22nd December (Issue 278)

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 12th January 2021.
Happy Christmas from the team at Origin Capital and we look forward to working with you in 2021 

 

RESIDENTIAL / LAND

Glass Bottle Site Nama has confirmed that Ronan Group Real Estate (RGRE) and US investment firm Oaktree have completed the purchase of an 80% stake in the former Irish Glass Bottle site and an adjoining plot in Dublin. RGRE and another US investment company, Colony, were selected by Nama in late July as preferred bidders for a controlling stake in the 37-acre site and given 30 days to complete. It is the largest vacant plot in the capital and is earmarked to deliver more than 3,500 homes. The Irish Times, 22nd December

Blackrock, South Dublin Seabren Developments is planning to build 101 apartments at the former Europa Motors site in Blackrock, south Dublin. Seabren purchased the land from Marlet group this year for a reported €7.5m. According to planning documents, the proposed development will feature two apartment blocks of up to six storeys, with space for 73 cars and 194 bicycles at basement level. It will provide c.12,500 sq.ft. of communal open space and 3,250 sq.ft. of public open space. The Sunday Times, 20th December

According to Goodbody Stockbrokers, housing transactions in Ireland continued to recover in October 2020 with prices rising by 0.6% month-on-month, the largest monthly gain since July 2019. On an annual basis, prices were effectively flat (-0.4% yoy). Indeed, residential prices in Ireland have flatlined since Q3 2018. There is no great difference in house price inflation in Dublin (-1.5% yoy) and outside Dublin (0.4% yoy) at this point. Contrary to their initial expectations at the onset of the pandemic, there has been no noticeable impact on pricing dynamics, mirroring trends seen elsewhere. Goodbody Irish Housing Report, 2020

Glenveagh, the Dublin listed housebuilder, confirmed that it was investing €500 million on building 3,000 homes on six new sites in Cork, Dublin city and county, Kildare and Kilkenny. The company announced that the new site building would also lead to the creation of 1,000 new jobs. The Irish Times, 17th December

Cork City Orchard Road and Grove Planning & Environmental Protection Group has brought a challenge over An Bord Pleanála’s permission for a 216-bed student accommodation development in Cork city. The association representing residents oppose the demolition of an existing structure and construction of the student housing development, consisting of 30 apartments, at Orchard Road in Cork. The proposed five-storey block is located near the main campus of University College Cork. The association claims the board’s decision is flawed and breached fair procedures. The Irish Times, 17th December

 

HOSPITALITY

Dublin 2 Plans for a new hotel development for Dublin city centre at the Dublin venues Rí-Rá nightclub and the Globe bar have been put on hold. Three separate appeals have been lodged with An Bord Pleanála against Dublin City Council giving the green light for the plans for a major expansion of the Central Hotel on South Great George’s Street and Dame Court into a new 71,623 sq.ft. five-storey hotel with 125 bedrooms. Rí-Rá nightclub would have become a “speak-easy” with the Globe a retail outlet. As part of the application by Exchequer Developments Ltd, the existing Library Bar is going to be reduced in size to make way for additional bedrooms. A decision is due on the appeal in April. The Irish Times, 17th December

Dublin 2 The O’Callaghan Hotel Group are looking to acquire St Andrew’s Court, a block of 14 dilapidated flats for senior citizens at the corner of Fenian Street and Sandwith Street, close to two of its city-centre hotels. In exchange, the company will transfer to the council ownership of 28 apartments and a ground-floor retail premises it plans to start building in the New Year. The completed social housing development would be delivered by August 2022 which would be far in advance of any new development by DCC on the St Andrew’s Court site and at no cost to the State. The proposal will be put to city councillors this week. The Irish Times, 22nd December

 

OFFICE

2020 Office Market According to Marie Hunt of CBRE, 2020 started out with a healthy carryover of activity from 2019, and expectations were for an equally-buoyant year of office leasing activity in Dublin and in regional cities. However, the onset of Covid-19 had an immediate impact on the office sector from mid-March onwards. Transactional activity effectively halted during this initial lockdown, with Q2 being the worst quarter on record for the Dublin office market in terms of take-up. Supported, in the main, by activity driven by lease events, total take-up in the Dublin market reached c.1.4 million sq.ft. in the first nine months of 2020. There is currently c.323,000 sq.ft. reserved but even if all of this stock signs by year-end, annual office take-up in the capital will be considerably lower than in recent years. The overall rate of vacancy stood at 8.64% at the end of September and is expected to increase further in Q4. The Irish Times, 16th December

Cork Airport Business Park Yew Grove Reit has agreed the letting of 20,268 sq.ft. (the first floor) of unit 2600 at Cork Airport Business Park to Alter Domus Fund Services Ireland, along with 79 car parking spaces. The lease term is 15 years with break options at five and 10 years at a headline rate of €16.50 per sq. ft. plus a licence for 79 additional car spaces at a rent of €200 per car space per annum. The Irish Independent, 16th December

 

MIXED-USE

Kevin Street, Dublin 2 Dublin City Council has given the green light to a €475 million plan to construct a mixed-use scheme for the redevelopment of DIT’s former Kevin Street Campus in Dublin 2. Last May, Westridge Real Estate lodged plans for the development of c.572,000 sq.ft. of office accommodation in two 11-storey blocks, and 299 build-to-rent apartments across three buildings of up to 14 storeys in height. Westridge acquired the 3.57 acre site for €140 million in August 2019 (€39.2m per acre). Planning was granted after the developers reduced the scale of the proposal where the quantum of office space has been reduced to c.538,000 sq.ft. in response to local authority concerns. The council has ordered that the developers pay €3.9 million in planning contributions towards public infrastructure, and an additional €1.5 million in respect of the Luas Cross City Scheme. The Irish Times, 21st December

 

INDUSTRIAL

Yew Grove Reit has sold €2.4 million of ‘non-core’ properties. The company sold a vacant industrial unit in Stillorgan for €1.46m last month. The sale price was 11% ahead of the June 30 independent valuation. The company also sold units at Centrepoint Business Park, Clondalkin, county Dublin, for €950,000, which completed earlier this month. Irish Independent, 16th December

 

RETAIL

Dundrum Town Centre owner Hammerson is to seek admission to the Irish Stock Exchange ahead of the UK’s exit from the European Union at the end of the month. In a statement, Dundrum Town Centre owner Hammerson said it was seeking admission of its entire issued ordinary share capital to the secondary listing segment of the official list of the stock exchange, which trades as Euronext Dublin. The secondary listing on Euronext Dublin will enable Hammerson to maintain an efficient holding structure across its portfolio and guarantee an EU equivalent trading venue for Hammerson’s shares. Along with Dundrum, the property giant owns stakes in the Swords Pavilions and Ilac shopping centres in Dublin, where it also plans a major redevelopment of the area around Moore Street. The Irish Times, 18th December

If you have an article which you would like to have considered for inclusion in our next weekly report, please contact us at info@origincapital.ie


Origin Capital funds senior debt transactions in the CRE investment sector, typically in excess of €3m, and has lent over €200m to clients since April 2015.

Origin Capital is a wholly owned subsidiary of LeBruin, a leading provider of corporate finance solutions.

If you would like to discuss how Origin Capital can help with your funding requirements, please contact us on 01 662 9264.