20th December (Issue 77)
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.
Please note that the next Origin Capital Weekly Irish Property Review will issue on Tuesday 10th January 2017. Happy Christmas from the team at Origin Capital and we look forward to working with you in 2017.
LOAN / PORTFOLIO SALES
Project Tolka Portfolio: Colony Capital is set to acquire NAMA’s c. €1.5bn par value Project Tolka loan portfolio, which includes prime Dublin properties mainly linked to developers John Flynn, Paddy Kelly and the McCormack family. The key assets in the portfolio include the Burlington Plaza office complex (c. €250m value), the Clarion Hotel in Liffey Valley and Paddy Power’s Belfield HQ. It is believed that loans linked to Carton House Hotel were removed from the portfolio by NAMA and are to be sold separately. NAMA also removed several major residential assets from the portfolio in a move related to its target of building 20,000 new homes by 2020. The Irish Independent, Friday 16th December
RETAIL
Liffey Valley Shopping Centre: The sale of Liffey Valley Shopping Centre and c. 17 acres of adjacent development land in west Dublin has been completed. Bayerische Versorgungskammer, Germany’s largest public pensions group, is believed to have paid in excess of €630m for the centre, which former owners Hines, HSBC Alternative Investments and the Grosvenor Group put on the market in July. The c. 764,000 sq. ft. centre has over 100 shops, 3,500 parking spaces and includes the recently opened Western End extension. In addition, planning permission was granted in August for a further c. 237,000 sq. ft. extension, alongside a new civic plaza and a 2,500-seat Olympic-sized indoor ice rink. The Irish Times, 19th December
OFFICE
City Quay: The Irish Times reports that Irish Life is in advanced negotiations to forward purchase City Quay, a new 118,000 sq. ft. office block currently under construction in Dublin 2. The company has reportedly outbid five overseas investment funds with its offer of over €125m for the eight storey block, which has been pre-let to Grant Thornton for an agreed rent roll in excess of €6m, offering an initial net return of c. 4.65%. It is believed that the construction and site costs for the project will be c. €70m, leaving profits of c. €55m to be shared between NAMA, Oaktree Capital Management, The Bennett Group and a small number of private investors. The Irish Times, 17th December
32 Molesworth Street: The Irish Times reports that Maple Fund Services (Maple FS) has agreed to lease Green REIT’s newly developed office building, located at 32 Molesworth Street in Dublin 2. The 32,000 sq. ft. property is being let on a 20-year lease (with break options in years 10 and 15) for c. €1.65m p.a., which equates to c. €51.70 per sq. ft. The property is the first of several new office developments by Green REIT to be leased, and the company has stated that the letting will enhance both their income profile and weighted average unexpired lease term. The Irish Times, 15th December
Shelbourne Road Office Complex: October Management Ltd, a company belonging to developer David Daly, has lodged a planning application with Dublin City Council seeking to undertake a redevelopment project in Ballsbridge, Dublin 4. The application proposes to demolish the existing five-storey, 40,000 sq. ft. IPC House at 35-39 Shelbourne Road and construct a 130,000 sq. ft. 5-7 storey over basement scheme, containing 120,000 sq. ft. of offices, retail/café space and 26 basement car parking spaces. Mr Daly is also working on the redevelopment of Franklin House in Ballsbridge, which will be developed as a 30,000 sq. ft. office building. NAMA Wine Lake, 18th December
HOTEL
The Temple Bar Hotel: The Temple Bar Hotel in Dublin city centre has been sold to The Ascott Ltd, a Singapore-listed real estate company, for c. €55.1m in an off-market transaction. The Ascott Ltd is a wholly-owned subsidiary of CapitaLand Ltd, and currently operates over 29,000 serviced residence units in America, Asia, Europe and the Middle East, with over 22,000 units also under development. The Irish Independent, 16th December
Dublin Airport Hotels: GC Hotels has received planning permission for two expansion projects beside its existing Radisson Blu Hotel at Dublin Airport, which will have a combined cost of c. €60m. Planning permission has been granted for a six-storey extension to the existing hotel (providing an additional 131 new bedrooms) and for the construction of a new seven-storey, 144-bedroom hotel beside the existing premises. The projects will bring the total room count at the two hotels to over 500. The Irish Independent, 16th December
