20th November (Issue 173)
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.
OFFICE
Fibonacci Square, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4 Fibonacci Property ICAV, a joint venture between Ronan Group Real Estate and Colony Capital, has signed a 25-year lease agreement (rent undisclosed) with Facebook for the entire 350,000 sq.ft. office space at Fibonacci Square, Merrion Road currently under construction. The new buildings at Fibonacci Square will frame the entrance to the wider Facebook 14 acre Ballsbridge campus to incorporate the refurbishment of the existing AIB-occupied buildings. The Ballsbridge campus will be the largest single office letting in the history of the State. The Irish Independent, 15th November
No. 12 Merrion Square, Dublin 2 has been placed on the market for sale by Lisney with a guide price of €5m (€692 psf). The property is a Georgian office building with NIA of 7,228 sq.ft. and nine car parking spaces to the rear currently generating c. €528.5k p.a. from a number of short term licence agreements (NIY 9.75%). The Irish Times, 14th November
26 – 30 Upper Abbey Street, Dublin 1 occupied by Spar as its flagship store, is being offered for sale by Coldwell Banker Commercial seeking €4.95m (€723 psf). The 6,846 sq.ft. property is producing rent of c. €392.6k p.a. (NIY 7.3%) and is located beside the Jervis Shopping Centre in Dublin city centre. The Irish Times, 14th November
Stephen Court, St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2 Irish Life has agreed flexible leases for c. 42,000 sq.ft. of office space in Stephen Court in the past 12 months at €45 psf to Intercom (15,000 sq.ft.), KBC Bank Ireland (14,600 sq.ft.) and Game on Media (12,800 sq.ft.) The Irish Times, 14th November
Citywest Business Campus, Dublin 24 global engineering company DPS has agreed to lease 22,500 sq.ft. of offices in Block B at Lake Drive, Citywest Business Campus for annual rent of €545k (€24.22 psf). CDK Global has also agreed to rent 5,300 sq.ft. of the ground floor of Block A for €119k p.a (€22.45 psf). It is further reported that Davy Hickey Properties has agreed to rent the only remaining vacant offices in the campus to an undisclosed international finance company, and Adobe Systems has rented an additional 8,500 sq.ft. increasing its overall office space to 42,000 sq.ft. The Irish Times, 14th November
RETAIL
Gateway Retail Park, Galway Harvey Norman is to open a 60,000 sq.ft. flagship store as part of the 125,000 sq.ft. second phase of the Gateway Retail Park in Knocknacarra, Galway currently under construction. Harvey Norman’s rent is reported to be in the region of €900k p.a. (€7.20 psf). The overall retail space at the park managed by Sigma Retail Partners will extend to c. 325,000 sq.ft. once the extension is completed and will be the first large-scale retail space to be completed outside Dublin since 2008, and the first in Galway for more than two decades. The Irish Times, 14th November
RESIDENTIAL
Construction Information Services (CIS) Report Year to end of September identifies 1,100 projects, comprising 26,500 units, which applied for planning permission across the country (27% increase YoY). All regions experienced substantial growth in planning permission applications bar Dublin at just 1%. The report identifies that 466 individual projects moved to on-site stage (4% increase YoY) equating to over 14,000 units if all completed and Dublin was also identified as the only region where the number of projects moving on-site decreased to 4,800 units. Over 720 residential projects obtained planning permission for year to end of September, equating to an increase of 16% YoY and over 20,000 units if all of the projects are completed (33% increase YoY). The Irish Independent, 19th November
Douglas, Cork Cohalan Dowling is guiding €1.25m (€169 psf) for a five bed, 7,400 sq.ft. residential property “Lavender Heights” on Rochestown Road, Cork. The property sits on 4.7 acres and includes an indoor swimming pool, bar, gym and putting green. The property is located five-minute drive from Douglas village, 20-minute drive to Cork city centre and less than 15 minutes to Cork airport. The Sunday Business Post, 18th November
Killiney, Co Dublin DNG is guiding €1.35m (€374 psf) for a five bed detached, 3,606 sq.ft. residential property located on Ballinclea Road in Killiney, Co. Dublin. The property is located a short walk from Killiney shopping centre and is close to Dalkey. The Sunday Business Post, 18th November
