23rd March (Issue 289)

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

Tik Tok It is reported in the Irish Times that Tik Tok has narrowed down the search for their new office to three locations. Having engaged Cushman & Wakefield to conduct a search for sufficient space to grow its Irish-based headcount to 5,000 over the longer term, the Chinese-headquartered social-media company has begun assessing proposals relating to three newly-built office properties in the city capable of accommodating up to 2,000 workers onsite immediately. The three locations being considered for occupation are the Sorting Office, the south docklands scheme developed by Pat Crean’s Marlet Property Group; TIO’s North Dock development in the north docklands; and McGarrell Reilly’s Charlemont Square campus on Charlemont Street in Dublin city centre. TikTok is understood be keen to bring its Dublin workforce together as soon as is permissible to foster the culture of collaboration which it and other companies believe cannot be replicated with remote working. The Irish Times, 17th March

Leeson St, Dublin 2 Oakmount, the development company headed by Paddy McKillen Jnr, is offering a long lease for a refurbished Georgian office premises, 41 Leeson Street Lower, Dublin 2. Extending to 4,600 sq. ft, the four-storey premises includes a reception hall with two large offices to the front and rear. The hall return comprises a waiting area and modern integrated kitchen. Its first and second floors comprise four further offices/boardrooms, with an additional two offices on the third floor. There are two further offices and modern shower facilities with a locker room on the lower ground floor from which there is also access to a Georgian city garden. The rent has not been advertised but it has been estimated it could achieve €220,000 (c€48psf) a year. Irish Independent, 18th March

 

HOTELS

Rathmines, Dublin 6 Dublin City Council has approved plans for a four-storey, 78-room hotel in the centre of Rathmines. The development will involve demolishing the existing buildings at 10 Wynnefield Road, which were formerly coach houses, save for two arched gables on the street front. Rathmines Hospitality Limited, a company set up by boutique hoteliers Ray Byrne and Eoin Doyle in February 2020, plans to build the hotel with co-working spaces and an associated café on the ground floor. Byrne and Doyle have also submitted plans to construct a 57-bedroom hotel in the Helys Building, which is located between Dame Court and Dame Lane. The pair own the Eccles Hotel in Glengarriff in Co Cork, and intend to open Cork’s first “micro sleep” hotel under a new low-cost, boutique hotel brand named “REZz”. The Business Post, 21st March

Blarney, Cork It was reported in the Irish Times that the HSE has purchased a well-known Cork hotel “The Blarney Hotel” for use as a public residential care facility for older people. The hotel, developed in 2004 as part of a €25 million golf resort, is understood to have been acquired by the HSE on behalf of Cork Kerry Community Healthcare for about €3 million. While the price paid represents a fraction of the hotel’s original build cost, it is understood the HSE will need to invest a significant sum to convert the property into a Hiqa-compliant facility. The former hotel, eight miles from Cork city centre in the town of Blarney, comprises 61 guest bedrooms, of which 25 are suites. It sits within a wider 170-acre site in Shournagh Valley, and was developed originally along with a leisure and gym complex, 56 holiday homes, and a golf course designed by two-time major winner John Daly. The Irish Times, 17th March

 

RESIDENTIAL /LAND

Dublin Sale Cushman & Wakefield has completed an off-market residential portfolio sale for €17 million on behalf of its client Double Property Group. The portfolio included a new build mixed-use scheme at Limekiln Place, Greenhills in Dublin 12, comprising 26 residential units held on a long-term lease to South Dublin Co Council, and Montpelier Hill, an existing development in Dublin 7 comprising 19 units held on long-term leases to Dublin City Council. Both developments are fully let on 25-year leases to the relevant local authorities with three-yearly rent reviews linked to HCPI and no break options. The Business Post, 21st March

Bearna, Galway Galway property developer Burkeway Homes is to begin works on a 121-unit housing development in Bearna in June, following three attempts at lodging applications to build on the site. Under the terms of the most recent grant of permission by An Bord Pleanála, Burkeway Homes will earmark at least one-fifth of the new residential units for Gaeilgeoirs looking to live in the area, as it is considered the gateway to the largest Irish-speaking region in the country. Should it proceed without a hitch in June, the project is expected to be completed in 2024, with an investment of more than €30 million in the construction phase. It will also provide an estimated 150 jobs to the local economy over the course of the three-year scheme. The 121 homes in Bearna will feature a number of different types of housing, including one and two-bedroom apartments, two-bedroom garden-level apartments and three-bedroom duplex homes. There will also be three and four-bedroom semi-detached and terraced homes as well as large, four-bedroom detached houses. The Business Post, 21st March

Glenamuck, Dublin 18 A prime south Dublin development site was launched to the market last week at Glenamuck Road in Kilternan, Dublin 18 with full planning permission for 197 new homes. Hooke & MacDonald is handling the sale of the development site on behalf of receivers Duff & Phelps and Nama. The lands at Glenamuck Road are situated close to The Park Carrickmines retail and office complex, and are about 1.7km south of Junction 15 (Carrickmines/Foxrock) of the M50 and a similar distance from the Ballyogan stop on the Luas Green Line. The prime development lands extend to some 4.5 hectares (11.12 acres). They have extensive dual frontage to both Glenamuck Road and Enniskerry Road, and are accessed from both. The property was granted full planning permission by An Bord Pleanála last April for a Strategic Housing Development of 197 residential units, comprising 115 apartments, 20 duplex units and 62 houses, and a crèche of 275 square metres, in a scheme designed by Coady Architects. The Business Post, 21st March

