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.
HOSPITALITY
Dublin Airport Two hotels near Dublin Airport, with a combined 423 rooms, have been sold to the MHL Hotel Collection in a deal believed to be worth in the region of €95m. CBRE Hotels and JLL, on behalf of Tifco Hotel Group, announced the sale of The Crowne Plaza Hotel and The Holiday Inn Express to the hotel group. The 4-star Crowne Plaza Hotel features 209 bedrooms and suites, while the three-star Holiday Inn Express comprises 214 guestrooms. Both hotels are located close to Dublin Airport and have an affiliation with the IHG brand. MHL Collection was founded in 2013 by partners John Malone, Paul Higgins and John Lally. The acquisition marks the 15th and 16th hotels added to their Irish portfolio. Subject to regulatory approvals, the transaction is expected to be completed by the end of summer. The Business Post, 17th July
Merchant’s Quay, Cork City The arrival of Wings World Cuisine, an all you can eat buffet restaurant with late night karaoke, will end a 13-year vacancy on the Merchant’s Quay shopping centre’s upper floor. The new Cork city centre venue, in which €1.2m will be invested, will extend across 17,000 sq. ft on the first floor, incorporating the former Kylemore premises and several additional units. It will include a 280-seat restaurant as well as three karaoke rooms which will remain open until 2am. The deal to secure Wings World Cuisine for Merchant’s Quay, on behalf of landlord Clarendon Properties, was negotiated by Savills, who has signed the tenant on a 25-year lease with five yearly reviews. The Examiner, 15th July
MIXED USE
Ballsbridge, Dublin 4 The Health Service Executive is understood to be closing in on the purchase for approx. €40m of the former St. Mary’s nursing home, located on a 13.47-acre site immediately adjacent to St. Vincent’s University and Private hospitals. St. Mary’s was offered quietly to prospective purchasers by Avison Young on behalf of the Religious Sisters of Charity earlier this year. A strategic masterplan drawn up by Reddy Architecture + Urbanism in preparation for the sale identified the site’s potential for a “landmark multi-use development” comprising of approx. 360 apartments across a range of tenures. The HSE’s move to acquire the St. Mary’s campus is understood to be part of a longer-term strategic plan for the development of healthcare infrastructure at St. Vincent’s University Hospital and on the lands surrounding it. A portion of the hospital’s existing site is already earmarked for the development of the new National Maternity Hospital. The Irish Times, 15th July
Clontarf, Dublin 3 A mixed-use investment property in Clontarf is among the more valuable lots being offered at BidX1’s online auction on Thursday, July 23rd. It is one of 48 lots which have combined guide prices of approx. €14m. Located at the corner of Vernon Avenue and Seafield Road, the Clontarf property is known as Merchamp Centre and has a €2.1m guide price. A standalone two-storey building, extending to 3,772 sq. ft, it comprises three ground-floor retail units together with nine offices on the first floor. All the units are generating rent which totals €221,600 pa equating to a 9.85% gross yield while its operating income nets to €181,942, equating to a 7.88% NIY. Its first-floor offices, which were recently refurbished, are occupied under licence. Occupiers and customers also benefit from 20 parking spaces. The ground floor retails units include an off license, a corner shop and an insomnia coffee shop. The Irish Independent, 16th July
Killarney, Co. Kerry French drinks group Spirit France Diffusion has bought the site of Killarney Brewing and Distilling, following a long and sometimes fractious sales process for the four-acre-plus site with distillery and visitor centre. A price has not been disclosed, but the property has been on the market for a year. The 61,354sq. ft distillery facility on 4.2 acres in Fossa was put on the market last October by Cushman & Wakefield with a guide price of €5.5m. Opened in 2022, it was intended to become a tourism and entertainment hub with a visitor centre, gift shop and 260-seater restaurant. The Sunday Independent reported that a €4.8m offer made for the site last December had been followed by a higher bid in April made by a local publican and farmer. But in early May, the Irish Examiner reported that a South African firm had subsequently bid €5.895m to buy the site. The Irish Independent, 19th July
Sandyford, Dublin 18 A prominent corner property in Sandyford Business District (“SBD”) has been brought to the market by Agar with a guide price in excess of €2.75m. The Mentor Books building at 43 Furze Road extends to approx. 10,000 sq. ft and occupies a 0.5 acre site with more than 300 feet of frontage onto Furze Road and Blackthorn Road. The Mentor building is close to Beacon Hospital and a range of established occupiers including Woodie’s, Brooks, Spirit Motor Group, Frank Keane, Polestar, Volkswagen and Toyota dealerships. Today, SBD extends across more than 400 acres and accommodates approx. 1,000 businesses employing more than 26,000 people, alongside a residential population exceeding 6,000. The Business Post, 15th July
INDUSTRIAL
Rathcoole, Dublin 24 A detached high-bay warehouse and office facility in Greenogue Business Park in Rathcoole has been brought to the market with a €3.75m guide price. Harvey has been appointed sole selling agent for 537 Greenogue Business Park, a self-contained industrial facility extending to approx. 19,957 sq. ft on a secure 1.04 acre site. The property comprises 17,807 sq. ft of warehouse accommodation, together with 1,075 sq. ft of ground-floor offices and staff facilities and a further 1,075 sq. ft of first-floor storage space. The warehouse offers a 10-metre clear internal height, providing high-bay accommodation suitable for a range of logistics, manufacturing and distribution uses. Located within Greenogue Business Park, the warehouse is approx. 1.1km from the Rathcoole Interchange on the N7, offering direct access to the M50, the Outer Ring Road and the national motorway network. The Business Post, 16th July