Morehampton Lane, Dublin 4 Sherry Fitzgerald has brought four new residential builds in Dublin 4 to market for sale. The properties comprise three, four bed, three storey houses (2,799 sq.ft. each) and one three-bed, two storey house (2,153 sq.ft.) The four beds are guiding €2.25m each (€804 psf) and the three bed is guiding €1.9m (€882 psf). The scheme was developed by Richard Barrett’s Bartra Homes. The Sunday Business Post, 18th November
MIXED USE
Apollo House, Dublin City Centre Marlet Property Group has acquired the 0.72 acre site of the former Apollo House office block in Dublin city centre for a reported €40m. The site has full planning permission for an 11-storey office building extending to 135,863 sq.ft. over a double basement. The site is also immediately adjacent to Marlet’s existing property holdings on Townsend Street. The Irish Independent, 15th November
Waterford Portfolio A portfolio of six Waterford properties, five of them in the city centre and the sixth on the Main Street, in the seaside town of Tramore, is due to be auctioned as six separate lots on 29th November by Sherry FitzGerald John Rohan guiding €2.3m in total. The most valuable lot seeking €950k is 4/5 Michael Street, a 12,700 sq.ft. four-storey terraced property let to Poundland Limited trading as Dealz retail store at €108k p.a. on a 10-year lease since November 2012 (NIY 10.48%). Michael Street is Waterford’s main shopping destination and a street which is to see construction of a major new €58m development including a shopping centre and multi-storey car park. The Irish Independent, 15th November
HOTEL / LICENSED PREMISES
The Conrad Hotel, Dublin 2 The Irish Independent has reported that the five-star, 192-bed Conrad Hotel on Earlsfort Terrace will be brought to market for sale by CBRE in early 2019 guiding €120m – €125m. The Hotel underwent a €13m refurbishment two years ago. The Irish Independent, 19th November
Sackville Lounge, Dublin 1 Joint agents Lisney and Knight Frank are guiding €700k (€274 psf) for the Sackville Lounge, located adjacent to the former Clerys department store. The property consists of 2,551 sq.ft. over four floors. The Irish Independent, 15th November
DEVELOPMENT / LAND
Milltown, Dublin 6 Agents Finnegan Menton and GVA Donal O Buachalla are guiding €7m for a 1 acre site which includes the former Murphy & Gunn BMW dealership and adjoining site to the rear located at Milltown. The site is zoned residential and has potential for 67 apartments in three blocks according to a feasibility study by Reddy Architects. The Sunday Business Post, 18th November
Cabra, Dublin 7 CBRE is guiding €6m (€5m per acre) for a 1.21 acre site located on Fassaugh Avenue, Cabra, Dublin 7 with full planning permission for a 194 bed student accommodation development. The site is occupied by the former Matts of Cabra to the front of the site and the rear of the property is currently vacant and undeveloped. A feasibility study identifies that the asset offers the potential for a Build-to-Rent scheme comprising of 140 apartments. A separate feasibility study was also carried out for a Co-Living scheme that could provide for 250 bed spaces (215 sq.ft. each) and 5,382 sq.ft. of flexible work space. The site is zoned Z1: Sustainable Residential Neighbourhood, with a portion of the site zoned Z3: Neighbourhood Centre under the Dublin City Development Plan 2016-2022. The Irish Independent, 15th November
Cork City ERA Downey McCarthy is guiding €6.5m (€10.3m per acre) for a 0.63 acre site located at Morrison’s Quay, Fitton Street East, Catherine Street and and Keeffe Street, Cork City. The agent notes potential uses could include office, residential, educational, leisure or institutional. The Irish Times, 13th November
INDUSTRIAL
Damastown Way, Dublin 15 William Harvey is guiding €1.9m (€93.25 psf) for a 20,376 sq.ft. industrial and office property let to Rennicks Group on a 10 year FRI lease from November 2017 at €125k pa (NIY 6.07%) with an open market rent review in year five and no break.The Sunday Business Post, 18th November
OTHER
Blackrock, Co Dublin The Department of Education has purchased a period house on 2.94 acres in Blackrock for €8m. The property includes 50m of road frontage on the same road as Newpark Comprehensive School but when redeveloped will not be linked to this school. The department has announced plans to establish 42 new schools over the next four years. The Irish Times, 14th November
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