20th June (Issue 402)
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
Tralee, Co Kerry Cushman & Wakefield is guiding €7.5m for a mixed-use scheme in Tralee Town Centre. This mixed-use property portfolio comprises 52 apartment units, two office suites, and a 390-space multi-storey car park. Currently used for student accommodation and holiday rentals, the apartments generated €719k in gross income in 2022, with near-full occupancy throughout the academic year. The car park, generating €227k in gross revenue in 2022, also includes a telecom mast with a 15-year lease earning €14k annually. The projected income for 2023 across all three income streams is €1.04m. Tralee Town Centre is available for purchase in three lots: Apartments (€6.25m), Car Park (€1.25m), or the entire property (€7.5m). Cushman & Wakefield Brochure, 14th June
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Cork Street, Dublin 8 A private family office has paid €2.5m for a boutique apartment scheme and a ground-floor commercial unit in the Liberties area of Dublin. The subject property, Saoirse House, had been offered to the market originally by Owen Reilly last September at a guide price of €2.2m. Saoirse House comprises a block of five A-rated apartments along with a ground-floor commercial unit extending to 1,033 sq. ft. The units comprise a mix of two one-beds (643 sq. ft), a two-bedroom duplex (781 sq. ft), a three-bedroom apartment (1,104 sq. ft) and a two-bedroom penthouse (946 sq. ft) and came for sale fully furnished. In terms of their potential income, the selling agent marketed them on the basis that they could expect to generate approx. €136.2k pa. The commercial unit has been let on a new 10-year lease at a rent of €20k pa. The Irish Times, 14th June
OFFICE
Lower Mount Street, Dublin 2 Knight Frank is guiding €9.5m for 33-41 Lower Mount Street, an office building with potential for refurbishment or redevelopment. The property, a five-storey over-basement block of 22,942 sq. ft with 39 car-parking spaces, is home to the Irish League of Credit Unions (ILCU) while the OPW occupies 6,500 sq. ft of the building’s office accommodation and six car-parking spaces under a four-year, nine-month lease until January 2024. The Irish Times, 14th June
Dame Lane, Dublin 2 Hennebique Studios at 5 Dame Lane was sold to Nadir Properties in an off-market transaction. The property was let last year to Pembroke Hall, a provider of flexible office accommodation. It was let at €500k pa, indicating a value of up to €10m. The Sunday Times, 18th June
HOSPITALITY
City Centre, Dublin Dublin City Council has blocked two new hotels in the city centre, warning there is an “overconcentration” that is damaging the “vitality of the inner city”. It is first time the council has used a new clause in the city development plan to prevent further tourist accommodation, causing anger in the tourism sector. Fáilte Ireland said there should be “an evidence-based approach” from Dublin City Council to accommodation provision, “to ensure a suitable balance is found between needs of the local community and providing appropriate accommodation stock for visitors”. City ID, the Dutch hospitality group, has been told it cannot build a 105-bedroom hotel on a derelict site on Capel Street beside Jack Nealon’s pub. A proposal by Urban Capital Limited, an investment firm, to convert an existing building on Thomas Street being used as offices into a small four-unit aparthotel was also refused permission. The Business Post, 17th June
RESIDENTIAL / DEVELOPMENT
Residential Property Prices The rate of average residential property price increases has eased to 3.6% in the year to the end of April, according to the latest national price index from the CSO. This is down from a 4% increase in the year to March 2023 and the high value of 15.1% in the 12 months to February and March 2022. The CSO’s residential property index showed that prices in Dublin rose by 1% and prices outside Dublin by 5.6% in the 12 months up to the end of April. In April 2023, 3,262 dwelling purchases by households at market prices were filed with the Revenue Commissioners, down by 5.3% compared with the 3,446 purchases in April 2022. The RPPI is designed to measure the change in the average level of prices paid by households for residential properties sold in Ireland. The RPPI specifically excludes non-household purchases, non-market purchases and self-builds, where the land is purchased separately. The Business Post, 14th June
Blackrock, Co Dublin Oakmount has instructed joint agents Knight Frank and Savills to offer a 9.86 acre site to the market at a reduced guide price of €36m (down from €45m). Located on lands formerly owned by the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul, the property at Temple Hill, comes for sale with full planning permission secured in 2019 from An Bord Pleanála for the development of 291 one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments. 284 of the units will be distributed across 13 blocks ranging in height from one to eight storeys, while a further six units will be accommodated within the existing protected structure of St Teresa’s House following its subdivision and conversion. The development will also provide parking spaces for 272 cars, 666 bicycles and 20 motorcycles. Oakmount acquired the Temple Hill site for €30m in 2017. The price paid by the company represented a premium of 20% on the €25m guided by WK Nowlan Real Estate Advisors when it brought the lands to the market on behalf of the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul. The Irish Times, 14th June
Government Housing Spend The Government failed to spend €1bn of the €4bn earmarked for social and affordable housing projects last year. Under its Housing for All strategy, launched in 2021, the Government pledged to spend €20bn on housing over the next five years, including €4bn in both 2022 and 2023. However, new figures obtained from the Department of Housing show it spent just 75% of its original allocation last year. The figures show capital expenditure on social housing, direct builds and acquisitions, came to just under €1.7bn in 2022 while Government-backed loans to AHBs, also for social and affordable housing projects, amounted to €1.15bn. A further €100m was spent on various Government housing initiatives while an additional €51m was spent on housing projects by the LDA. When combined, the total spend on housing by the Government came to €3bn, €1bn less than the budgetary allocation. The Irish Times, 19th June
