Malahide, Co Dublin FBD Hotels and Resorts (FBD H&R) has acquired the Grand Hotel in a deal worth approx. €55m. The Grand Hotel, which has 202 bedrooms, has been in the ownership of the Ryan family since 1974. The agreement, subject to approval by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, will see it become the seventh property in FBD H&R’s luxury four-star and four-star superior hotels and resorts portfolio. FBD H&R signalled that it plans to invest in upgrading the Grand Hotel over the coming period. The Business Post, 16th January
Dame Street, Dublin 2 A project to create a rooftop bar at the revamped Central Bank building, which stalled this month, is expected to resume in the coming weeks. Works stalled on the fit-out project due to financial issues that arose at Pure Fitout, the Belfast-based retail and commercial shop fitter, that is the main contractor on the project. Last year, NolaClan agreed a €1.2m annual rent deal to take on the space, which is spread across the top two floors of One Central Plaza. A spokesman for NolaClan, the hospitality group behind 37 Dawson Street and House, has now confirmed that works on the rooftop bar and restaurant will resume next month. The Business Post, 18th January
Santry, Dublin 9 Permission for a 221-bedroom purpose-built student accommodation scheme is being brought to market by Cushman & Wakefield at an asking price of €7.5m. The site comprises 0.57 acres and is on a prime corner pitch at the junction of Santry Avenue and Swords Road, close to Dublin City University. Architect John Fleming designed the scheme, which comprises 221 bedrooms of 151 sq. ft – 269 sq. ft in size, all within a seven-storey structure. On the ground floor there is a reception area, communal lounge/social room, co-working area, a library/meeting room, a games room, a gym, and a cafe. The Irish Times, 15th January
St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2 Aviva’s Irish Commercial Property Fund sold three prime properties off the corner of Grafton Street and St Stephen’s Green for approx. €10.5m. The purchaser is believed to be the Treacy Group which already owns shopping centres and retail parks in Kildare and Tipperary. The price is understood to be a substantial discount to the €13.5m which had been quoted by Savills. The deal comprises Numbers 1, 3 and 5 St Stephen’s Green, as well as a separate mews building to the rear at 7 Anne’s Lane, comprising 15,758 sq. ft. A feasibility study prepared by SSA Architects for Number 3 and the Anne’s Lane mews demonstrated potential for a development of 11 apartments, including an open courtyard. The Irish Independent, 15th January
Francis Street, Dublin 8 QRE Real Estate Advisers has brought the ground floor and basement levels at 144/145 Francis Street to market for lease with a guide of €45k pa on flexible terms. The property comprises a mid-terraced retail unit extending to approx. 1,180 sq. ft over ground and basement levels. The unit is suitable for a variety of uses, subject to planning permission and has excellent street frontage. The property was previously in use as a tattoo parlour and barber shop and is fitted out to provide for a retail occupier split over ground and first floor. The Business Post, 17th January
Donnybrook House, Dublin 4 The Brazilian Embassy is moving into Donnybrook House this week following a deal brokered by Savills on behalf of Mm Capital. The embassy has signed a 12-year lease and joins other tenants such as Mark Anthony Brands, DRES Properties, Spaces, Logicalis, Quooker, Raw Gyms and Giraffe Creche. Just 4,000 sq. ft remains in Donnybrook House. Savills Press Release, 17th January
Monaghan County Council is seeking approx. €4m for three prime industrial development areas, a short distance east of Monaghan town. The three areas (A, B, C) are being brought to market by Avison Young, and are approx. 16 acres in total (€250k per acre), comprising of area A of 2.4 acres, area B of 6 acres and area C of 7.6 acres. The lands are positioned in an accessible and high-profile location off the N2 at Annahagh Roundabout. The Irish Times, 15th January
North Docklands Yahoo has moved into new offices at the EXO building in the Dublin Docklands. The 35,703 sq. ft space will be used to house staff working in engineering, R&D, legal, finance, sales, operations, customer care and security, the web services company said. Yahoo has been in Ireland for 29 years and its last office move was 10 years ago when it took a nearby unit in the Docklands that could hold up to 450 staff. The Irish Independent, 21st January
Rathnew, Co. Wicklow Permission is being sought for the construction of 99 homes and a créche at Ballybeg on a site zoned residential comprising of 9.85 acres, owned by Rathnew Partnership. The lands, subject of this application, are one of three separate sites which adjoin each other. Separate applications have been submitted in relation to the two other sites. The 99 houses will consist of 18 four-bedroom homes, 55 three-beds and 26 one and two-bedroom homes. The western boundary of the site abuts the N11 motorway, between junctions 16 and 17. The Irish Independent, 17th January
Malahide Road, Dublin 17 Plans are in the pipeline for a €42m apartment development. The application, lodged by Kilbarron ICAV Sub Fund 1, will see the creation of 138 units at site 10 on Mayne River Avenue. The JSA Architects-designed scheme will see a mix of one and two-bedroom apartments across two blocks rising to eleven storeys. A planning decision is expected in late Q1 2025. The Business Post, 18th January
County Roscommon Plans have been submitted to Roscommon County Council for a €25m residential development. The development designed by Turner Design Services, proposes 99 residential units comprising 97 houses and two apartments. The scheme, located in Monksland will see a mix of two, three and four-bedroom units and a crèche facility. A planning decision is expected in late February. The Business Post, 18th January