RETAIL
South William Street, Dublin 2 Numbers 57 South William Street and 1 Coppinger Row are generating total rental income of €427,000 from three tenants and are being offered to the market by Colliers in one lot guiding €6m. Should a sale proceed at that level, the incoming owner would be in line for a NIY of 6.47%. Number 1 Coppinger Row comprises a four-storey over-basement building extending to a net internal area of 6,349 sq. ft. Number 57 South William Street is a four-storey building extending to a net internal area of 3,936 sq. ft. The two buildings are interlinked at basement level. The ground floor and basement of 1 Coppinger Row are let to Lion Hunt Limited t/a Coppinger Restaurant on a 25-year lease expiring in August 2048, at a passing rent of €145,000 pa. The upper floors are let to the Centre of English Studies Limited under a 10-year lease expiring in January 2028, generating a passing rent of €102,000 pa. Number 57 South William Street is fully let to Urbana Beauty Distribution Limited on a 20-year lease expiring in November 2044, subject to a passing rent of €180,000 pa. The Irish times, 15th July
Nationwide The British outdoor retailers Mountain Warehouse and Regatta and the gym operators PureGym, Flyefit and Anytime Fitness are among companies looking to take over the leases of EuroGiant and Born Clothing stores. EuroGiant was put into liquidation in February while Born Clothing collapsed in April. The closures resulted in 96 units being put back on to the market. Bannon reported last week that demand for the stores has been “exceptionally strong”, leading landlords and the receivers to conduct best-bid processes in some cases. Regatta has more than 30 stores across the country. Normal, the Danish retailer which opened its first Irish shop at the Ilac centre in Dublin in December and has gone on to open a further three stores in Dublin, Cork and Mullingar, has also been in discussions to move into vacant units. Interest has also come from the supermarket chains Tesco and Polonez, as well as the books retailer Waterstones. The Sunday Times, 19th July
RESIDENTIAL / DEVELOPMENT
Dún Laoghaire, Co. Dublin Deutsche Bank’s asset manager DWS has taken apartment blocks it put up for sale earlier this year off the market. In January, DWS appointed Savills to prepare 368 apartments spread across Cheevers Court and Haliday House for sale. DWS officially launched the sales process for the two south Dublin apartment schemes in March, with a guide price of €220m attached to the two schemes. The price listed represented a near 12% premium on the amount the German fund paid for the apartments six years ago. In 2020, DWS acquired Cheevers Court and Haliday House for €195m from the Cosgrave Group. The Irish Times understands DWS chose to cancel the sales process because it would be difficult to reinvest any proceeds from a transaction in another residential asset with a similar yield. The Irish Times, 18th July
Dundrum Road, Dublin 14 Eir has reignited its plans to build more than 100 apartments in south Dublin. The company has applied to DLRCC for planning permission to knock down Sommerville House, an office development on Dundrum Road, and replace it with two apartment blocks. A 2022 planning application by Eir for 111 apartments was refused by An Coimisiún Pleanála after local opposition. The planning inspector recommended it refuse consent because the scheme did not comply with a requirement under local laws to have 20% of its apartments as three-beds. In the latest planning application, the company wants to build 109 apartments. Seven would be three-beds and the rest would be divided between one – and two-bedroom units. The apartment blocks would range from two to six storeys. Eir also wants to erect ten telecommunications antennae on the roof of one of the blocks. The Sunday Times, 19th July
Clongriffin, Dublin 13 More than 700 apartments have been given the green light by Dublin City Council (“DCC”) as part of a large-scale development that is set to bring around 2,000 homes to the area. The Land Development Agency has secured planning permission for 711 apartments in Clongriffin’s Main Street, spanning more than 785,765 sq. ft. The development comprises three residential blocks, ranging in height from five to 10 storeys, and has provisions for ground floor retail, cafe and restaurant units, as well as community, arts and cultural spaces, as well as a standalone childcare facility. It comprises 50 studio apartments, 304 one-bed apartments, 351 two-bed units and 6 three-bed units, as well as communal space of approx. 6,458 sq. ft. The site will accommodate a total of 335 car parking spaces, and 1,605 bicycle parking spots. The creche must be completed prior to the occupation of 75% of the development. In total, 76 observations were filed with DCC on the project. The Business Post, 14th July
Ballincollig, Co. Cork Planning permission has been granted to O’Callaghan Properties for the development of more than 120 homes on a site in Cork formerly occupied by global tech company Dell EMC. The application for the homes on a site at Innishmore was submitted to Cork City Council by Castle Peak Properties Ltd in February, seeking to construct a large-scale residential development consisting of 130 homes at the 2.47 acre site. Castle Peak is linked to O’Callaghan Properties. However, due to plan alterations requested by the local authority, a reduced version of the development will be constructed, with 124 homes built. Other changes made to the plans include an additional eight car parking spaces, bringing the total spaces to 76. The approved development will see the demolition of the existing former two-storey Dell EMC building and ancillary plant area for the construction of 102 apartments and 22 duplex units. They will be spread across two blocks ranging in height from two to five storeys, following the omission of the sixth storey at the request of the council. It will comprise a unit mix of one-and two-bed apartment units, as well as one-, two-, and three-bed duplex units. The Examiner, 17th July
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