Galway Eleven parcels of land across Galway city have been left “unzoned” following a row between the local authority and a planning watchdog. The unzoned parcels of land are located at some of Galway city’s key growth areas such as Roscam, Castlegar and Coolagh. As it stands, the lands fall outside of the normal planning system, and it is unclear if they can be legally used for any purpose. The situation has come about after months of disagreement between elected officials in Galway and the Office of the Planning Regulator, over the recently adopted Galway City Development Plan. The Irish Times, 18th June
North Docklands, Dublin A development company of Johnny Ronan’s has won its appeal against a High Court decision to quash permission for an increase in the height of two apartment blocks that form part of a larger development in the north Dublin docklands. An Bord Pleanála had approved height rises for two blocks – one from seven to 13 storeys and the other from seven to 11 floors – in a 500-unit development proposed by Spencer Place Development Company (SPDC). In October 2020 the High Court overturned this permission in proceedings brought against the board by Dublin City Council. SPDC, which was a notice party in the case, was allowed to appeal the ruling on a single ground asking whether the board has jurisdiction to grant permission for developments that materially contravene a planning scheme. The Irish Times, 16th June
Glenageary, South Dublin Plans by Redrock Glenageary for a seven-storey, 140-unit apartment scheme for Glenageary in south Dublin are facing local opposition. The application is a renewed attempt to build on the site after An Bord Pleanála in April 2022 refused planning permission for a 147-unit build-to-rent SHD. That plan had also been opposed locally. The new Large Scale Residential Development scheme at the junction of Sallynoggin Road and Glenageary Avenue at Glenageary roundabout would include a neighbourhood centre that would have commercial and retail units, a public plaza and a childcare facility. Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council has received 36 submissions concerning the new proposal. The Irish Times, 14th June
Cherry Orchard, West Dublin More than 1,000 social and affordable homes in blocks up to 15-storeys tall are to be built by the LDA and Dublin City Council in Cherry Orchard in west Dublin. The council has long sought to build homes on its large land bank just north of Park West railway station and to the east of the M50. However, despite several proposals over the last decade, development has not progressed. The scheme will involve the construction of 1,131 homes and 251,875 sq. ft of retail and community space, to accommodate up to 2,000 residents. The homes will be a mix of one bedroom, two-bedroom and three-bedroom apartments in the initial phase, with two- and three-bedroom own-door homes in subsequent phases. A total of 40,644 sq. ft is reserved for retail use, while there are plans for two creches and up to 193,750 sq. ft. of commercial/enterprise use located near to the M50 edge of the site. The Irish Times, 14th June
Compulsory Purchase Orders (CPO) More than 250 CPOs have been issued by Limerick City and County Council since 2019 with the local authority generating €7m in sales after refurbishing the properties. In 2022 alone, the council acquired 43 properties under its CPO activation programme with the aim of turning those properties into homes. Similarly, Waterford City and County Council was awarded €28m in funding to repurpose derelict and vacant properties within the centre of the city, following the authority achieving a high rate of converting derelict homes under Government schemes such as the repair and lease scheme. The Housing for All plan set a target for local authorities of 2,500 identified vacant properties in their areas to be acquired, repaired, and then sold to homebuyers. The Irish Times, 15th June
Banking and Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) report A new report by the BPFI reveals that individual first-time buyers (FTBs) of new homes in Ireland had an average income of €67,000 in 2022, significantly higher than the national average of just under €50,000. Solo FTB applicants accounted for 16.5% of all FTB mortgage drawdowns for new homes and 33% for existing homes. Despite a 26% increase in house prices, the share of solo applicants remained stable. This can be attributed to a 13% increase in average income and the introduction of the government’s Help-to-Buy scheme, which contributed to larger loan sizes. Critics argue that such schemes may drive up housing prices. The Irish Times, 20th June
OTHER
Hooke & MacDonald Report A new report on the residential investment market by agent Hooke & MacDonald has revealed significant new trends in the sector, including a slowdown in PRS investment being picked up by the social and affordable sector. It also delves into transactional activity over 2022 and 2023 and looks at the likely scenarios for the sector in the year ahead. Among the agent’s findings in the report, is a continued focus of investment interest in the multi-family/PRS sector in the past 15 months. According to Hooke & MacDonald, some deals that were listed as signed in Q3 and Q4 were generally agreed in the first half of 2022, and in some cases in late 2021, so the continued strength of the rental market and portfolio performance helped ensure forward sale investment deals that were agreed in early 2022 proceeded. There was a relatively low level of investment transactions in the first quarter of 2023 with a total spend of just over €470m. Breaking that down into sectors, approx. 51% of that, or €240m of the total, was on multi-family; 24.5%, or €116m, on industrial; 18%, approx. €85m, on offices; and just 4%, €18m, on retail. The Business Post, 17th June
National Children’s Hospital, Dublin There are fresh concerns that the National Children’s Hospital could be delayed even further, as the lead contractor has been told to stop construction on a number of operating theatres. It is understood the latest potential obstacle could cost the project tens of millions to rectify. The National Paediatric Hospital Development Board (NPHDB)’s agent wrote to the contractor BAM, at the end of last month regarding 11 of the 22 operating theatres in the facility. The final bill for the children’s hospital, currently put at €1.4bn, remains unclear. The Irish Independent, 20th June
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