Vicar Street, Dublin 8 Dublin City Council has given permission to businessman Harry Crosbie to construct a four-star 182-bedroom Vicar Street ‘rock and room’ concept hotel in the Liberties district. The council granted planning permission to Vicar Street Hotel Ltd for the eight-storey building despite receiving 40 objections. One of the 16 conditions attached to the permission states that the applicant pay a development contribution of €769.6k to the council towards public infrastructure. The Irish Independent, 25th October
Garrettstown, West Cork Planning has been granted for the completion of an aparthotel overlooking a Cork beach. An application by Tulsan Limited for works at Garrettstown strand in West Cork, close to Kinsale, was referred to An Bord Pleanála. It had applied to Cork County Council for permission for retention and modification works at the site, which comprises of a four-storey unfinished hotel structure and a greenfield site. It was to include 20 hotel bedrooms, a bar, restaurant, and 24 apartments, as well as upgrades to a wastewater treatment system. The council had approved the development, which was subsequently appealed. The Irish Examiner, 23rd October
Grafton Street, Dublin 2 The company operating the Bewley’s cafe on Dublin’s Grafton Street says it is entitled to a €1m refund after overpaying on rent. The case is the latest twist in a longstanding row between the cafe and RGRE Grafton Limited, which owns the building. Bewley’s Grafton Street managing director, Cól Campbell, said the firm had secured a 50% rent reduction under judgment from the Circuit Court. The new rent for the building will be just under €740k pa. The Irish Independent, 25th October
Cork City A planning application to build Cork City’s second Premier Inn at the Leisureplex complex, formerly the Coliseum Cinema, has been lodged with Cork City Council. Applicants Whitbread PLC acquired the site, on the corner of MacCurtain St and Brian Boru St, in February 2024, a month after it opened the doors to its first Cork hotel: A €30m, 187-bedroom inn at Morrison’s Quay. Their second site benefits from an extant planning permission for a 171-bedroom hotel which sets the precedent to redevelop the site. The Whitbread proposal for a 173-bed inn contains several changes to the original proposal. A key change is the proposal that the building be set back significantly, compared to the existing planning grant, in recognition of nearby residential uses. Whitbread’s proposed hotel is similar to the previously permitted development in terms of building height, scale, and character. It is proposing a one, five, and seven-storey (with setbacks) building, with an ancillary licensed restaurant and public bar and reception area on the ground floor. The Irish Examiner, 24th October
South William Street, Dublin 2 61A South William Street has just come to the rental market following a full refurbishment and upgrade. Available to let either as a single HQ opportunity or multi-let, the building, which was previously home to AA Ireland, provides 8,270 sq. ft over five floors. A typical floor is 2,260 sq. ft. The Irish Times, 23rd October
Strand Street, Dublin 1 66/67 Strand Street, a four-storey property, is on the market for €4m through Colliers. The property comes with full vacant possession. The building extends to a gross internal floor area of approx. 10,800 sq. ft and currently offers office accommodation. The Irish Times, 23rd October
Irishtown, Dublin 4 The Glass Bottle development in Dublin 4 has secured planning permission for the first commercial blocks in the scheme. The site is being developed by Pembroke Beach DAC, a joint venture of Lioncor, Oaktree Capital Management and Ronan Group Real Estate. Work is currently underway on the first 884 homes in the scheme with full planning secured for the next 500 homes. The decision permits the construction of Commercial Phase A of the Glass Bottle development, three blocks of five, seven and 12 storeys totalling 496,227 sq. ft. The Business Post, 22nd October
Sandwith Street Upper, Dublin 2 Sandwith Property has sought the permission from Dublin City Council to turn the former head office of KBC Bank in Dublin into emergency accommodation. The old KBC building on the corner of Sandwith Street and Fenian Street had been owned by Sherborough Enterprises. The Sunday Times previously reported that the building was quietly put on the market in 2021 for €70m. The Sunday Times, 27th October
Adelaide Road, Dublin 2 Professional services firm Deloitte Ireland has signed a lease for a new headquarters building, 1 Adelaide Road, in a move that will consolidate its operations in Dublin under one roof. The Irish Life site was selected from a shortlist of three properties for the new HQ. The 10-storey over-basement property at Adelaide Road was formerly used by AIB and is located on the green Luas line close to the Harcourt stop. It will offer c.160,000 sq. ft of space to Deloitte. Demolition of existing property began earlier this year. The Irish Times, 28th October
Mespil Road, Dublin 4 A self-contained office investment in Dublin 4 which is generating annual rental income of €90k has come to the market with a €1.1m guide price (NIY 7.44%) through selling agent Artis. Known as The Stone Building, Fleming Place, it is located off Mespil Road and Baggot St Upper. Extending to 3,024 sq. ft, it is let to Yondr Tech Ireland Ltd on a lease which has been newly extended by four years and nine months from August 2024. The Irish Independent, 24th October