Sandyford, Dublin 18 Kelly Walsh has launched a newly-built apartment block comprising 18 units at Dún Gaoithe Hall for sale for €6.9m. The building, next to the entrance of Aiken’s Village and close to Stepaside and Sandyford, is due for completion in early 2022. The 18 units, distributed over four storeys, will include four one-bedroom apartments and 14 two-bedroom apartments, together with 24 basement car parking spaces. The building will be self-contained and positioned to the front of Dún Gaoithe, a newly developed residential scheme of 35 detached and semi-detached three- and four-bedroom homes, all of which have been sold privately. The selling agent estimates total market rent at about €444,000 per annum with an average monthly rent for the one-beds of €1,800 and €2,050 for the two-beds with the benefit of car parking. Based on those estimates, the sale of the portfolio at the €6.9 million guide price would provide the purchaser with a gross yield of 6.15%. The Irish Times, 17th March

Georges St, Dublin 2 A legal action by local residents aimed at overturning An Bord Pleanála’s permission for a €30 million co-living development on Dublin’s North Great George’s Street is to be fast-tracked. The case by North Great George’s Street Preservation Society concerns the board’s permission for the 132-unit development at North Great George’s Street and Hill Street which was granted, with 17 conditions attached, in June 2020 to Hillstreet Limited Partnership. On Monday, Hillstreet applied to have the matter admitted to the fast-track Commercial Court. Counsel said there was “a commercial urgency” to the matter and his client has already spent some €5 million on the development, which will cost more than €30 million and range from three to seven storeys in height. The Irish Times, 22nd March

Blessington, Wicklow A town centre site in Blessington, on the Kildare-Wicklow border, is for sale with a €2 million guide price. Last month the vendor received full planning permission for a development on the site comprising 58 apartments (€34.5k per site) in three blocks ranging in height from three to four storeys. Block A’s 22 units would comprise three three-bedroom apartments, 14 two-bedroom apartments and five one-bedroom apartments. Block B’s 18 units would consist of three three-bedroom apartments, 14 two-bedroom units and one one-bedroom unit. Block C’s 18 units would consist of three three-bedroom units, seven two-bedroom units and eight one-bedroom units. Extending to 1.38 acres, the site benefits from 155 metres of road frontage and is located in a mixed-use area next to Blessington Shopping Mall. Irish Independent, 18th March

South Circular Road, Dublin 8 A government department has objected to plans by Hines, the American property group, to build a 19-storey tower on the site of the former Player Wills factory on Dublin’s South Circular Road. The development applications unit of the Department of Housing has told An Bord Pleanala the scale of the proposed tower “eclipses other tall-building development proposals to date in Dublin”. Hines wants to build 492 apartments and 240 shared-living units, a childcare facility and two public parks on the 7.4-acre site. The department also said the development would have an “adverse design impact” on the tobacco factory, which was built in the 1920s and 1930s and is one of the few examples of art deco architecture in Dublin. Hines said it had “comprehensively addressed” the department’s concerns in its application. It argued that the government’s 2018 building height regulations “specifically indicate there is no height restriction within the canals, subject to a series of ‘development management criteria’ to ensure no overshadowing and that the historic fabric of the city is protected”. The company said the tallest buildings would be at the centre of the site. The Times, 21st March

 

OTHER

Cork Regeneration The government has committed to investing €405m in funding towards the regeneration of Cork city and the docklands. Some €353m is earmarked for the docklands quarter, which will be spent on a mix of apartments, schools, and sports and recreation facilities to cater for up to 25,000 people. A €46m investment in the Grand Parade area will be utilised towards reimagining the city as a ‘neighbourhood’ rather than just a commercial centre. The regeneration of Mallow town in the county has been granted more than €4 million in funds with €817,500 being set aside for works on the Passage West, Ringaskiddy, Carrigaline Harbour Cluster. The four projects are being funded under “Call 2” of the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF). Cork City Council and Cork County Council will receive the funding which is the biggest investment by the public sector in Cork city in the history of the State. Irish Examiner, 20th March

Yew Grove Stock market-listed property investor Yew Grove Reit increased its rent roll last year to €10.9m from €8.9m at the end of 2019. This has now further increased to €11.3m from January 1 this year. The company experienced 100% rent collections for both the final quarter of 2020 and the first three months of this year, according to annual results from the group. The company’s portfolio valuation on 31 December 2020 was €141.9m, up from €115.8m at the end of 2019. Two third of Yew Grove’s tenants are multinationals with 26% being government tenants. In December last year Yew Grove said it had progressed in its plans to sell “non-core” properties. As part of this, the company sold a vacant industrial unit in Stillorgan for €1.46m in November 2020. The company also sold units at Centrepoint Business Park, Clondalkin, County Dublin, for €950,000 in December. Irish Independent, 22nd March

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