23rd April (Issue 444)
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
East Wall, Dublin 3 Receivers appointed to the Beckett Building, formerly leased to Meta, are preparing to bring the property to market at a price of €40m. KB Financial Group, a Korean fund, sought €80m for the property last year, when bids reportedly topped out at €50m. Landesbank Hessen-Thuringen, the group’s German banker, then appointed receivers in September in an attempt to recoup its €60.6m loan. KB Financial bought the block for €101m in 2018. The Sunday Times, 21st April
Dun Laoghaire, South Co Dublin The Cosgrave Group is selling its West Pier Business Campus building at the Monkstown end of Dun Laoghaire for €19m (10.89% NIY). The three interconnected five-storey office buildings extend to 108,575 sq. ft. The asset is currently 85% occupied by eight tenants, generating an annual rent of €2.27m with a WAULT of 1.7 years. The Business Post, 19th April
For lending terms on this asset please contact rossmetcalfe@origincapital.ie
North Wall Quay, Dublin 1 Dublin City Council has rejected Ronan Group Real Estate’s (RGRE) proposals for 1 North Wall Quay. In February, RGRE submitted plans to demolish Citigroup’s existing six-storey European headquarters and replace it with four buildings ranging in height from nine to 17-storeys. RGRE firm NWQ Devco was seeking a 10-year planning permission. RGRE said they will appeal against the refusal to An Bord Pleanála. React News, 19th April
Adelaide Road, Dublin 2 Irish Life Assurance has won planning permission to go ahead with its redevelopment of the former AIB premises on 1 Adelaide Road. The company had submitted a planning application in February last year to create a new development totalling 220,865 sq. ft. The proposals were for a building ranging in height from four storeys to a nine and 10-storey setback. It will have a total office floorspace of approx. 150,000 sq. ft. The insurance firm had agreed a prelet with Deloitte for the entire development. React News, 22nd April
Planning Activity, Cork City Gate Plaza Developments Limited has lodged an application with Cork City Council relating to its plans for the former Ma/Comm site in Mahon, Cork. Currently, it has permission to build two office blocks, one four-storeys and one three-storeys. It has applied to change the four-storey office block for two four-storey blocks instead, giving a total of three blocks on the site. The Irish Examiner, 17th April
INDUSTRIAL / LOGISTICS
Dublin Industrial and Logistics (I&L) take-up totalled just over 450k sq. ft in Q1. This was the lowest quarter of deals since Q2 2018 and was approx. 50% below the long-term quarterly average for the Dublin market. The vacancy rate across standing stock at the top I&L parks in Dublin is now 1.7%. Approx. 1.3m sq. ft of new Dublin I&L stock is under construction across 14 buildings, with just one of these units located in South Dublin. Prime rents were unchanged at €13 per sq. ft. Q1 investment was €8.75m. CBRE Report, 23rd April
Santry, North Dublin M7 Real Estate has signed a new tenant at its B2 Airport Business Park in Santry. Germany-headquartered Sixt Car Rentals has agreed a 15-year lease for approx. 17,000 sq. ft of space. Cushman & Wakefield and CBRE were quoting €16.00 per sq. ft (€268k pa). React News, 18th April
STUDENT ACCOMMODATION
Dublin and Galway Cushman & Wakefield has brought to market Project Swuite, two fully-let stabilised PBSA assets comprising 218 beds located in Dublin and Galway. Swuite Dublin (128 beds; rent range €222-€592 per week) is located adjacent to TUD Grangegorman Campus and was completed in 2017. Swuite Galway (90 beds; rent range €233-€283 per week) is located near University of Galway and was completed in 2018. Price on Application. Cushman & Wakefield Press Release, 22nd April
RETAIL
Winthrop Street and St Patrick Street, Cork Ulster Bank has agreed to the sale in Cork city centre of two of its former bank branches for approx. €1m per branch at Winthrop St (2,688 sq. ft) and St Patrick St (2,573 sq. ft). As part of the withdrawal of the bank from the Republic of Ireland last year, Ulster Bank put 39 branches up for sale in three tranches in 2023. The Irish Examiner, 18th April
HOSPITALITY
Dunshaughlin, Co Meath Lisney is handling the sale of the County Club in Dunshaughlin which is for sale with a price guide in excess of €1.5m and is set on 3.8 acres. The business ceased trade at the onset of Covid-19 and has remained closed since. The Business Post, 19th April
Thomastown, Co Kilkenny Tetrarch Capital is putting up the Mount Juliet estate in Kilkenny for sale at a guide price of €45m, having paid €15m to secure ownership of the five-star hotel and golf resort in 2014. The company operating the estate, MJBE Investments 1 Ltd, generated revenue of €17.6m in 2022 and recorded an operating profit of €699.5k. The Irish Times, 19th April
Sandyford, Dublin 18 JLL is handling the sale of a 0.97-acre site in Sandyford with a guide price of €2.75m, currently owned by Oakmount. The site is currently occupied by the former Lamb Doyle’s licensed premises and adjoining car park, which will be provided with vacant possession. Planning permission is pending for a new residential development which includes 14 houses. The Business Post, 20th April
MIXED USE
Sycamore Street, Dublin 2 The Wild Duck theatre bar and entertainment venue in Temple Bar in Dublin, along with eight overhead apartments, is being offered for sale and joint selling agents BDM Property and JLL are quoting €8m for it. It is located at 17-20 Sycamore Street and extends to a total floor area of 14,588 sq. ft. 7,768 sq. ft is devoted to the business on the ground floor bar, entertainment venue and catering kitchen with a first-floor lounge/private party area. Seven of the apartments are currently occupied and generating €216k in annual rent. The Irish Independent, 18th April
