dublin and Cork. The Irish Independent, 13th December
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