18th February (Issue 484)
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.
MIXED-USE
Westmoreland Street, Dublin 2 Cushman & Wakefield is guiding €2.3m (7.51% NIY) for 26 Westmoreland Street. The 5,950 sq. ft property comprises a five-storey over-basement Georgian building and is in use as an established restaurant and English language school. The retail unit, which extends to 2,623 sq. ft, is let to The Good World Chinese Restaurant on a 20-year lease from October 2019 at a passing rent of €100,000 pa. The building’s office accommodation extends to 3,326 sq. ft and let to Englishour Language School on a 15-year lease from June 2019, at a passing rent of €90,000 pa. The Irish Times, 12th February
Ballycoolin, Dublin 11 CBRE is guiding €1.35m for Unit 12a, Site 50 at Rosemount Business Park. The 8,774 sq. ft property comes with vacant possession and comprises a modern industrial unit along with two-storey office accommodation within a 0.3-acre secure yard. The scheme is located about a 10-minute drive from junction 6 on the M50 motorway and 16 minutes’ drive from Dublin Airport. The Irish Times, 12th February
Sandyford Business Park, Dublin 18 A private Irish investor stands to secure a net initial yield of 8.76% following their acquisition for €1.71m of an industrial unit. Located just off Burton Hall Road in Sandyford Park, Unit 5 was fully let to Festo Limited on a 35-year full repairing and insuring lease from April 1st, 1992. Extending to approximately 7,667 sq. ft, Unit 5 briefly comprises a mid-terrace office and industrial unit of concrete portal-frame construction. There are two-storey offices to the front of the property and a warehouse to the rear. The Irish Times, 12th February
HOSPITALITY
Aston Quay, Dublin 2 Lisney is guiding €2.5m for Fitzgerald’s Bar on Aston Quay is a traditional Victorian-style bar overlooking O’Connell Bridge. A four-storey over-basement premises, its accommodation extends to approx. 5,500 sq. ft, including a lounge bar and public bar at ground-floor level serviced by kitchen facilities. Its upper floors are currently used as storage and benefit from separate access which could offer an opportunity to derive additional income. The Irish Independent, 13th February
Terenure, Dublin 6 Vaughan’s Eagle House is guiding over €1.5m, also through Lisney. Located in an imposing trading position directly overlooking the Terenure crossroad intersection, it has frontage on to both Terenure Road West and Terenure Road North. Its approx. 4,300 sq. ft of floor area ranges from two to three storeys over basement and is laid out with bar, lounge and dining/function accommodation and stores. The Irish Independent, 13th February
South Mall, Cork Electric, at the Grand Parade end of South Mall, is to re-open following its sale for approx. €2m. The new Cork-based owner is a private client of financial advisory firm MC2. It’s understood the Emporium Bar Group, who have four venues in Cork’s suburbs, will play an active role in managing it. Electric first went on the market in September 2023. The guide price at the time for the 6,000 sq. ft three-storey premises was €2.5m. It had been developed into a bar at an overall cost of €3.3m, including an auction purchase price at €1.65m in 2009, after it was sold off by ACC Bank. The Examiner, 14th February
Hanover Quay, Dublin 2 Plans for a 4-star 35-bedroom hotel and 200 seat entertainment venue at Hanover Quay have been lodged by Misery Hill Entertainment Ltd. The hotel and venue will be housed in a two-storey glass box as part of a design by PRC Architecture & Planning, where the two level glass cube will “oversail” the protected structure at 9 Hanover Quay, which has been the home of Vicar Street owners Harry and Rita Crosbie for the last 30 years. The planning application involves converting the Crosbie home to hospitality and entertainment mixed use. The Irish Times, 17th February
Dalkey Co. Dublin Donegal businessman Paddy Doherty is buying the Queens pub, paying approx. €3.5m for the venue. Doherty already owns the Eagle Pub in the nearby village of Glasthule, which he bought for €4m in April 2024 from the Loyola Group, according to a report in the Irish Times. The Currency, 17th February
OFFICE
Citywest, Co. Dublin Ravelin Properties Reit has signed two new leases at 3022 Lake Drive in Citywest Business Campus, covering a total area of 12,347 sq. ft, which brings the recently refurbished building to full occupancy. Kone Ireland has signed for the first floor, occupying 6,130 sq. ft, under a new 10-year lease with a tenant break option after five years. NeoDyne, having relocated within Citywest, has taken the ground floor, spanning 6,217sq. ft, on similar terms. The property now comprises two floors of Grade A office accommodation and 44 parking spaces. The Irish Times, 12th February
INDUSTRIAL
2024 Review Take-up in 2024 fell to just 1.3m sq. ft, the lowest since the series began in 2014. This is largely driven by transactions of modern stock declining by 79% compared to 2023. Comparably, take-up of legacy stock has remained notably consistent over recent years with a three-year average of 787,000 sq. ft. The decrease in modern take-up is driven by a decline in new stock with just 384,00 sq. ft completed across 2024. Looking ahead, 1.7m sq. ft is scheduled to complete across 2025 which would mark a more than four-fold increase on 2024. Additionally, only 28% of this pipeline is currently committed with over 1.2m sq. ft available. Savills Research, 17th February
RETAIL