For lending terms on this asset please contact rossmetcalfe@origincapital.ie
Arthur’s Quay, Limerick Tiernan Properties Group has abandoned the sale of the city’s Arthur’s Quay shopping centre and is instead planning a €200m redevelopment of the site with 300 private, social, affordable and cost-rental apartments as its centrepiece. In March 2023, Tiernan Properties announced it was putting Arthur’s Quay up for sale, with a guide price of €15m. The new scheme would triple the amount of existing retail space at Arthur’s Quay. The Irish Independent, 22nd April
Dublin The sale on behalf of receivers Grant Thornton of 11 Dublin investment properties owned by RGRE has been formally launched guiding €150m. The portfolio includes Connaught House (rent €7m pa; WAULT 4.46 years), Bewley’s Cafe (€1.46m pa), Kingram House (€827.5k pa; 8.71 years), 6/7 Harcourt Terrace (€357.6k pa), 70 Grafton Street (€647.3k pa; 14.5 years), 116 Grafton Street (€285k pa), Apt B 116 Grafton Street (€29.9k pa), Apt 7 Lafayette Building (€42.1k pa), Percy Exchange (24.09% ownership), Kilmore House (60% ownership) and St James Place (50% ownership). The Irish Times, 17th April
RESIDENTIAL / DEVELOPMENT
Greater Dublin Area Two properties owned by Ronan Group Real Estate have been brought to the market by receivers PWC. These are a development site in Dublin city (0.23 acres) and another in the Bray-Enniskerry area of Wicklow (12.4 acres). CBRE is guiding €2.75m for each site. One is located on the corner of Appian Way and Leeson St and the other overlooks the M11 with access from Enniskerry Road, near Bray. These properties are part of a different receivership process involving Fortress Investments Group, a junior lender to the Ronan Group on a portfolio of high-value assets. The Irish Independent, 18th April
Clondalkin, Co Dublin Carysfort Capital has prepared a prime Dublin residential block for a €50m sale (NIY 5%). CBRE has been instructed to sell Kilcarbery Square, a 115-unit build-to-rent development in west Dublin. React News, 22nd April
Killarney, Co Kerry Meitheal Architects has received the green light for approx. 250 homes near the centre of Killarney Town on a site spanning 19.5 acres. The homes are planned for a brownfield site called Cronin’s Wood near Killarney town centre and the scheme is the largest LRD to be granted planning permission by Kerry County Council since the scheme’s inception in 2021. The Business Post, 20th April
Kilkenny City Quinn Agnew is seeking offers in excess of €2.75m for a development opportunity located approx. 3.5km from Kilkenny city, subject to planning permission. A former industrial school on Kells Road on the edge of Kilkenny city, the campus is known as St Patrick’s Centre and is spread over approx. 18.3 acres. The Business Post, 20th April
Swords, Co Dublin New details published on the Property Price Register have shown that Ryanair spent more than €12.4m to acquire the 25 homes in Fosterstown Place from MKN Property Group. The most expensive property in the estate cost the company €544k, while the cheapest home was acquired for €471k. Each unit cost Ryanair €497k on average. The Business Post, 17th April
Swords, Co Dublin The family who owned the former Lord Mayor’s pub in Swords are selling it with planning permission for 134 apartments and Knight Frank is quoting more than €5.5m (€41k per unit) for the ready-to-go site. The former pub site is situated in a prominent location in Swords town centre at the junction of Ward River Valley Park and Main Street. The lands now for sale extend to approx. 3.4 acres. The Irish Independent, 18th April
Blessington, Co Wicklow Cairn Homes has secured planning permission for 329 homes for Blessington. As part of the grant of permission Cairn Homes must pay €2.79m to the council towards the upgrading of public infrastructure. The Irish Times, 17th April
Goatstown, South Dublin Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council has given the go-ahead to plans for 109 residential “assisted living” units on lands owned by the Society of the Sacred Heart order of nuns in Goatstown. The council has granted planning permission to Tetrarch Residential Ltd for the LRD scheme after the applicants removed five units from the original 114-unit scheme proposed on a 2.9-acre site known as the Old Farm. The Irish Times, 16th April
Marina Quarter, Cork Work is beginning on one of the largest apartment developments in Cork which will see more than 1,000 dockland apartments built in the city’s Marina Quarter, located on a 12.35-acre parcel of land. The proposal by Marina Quarter Ltd and backed by Glenveagh Properties involves the construction of 12 apartment blocks, some up to 14 storeys in height, targeted at the build-to-rent sector. The development site was bought in 2018 by Glenveagh Properties for approx. €15m. The Irish Examiner, 18th April
Planning Delays The bulk of planning applications will be processed within the 18 week deadline by the second half of this year, the chair of An Bord Pleanála has said. The backlog of cases faced by An Bord Pleanála has come about due to the planning authority’s board not being at full compliment for large periods between 2020 and 2022. Last year, Darragh O’Brien, the housing minister, increased the number of members on the board from ten to 15, with all those positions now filled since early May 2023. The Business Post, 18th April
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