1st September (Issue 262)
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 / LAND
Raheny, Dublin 5 Crekav, a subsidiary of Marlet Property Group, has been granted permission again by An Bord Pleanála to build homes on the land beside St Anne’s Park in Raheny, Dublin. The scheme will consist of 657 apartments in blocks up to nine storeys high on former playing fields east of St Paul’s College beside the park. The board had granted permission for the apartment scheme last February, but in June it consented to High Court orders quashing its decision after separate judicial review cases were taken by the Louth Environment Group and local residents’ group Clonres. The board has now reassessed the decision and has again decided to grant permission for the 657 apartments. The Irish Times, 25th August
Rathmines, Dublin 6 ODKM Architects have received planning permission for 4 houses in Rathmines, Dublin 6. Situated to the rear of Grosvenor Road with access off Bushes Lane, the houses will comprise three story over basement dwellings. The floor area of each house will be c.2,798 sq.ft. ODKM Architects Press Release, 27th August
House and Apartment Completions A new report produced by Hooke & MacDonald has reviewed house and apartment completions in Dublin during the first quarter of the year. It showed that a total of 1,658 new houses and apartments were built in Dublin between January and March, including 837 apartments, 757 estate houses and 64 one-off homes. The report said the completion figures for the South Dublin County Council area were the most “startling”. In the area, which spans 222 square kilometres, 12 apartments were built in the first quarter of 2020, compared to 132 in 2019. The report added that over the past decade, only 343 apartments were built in the South Dublin County Council region. The Sunday Business Post, 30th August
Kilmessan, Co Meath Coonan Property is guiding €2.5 million for a residential development site with full planning permission for 63 houses (c.€40k per site) in Kilmessan, Co Meath. The site extends to 5.9 acres (€423,739 per acre) and there will be a mix of house types consisting mainly of three- and four-bed semi-detached, detached and terraced homes. Kilmessan village is located close to the towns of Trim, Dunshaughlin and Navan and just 6km from the M3 motorway with its easy access to Dublin city. The Irish Independent, 27th August
Rathmines, Dublin 6 A decision to grant planning permission for a co-living development in Dublin has been upheld by the planning board despite complaints by local residents. In February, Dublin city council granted planning permission to Blondie Issuer Dac for 97 co-living units on 143-149 Rathmines Road. The original planning application had been for 110 units, but this was reduced to 97 as a condition for the planning permission by the council. An Bord Pleanála upheld the planning permission for the site and overturned the Dublin city council conditions removing 13 of the units. The planning body gave full planning permission for all 110 units. The Times Ireland, 1st September
Private Rented Sector Following a record year for activity in 2019, the Private Rented Sector (PRS), like all areas of the property market within Ireland, has been impacted by Covid-19. An unavoidable slowdown in transaction activity in quarter two saw just €64.5 million transact in the quarter across four deals. This brings PRS investment for the first six months of the year to €165 milliom. The estimated vacancy level in the Dublin rental market is 2.7%, the rate increased from 1.4% at the start of March, but remains relatively low. Sherry Fitzgerald, The Irish PRS Market Q2 2020
Dublin Multifamily Sector The multifamily sector continues to perform well regardless of underlying economic conditions and the impact of Covid-19, with yields in this sector proving particularly resilient over recent months. Transactions completed recently include the sale of 368 apartments at the Cualanor development in Dun Laoghaire in south Dublin to DWS for c.€200 million; The sale of The Prestige Portfolio of 317 units in Swords, Raheny, Clontarf and Killester to DWS for c. €147 million; and the sale of 192 apartments (Lauren Hall and Rowan Hall) at Clay Farm in south Dublin to Urbeo for c.€74 million. CBRE Ireland Bi-Monthly Research Report, September 2020
Credit Union Funding A new credit union-backed €300 million social and affordable housing fund is to be launched to support the construction of 10,000 homes over the next decade. The fund will be open to credit unions across the country and overseen by the Credit Union Development Association (CUDA) and Initiative Ireland, a private financial adviser. The fund is expected to deploy more than €300 million per annum to lend to approved housing bodies (AHBs) and fund the delivery of 1,000 new homes each year for 10 years. The initiative plans to recycle funds over the course of a decade meaning €300 million would be advanced multiple times over the period. The Sunday Business Post, 30th August
Kildare Last week, An Bord Pleanála overruled Kildare county council by issuing a material contravention to allow Rycroft Homes to build 345 units in the town of Kilcock – more than the current development plan would ordinarily allow. Separately, as part of a judicial review of the plan initiated by Ardstone Homes, a Kildare-based housebuilder, three towns in the county have been temporarily exempted from the new, lower housing limits. Kildare County Council has been under pressure since last year over its introduction of a variation to its development plan – known as Variation No 1 – which its critics say has had the effect of slashing housing targets in the county from 32,407 units to 6,023. The Sunday Business Post, 30th August
Q2 2020 Rent Collections Ires Reit reported rent collections of 98.4% while its occupancy stood at 97.8% across its 3,739 apartments at the end of June. US property group Kennedy Wilson reported 99% rent collection across its portfolio of residential apartments in Dublin and Cork. It has just over 2,000 units across its nine complexes. These include the Alliance Building, which backs on to the Google complex in Dublin, and Clancy Quay, the country’s largest apartment complex. Phase three of Clancy Quay was delivered in lockdown. The Sunday Times, 30th August
INDUSTRIAL
Ballycoolin, Dublin 11 A detached, headquarters- style warehouse and office facility in Ballycoolin in north west Dublin is being offered for rent on a new medium to long term lease. Located at the entrance to Stadium Business Park, Ballycoolin, Dublin 11, Unit 1 extends to 78,264 sq.ft. comprising warehouse space of 68,577 sq.ft. and 9,687 sq.ft. of two-storey offices and staff facilities. The offices will shortly be extensively refurbished and include a passenger lift. The self-contained site extends to 3.95 acres and has dedicated trailer parking. Sole agents Harvey are quoting an annual rent of €725,000 exclusive (€9.26 psf). The Irish Independent, 27th August
Dublin Industrial and Logistics Sector While take-up in the Dublin industrial and logistics sector was negatively impacted by Covid-19 during the second quarter of 2020, the impact was masked by a very strong first quarter, with c.1,447,842 sq.ft. of accommodation leased or sold during the first six months of the year combined. CBRE expect prime rents in the industrial sector to remain unchanged for the remainder of 2020, primarily due to the fact that there is no new stock due for delivery that isn’t already pre-committed. CBRE Ireland Bi-Monthly Research Report, September 2020
OFFICE
Dublin Office Sector It is predicted that office take-up in Dublin in Q3 will show a marked improvement on Q2 2020 – the lowest quarterly take-up ever recorded in the capital with only c.106,000 sq.ft. of transactions signed in the three month period. However, large-scale expansion and relocation decisions are expected to remain firmly on hold until such time as companies can determine their long-term headcount and space requirements. Therefore, despite a pick-up in activity in the last few months, office leasing activity will remain subdued for the foreseeable future in comparison to the record volume of occupier activity witnessed in recent years. Amid reduced leasing activity, prime headline rents in Dublin have nevertheless remained steady at €700 per square metre. However, CBRE expect to see some softening over the coming months as new transactional evidence emerges. CBRE Ireland Bi-Monthly Research Report, September 2020
HOTEL
Galway Parosi Developments, a property development business linked with UK private equity firm Comhar Capital, has applied for planning permission to develop an eight-storey, 186-bed hotel in Galway. The new hotel will be located in the Briarhill Business Park and will represent a €35 million investment. The Irish Independent, 30th August
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