Ratoath, Co Meath Planning has been approved for a €25m Large Scale Residential Development at Ballybin Road. The planning was for the demolition of two existing houses, and agricultural sheds to allow for the construction of 141 residential units. Designed by John Fleming Architects, the scheme proposes 117 houses and 24 apartments. The Business Post, 18th January
Blarney, Co. Cork Plans for a €50m Large Residential Development at Shean Road in Blarney has been approved by Cork City Council. The project for Clockstrike Limited will see a mix of 130 houses and 116 apartments built over the coming years. The Ringwood LRD scheme will bring housing supply to the Cork town, which will also see the creation of a 61-space childcare facility. The Business Post, 18th January
Oughterard, Co Galway The green light has been given by Galway County Council for a €10m residential development in Oughterard. The project for Solus Holdings ILC and designed by ONOM Architects, will see 35 houses and eight two-bedroom apartments constructed on the Main Street of the Galway village. The Business Post, 18th January
Portmarnock, Co Dublin Works are expected to commence in the coming weeks on the construction of CN1 – CN7 blocks, comprising 107 units, as part of a €51m residential development on Station Road in Portmarnock. The Maynetown Large Residential Development for Quintain will see a total of 195 units delivered over the coming years in a mix of 169 houses and 26 duplexes/apartments. The Business Post, 18th January
2024 Land Sales New data released by CBRE has shown that land sale transactions topped more than €900m in 2024, with €415m worth of land sales recorded in the final 3 months of 2024. The top five deals of the year represented half of the total spend in 2024 and approx. 60% of all land sales were linked to the residential sector. The level of spending on development land was approx. three-times the total spendings recorded in 2023. In Q1 of 2024, just under €50m worth of land sales were recorded in Ireland, with developers feeling uncertain about purchases due to the impact of higher interest rates and building inflation. The Business Post, 14th January
Cost Rental The Minister for Education has confirmed that teachers will have housing reserved for them in cost-rental developments to alleviate recruitment shortages at both primary and secondary school levels. Cost-rental is available for those with a net household income of less than €66k a year in Dublin and €59k elsewhere in the State. It is typically between 20% and 40% below market rent. The high price of rental accommodation for young teachers is one of the factors that has led to acute shortages especially in the greater Dublin area. The Government’s Housing for All plan envisages the building of 18k cost-rental units between now and 2030 though the targets may well be revised given the demand for the scheme. The Irish Times, 18th January
Luas Extension The State agency behind the proposed Finglas Luas extension rejected submissions from Dublin City Council for the tram line to cross the M50 to a park-and-ride facility near Dublin Airport. Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), which is developing the 4km extension from Broombridge to Charlestown, also rejected a proposal from the council to have the line link up with the proposed Metrolink near Santry. TII’s preferred route would see the line terminate at Charlestown, east of the junction of the M50 and N2, with a large park-and-ride facility at St Margaret’s Road. A planning application was submitted in November and the line is expected to be built within four years of permission being granted. The Irish Times, 17th January
Carna, Co Galway Plans are to be lodged with An Bord Pleanála for a 450MW wind farm, with 30 turbines more than 304m high. The 30-turbine Sceirde Rocks Offshore Wind Farm by Fuinneamh Sceirde Teoranta (“Fuinneamh”) is to be located 5km to 11.5km off the west coast, with Carna in Galway the nearest settlement. Accounts recently filed by Fuinneamh show the company has already invested €31.7m on project costs in 2023 and 2024 and is to bring investment of up to €70m in local community initiatives. Subject to the 10-year consent being granted, construction is currently expected to begin in 2026, with the first generation of electricity from 2030. The wind farm is to be operational for 38 years. The Irish Times, 16th January
An Bord Pleanála has published its decision record on green energy project applications. The board said it has granted planning permission to approx. two thirds of the 69 wind and solar applications in the last two years. It said it approved 47 wind and solar development applications in 2023 and 2024 and refused permission for 21 proposals. Just one of these refusals was for a solar project while the rest were wind energy developments. The board also partially permitted one other wind energy project. The Irish Times, 17th January
Apollo made a 16% return on €626m worth of commercial loans it acquired in 2017 and which were primarily linked to the Harcourt Group. The loans were bought by Apollo for just €300.2m from NAMA. Apollo used a Luxembourg special purpose vehicle, EPF Acquisitions 65, to acquire them. The loans had been held against a raft of assets, including six Harcourt-controlled shopping centres. The shopping centres were the last remaining significant asset charged to EPF, and these were sold in July 2023. A guide price of €100m had initially been put on the shopping centres. They were sold for a reported €75m. Accounts for the Apollo vehicle in Luxembourg show that at the end of 2023, it had received cash collections of €348m in relation to the loans, with no amounts remaining apparently outstanding at that time. The Irish Independent, 20th January
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