Dublin 1 Work will begin in the autumn on creating a food hall at the CHQ building in Dublin’s docklands. Final design of the project is underway, and it will go to tender in the second quarter of this year. Up to 20 different food and beverage providers could be part of a first phase. The team at CHQ – which was built in 1820 as a bonded warehouse to store tobacco, tea and spirits – had taken particular inspiration from the Time Out-sponsored market in Lisbon, which attracts between three and four million visitors a year. Approx. 15%-20% of the space could be a traditional food market selling produce, similar to the English Market in Cork. The Sunday Independent, 16th February
Douglas Court, Cork Planners have cleared the way for an expansive health and wellness facility at Douglas Court, which will be developed over 8,000 sq. ft in an upstairs area currently used for storage. It will involve eight units including hair and beauty treatments, fitness classes and other health and wellness practitioners. Work is also underway to upgrade the 900-space carpark and is expected to be completed by April. A high-tech German parking system called Cleverciti, which uses AI technology to detect free parking spaces, will also be installed. The O’Leary family bought the shopping centre for €21.5m in January last year. All but two of the 47 units at the shopping centre are occupied. The Examiner, 15th February
RESIDENTIAL/DEVELOPMENT
Donnybrook, Dublin 4 Extending to a total area of 0.32 acres, the well-known Circle K petrol station is now being offered to the market by agent JLL for €5.5m. The site’s planning history includes previous approval for a 10-storey residential scheme of 67 units. This planning permission is the subject of an ongoing judicial review. Separately, an eight-storey purpose-built student-accommodation project that received planning permission was subsequently overturned by An Bord Pleanála. An additional advantage for buyers is the short-term income stream of €165,000 pa from Circle K, which can help offset holding costs during the planning phase. The Irish Times, 12th February
Maynooth, Co Kildare Knight Frank is guiding €10m for a large and well-located land bank on the outskirts of Maynooth. Extending to a total area of 97 acres, the site sits in proximity to both the M4 motorway and Maynooth train station. The lands, which are in agricultural use at present, are designated as “Strategic Reserve (SR 2) and Agriculture” under the terms of the draft Maynooth & Environs Local Area Plan 2025-2031. The town experienced population growth of 18% between the 2016 and 2022 censuses, with its population estimated at 17,436 in Q1 2023. The Irish Times, 12th February
Parkgate Street Ruirside Developments has secured planning permission for a €124m, 316-unit apartment scheme in two blocks with one rising to 13 storeys at Parkgate Street in Dublin 8. As part of the new plan, Ruirside Developments Ltd has put a price tag of €12.16 million on the sale of 31 apartments to the council for social housing under Part V. The Irish Times, 17th February
Galway Developers Bartra have secured permission for a 131-bedroom nursing home in Galway on the site of the former Warwick nightclub, once host to famous music acts including Sinéad O’Connor, Coldplay, New Order and The Pogues. Galway City Council granted planning for the four-storey development at the O’Connor’s Warwick Hotel site on Upper Salthill Rd that also housed the Oasis nightclub. Both are now demolished. The site has been vacant for a number of years. The Irish Times, 12th February
Kildare Town Coonan Property is guiding €1.4m for a ready-to-go site extending to 2.15 acres on the edge of Kildare town, with full planning permission for 20 houses. Located on Rathbride Road opposite the Cill Dara Golf Club and Kildare Town AFC, the site is about 1km from the train station with its commuter services to Heuston Station in Dublin. Kildare County Council granted planning permission in August 2024 to Glencresent Property Ltd for the development consisting of two detached houses, 10 semi-detached houses and eight terraced houses. The Irish Independent, 13th February
Evara, the property developer formerly known as Quintain Ireland, is gearing up to spend more than €2bn on delivering 7,500 homes over the next five years. The company is also looking to buy land as it plans to spend €300m over the next five years. Evara expected that half of the sites would already have planning permission. Another 40% would be zoned for residential, with the remainder unzoned. Approx 65% of the units that Evara builds will be houses or duplexes, with the bulk of those sold to private buyers. The remaining 35% will be high density apartments, the majority of which will be sold to institutional buyers. The Sunday Times, 16th February
Glenveagh bought close to €130m worth of property assets from Gerry Gannon after the developer exited Nama last year, according to the Business Post. The deal involved the acquisition of several sites on which housing projects are already under construction. Glenveagh also bought several sites with potential for residential development from Gannon’s firm. Under the terms of the deal, Gannon Homes is expected to stay in place as the project manager of the developments already under construction. The land bank acquired by Glenveagh from Gannon Homes has capacity for more than 4,000 homes. The Business Post, 16th February
2024 Review Turnover in the Irish investment market reached just under €2.5bn in 2024 following a surge in investor activity during the final quarter. This represents a 21% increase on the previous year. Retail assets were the key driver of demand during the year accounting for over €1bn of capital spend. Office assets also saw an improvement in transaction activity during the year totalling €489m, although it remained well below the long-term average. In contrast, capital spend in residential assets reached the lowest level since 2015 to reach €231m. Sherry Fitzgerald Report, 17th February
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