Citywest Business Campus, Dublin 24 Delivered by Sandymark, Bianconi Avenue at Citywest Business Campus is a warehouse and office headquarters with approx. 98,576 sq. ft of space on a substantial 5.34-acre site. Sandymark is finalising construction tenders at present, with an anticipated completion date of the fourth quarter of 2025. Joint letting agents Harvey and JLL are quoting annual rent of €1.42m. The Irish Times, 23rd October
Mount Merrion, South Dublin The family-owned retail giant Dunnes Stores is set to close the acquisition of the site of the former Union Cafe in the south Dublin suburb of Mount Merrion. It was on the market in July for €5.75m. The underlying property has been owned by Tomose Ltd, a company forming part of the Oakmount group. Tomose booked a site value of €8.1m on its latest available balance sheet at the end of 2018. It owed €4.7m at 6.5% interest to Finance Ireland, which is still secured on the property according to company filings. The Currency, 23rd October
Carrigaline, Co Cork A development has been proposed for the centre of Carrigaline. Boar’s Head Limited is seeking permission for the construction of a mixed-use development at Carrigalinee town centre, on a 4.54-acre site. It will include 88 residential units, and five ground-floor retail units, including a gym, cafe, hair salon, daycare centre and a newsagent. The Irish Examiner, 23rd October
Bolton Street, Dublin 1 A 0.27-acre site near Bolton Street TUD zoned Key Urban Villages and Urban Villages Z4 is coming to the market with an asking price of approx. €3.5m through Eoin O’Neill Property Advisors. The plot comprises of the former Kings Stationers building, at 53-55 Bolton Street, which is a three-storey building and has total accommodation of approx. 13,454 sq. ft; 55 Bolton Street, a vacant plot of approx. 2,163 sq. ft; and 2-3 Yarnhall Street. The Irish Times, 23rd October
Lucan, Co Dublin The Red House in Lucan is coming to the market along with a substantial site of residential zoned land. Launched by North’s Estate Agents, the period house has an asking price of €2.5m. Sitting on a 1.5-acre plot, it offers more than 2,830 sq. ft of accommodation. The Irish Times, 23rd October
Fairview, Dublin 3 As many as 42 age-friendly apartments are to be built on a property in Fairview. Last week a developer purchased the 0.66-acre property at 80 Philipsburgh Avenue for approx. €3m and is understood to have done a deal with Cabhrú Housing Association to build 42 one-bedroom apartments, a communal room, kitchen and office in two four-storey blocks on the site. The purchase includes a two-storey clubhouse building extending to 10,828 sq. ft which will be demolished and parking for 50 cars. The Irish Independent, 24th October
Portmarnock, Co Dublin Fingal County Council has spent €16m buying a housing estate in Portmarnock that’s being developed by Ballymore. It works out at an average of €500k for each house that has been acquired. The council has so far bought 32 homes at the Station Walk development in the town. But the final bill will be higher as the council acquires an additional 18 apartments that are nearing completion at the estate. That will leave the entire estate in the ownership of the council. The Irish Independent, 28th October
Mortgage Activity According to new figures from the BPFI, over 7,000 first-time buyer (FTB) mortgages were drawn down in Q3, with a value of approx. €2.1bn. Drawdowns for mortgage switching increased both in volume, by 26%, and in value, by 28%, for the first time since Q1 of last year. Overall, a total of 11,774 new mortgages to the value of €3.4bn were drawn down by borrowers in the third quarter. This was up 1.4% in volume, and up 7.4% in value, on the same time period last year. First-time buyers remained the single largest segment both by volume, at approx. 60%, and by value, at 61.4%. The Irish Independent, 25th October
Housing Construction Affordable housing provider Respond has forecast it will have 4,000 social and affordable homes under construction by the end of this year. The Approved Housing Body (AHB) said the expected rate of construction will represent a threefold increase in its home building programme over the past year. The charity has 2,925 social and cost rental housing units under construction across 21 sites in Ireland at the moment. The AHB delivered 666 new social and cost-rental homes last year and commenced a further 669 new homes in the period. The Business Post, 23rd October
Housing completions are down on an annual basis, with 21,600 new homes built in the first nine months of the year, new data from the CSO has shown. Taoiseach Simon Harris said in recent weeks that approx. 40,000 new homes would be completed this year. Darragh O’Brien, the housing minister, has also repeatedly claimed that 40,000 new homes will be built this year. Last month, a forecast released by the Central Bank said completions in 2024 are expected to be around the 32,000 mark. In the first nine months of this year, construction was finished on 21,664. The Business Post, 24th October
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