Dublin 8 Hotel: Realmside Ltd has applied to Dublin City Council to construct a 234-bedroom hotel in the Liberties area of Dublin 8. The project would see the existing 3,000 sq. ft. structures at 118-128 The Coombe demolished and replaced with a newly constructed six-storey 120,000 sq. ft. hotel. NAMA Wine Lake, 18th December
Stockhole Lane Hotel: Carra Shore Hotel (Dublin) Ltd has sought planning permission for a 427-bedroom hotel on Stockhole Lane at Clonshaugh, near Dublin Airport. The proposed 10-storey development would contain 317 bedrooms, 110 suites, leisure facilities, meeting rooms and 461 parking spaces. The Sunday Times, 18th December
Andrews Lane Theatre Hotel: Appalachian Property Holdings Ltd has sought planning permission for a 155-bedroom ‘compact luxury’ hotel near Dame Street in Dublin city centre. The development will involve the demolition of the former Andrews Lane Theatre, which is currently being used as a nightclub, and the construction of a nine-storey over lower ground-floor hotel. The hotel will contain compact bedrooms of approximately 150-170 sq. ft. and minimal amenities (there will be a reception and coffee dock, but no restaurant or bar). It is anticipated that the hotel will be run as an independent brand with rooms priced at c. €150 per night. The total investment, including site purchase, is estimated at €21m. The Irish Times, 16th December
RESIDENTIAL / LAND
Malahide Apartments: Agents Hooke & MacDonald will be guiding in excess of €40m for 105 apartments in The Casino apartment development in Malahide when it is offered for sale in January. The complex contains 115 high quality apartments, ten of which were sold to private investors when it was developed in 2005. The portfolio contains 85 two-bedroom and 20 one-bedroom homes, and the proposed purchase prices equates to c. €381k per apartment. The current rental income for the apartments is c. €1.9m p.a., however based on recent lettings it is believed the market value of rents is c. €2.37m. If this market rate were to be achieved, this would equate to a yield of c. 5.93%. It is expected that the sale will attract significant interest from both Irish and international investors. The Irish Times, 14th December.
Horizon Logistics Park: Green REIT is spending c. €12.25m to acquire c. 164 acres of land located adjacent to its existing holding at Horizon Logistics Park at Dublin Airport, bringing its total land holding in the park to c. 264 acres. According to the company, the acquisition will allow them to capitalise on the increase in both demand and rental values for well-located modern logistics units. The Irish Times, 15th December
Poolbeg Special Development Zone (SDZ): Construction of up to 3,000 apartments will be permitted on the former Irish Glass Bottle site under plans for a new urban quarter on Dublin’s Poolbeg peninsula. It is anticipated that 80% of the c. 37-acre site will be set aside for the construction of new homes, all of which will be apartments, with the remaining 20% to be an office and retail ‘buffer zone’, which will separate the housing from the nearby industrial land banks. The apartments will mostly be in blocks under nine-storeys, however some blocks of 14-16 storeys will also be permitted. The draft Poolbeg SDZ scheme will be available for public consultation next month, and is expected to be finalised by next May, after which landowners will be able to apply for planning permission which cannot be appealed to An Bord Pleanála. The Irish Times reports that the document contains no provision for the development of a proposed ‘Hollywood style’ film studio on the site. The Irish Times, 16th December
Brunswick Street Student Accommodation: Global Student Accommodation (GSA), an international student accommodation specialist, have been granted planning permission to develop 571 student rooms and associated retail space on Brunswick Street in Dublin City Centre by An Bord Pleanála. The new project is the latest element of the company’s plans to invest €250m in the provision of student accommodation in Dublin over the next five years. The Irish Independent, 16th December
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