27th February (Issue 135)
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.
HOTEL
Dalata Hotel Group: A trading update from Hotel group Dalata, which owns the Clayton and Maldron chains, has reported that revenue for 2017 rose c. 20% to €348.5m, with pre-tax profits up 75% to €73.3m. The company met its target for the year delivering 1,200 new rooms, spending €129m on new acquisitions in the process bringing its total assets to c. €1bn. The company has five new hotels and four major hotel extensions under construction, with a further four in the planning process. Dalata spent €22.2 million on capital refurbishments in 2017, with €7.6 million related to the upgrade of recently acquired hotels. The group said trading in the first quarter of 2018 was marginally ahead of expectations, and it had a positive outlook for the year. The Irish Times, 27th February
The Citywest Hotel: Irish investment group Tetrarch Capital has announced the completion of a deal to acquire the Citywest Hotel in Saggart, Co Dublin, by buying out the interest of its JV partner, California-based Pimco. Tetrarch and Pimco acquired Citywest for c. €30m in 2014 and have since invested c. €12m upgrading the property. Currently the largest hotel in Ireland, Citywest features 764-bedrooms, 30 different meeting/event venues, a convention centre with capacity for up to 8,000 people and an 18-hole championship golf course. The Irish Times, 26th February
OFFICE
ESB Site Fitzwilliam Street: Construction has commenced on the redevelopment of ESB’s site on Fitzwilliam Street Lower which will see c. 280,000 sq. ft. of new Grade A office buildings being developed. The project will involve the retention and refurbishment of a number of protected Georgian structures and the construction of two new seven-storey office blocks. ESB will occupy one block for its new head office, Fitzwilliam 27, which will be c. 145,000 sq. ft. and will house approx. 1,300 staff. The adjacent block, Fitzwilliam 28, which spans 135,000 sq. ft. of prime Grade A sustainable space, is to be offered to the market. Joint property advisers Savills and Bannon have been appointed to secure a suitable tenant, and will quote a rent of approx. €57 per sq. ft. The Sunday Business Post 25th February
52-55 Sir John Rogerson’s Quay (SJRQ): Savills are guiding €10.8m (€784 psf) in one or two lots for two separate office units at SJRQ in Dublin’s south docklands. The two office units extend to 13,767 sq. ft., and produce a rental income of €673k, showing a net return of 5.5%. The biggest office unit is occupied by Ancestry.com, on a 10-year lease from 2012, with the 2017 rent review agreed at a rent of €595k p.a. (€52.50 psf). A short-term lease was agreed in February 2015 with DAQRI International for the smaller own-door unit, which extends to more than 1,850 sq. ft. at an annual rent of €81.5k p.a. (€44psf). The Irish Times, 21st February
Facebook Campus Ballsbridge: The Sunday Business Post reports that Facebook is advancing plans to build a giant campus in Ballsbridge that will extend to over 700,000 sq. ft. and house approx. 5,000 staff. In addition to being in talks to take 450,000 sq. ft. at AIB’s Bankcentre campus, the social media company also wants to take over 325,000 sq. ft. of office space being developed next to AIB’s Bankcentre headquarters by Ronan Group Real Estate. The Sunday Business Post, 25th February
Parkmore West IDA Estate Galway: Agent’s TWM have secured c. €6m (€81 psf) from a private investor for No. 3 at the Parkmore West IDA Estate in Galway. The property extends to c. 74,000 sq. ft. and is fully let to Creganna Medical Devices Ltd on a FRI lease at €431k p.a. (€5.67 psf). The lease currently has 24 years unexpired without any future breaks reflecting a net initial yield of c. 6.6%. The Irish Independent, 22nd February
Parkwest Business Park: Agents Browne Corrigan have brought a high spec Parkwest office building to the market quoting €1.8m (€100 psf). 18 A Parkwest Business Park is a bespoke, self-contained, four-storey office building of c. 18,000 sq. ft., comes with 22 car spaces, and is presented in pristine condition and ready for immediate occupation. Browne Corrigan is quoting a rental of c. €13.50 psf. The building can be let to tenants on a floor by floor basis, individual floor plates being c. 4,500 sq. ft., or it could make for a prestigious company headquarters. The Sunday Business Post, 25th February
Adelaide Chambers: The Irish Independent reports that the high-profile Adelaide Chambers office building, originally the Adelaide Hospital, has been purchased by Chartered Land. The four-storey building whose occupiers include the Croatian embassy and tech firm Decawave, had been up for sale since last year with an €8m (€440 psf) guide price. The building extends over 18,177 sq. ft., and includes 31 basement car-parking spaces. It generates an annual rent roll of €278,188, with a weighted average unexpired lease term of 2.61 years as of the middle of last year. It’s expected that the rent roll from the building could be raised to as much as €600,000 per annum. The Irish Independent, 27th February
One Molesworth Street: TD Securities, a Canadian financial services group, is to lease the top floor of One Molesworth Street, a new office block in Dublin city centre The Company is finalising a deal for c. 11,000 sq. ft. of space, enough room to accommodate 100 staff. The building will also house the Ivy restaurant, bakery Le Pain Quotidien, and offices for Barclays Bank and aircraft lessor Goshawk Aviation. TD Securities, part of Toronto-Dominion Bank, is likely to be paying one of the highest rents in Dublin for the office. Barclays is paying about €62 psf for its space in the building and Goshawk is paying €65 psf. One Molesworth Street will be completed this summer by the quoted property group Green Reit. The Times, 25th February
RESIDENTIAL / LAND
City Square Cork: Savills have brought a mixed use development in Cork city centre to the market quoting €28m. City Square is a residential, retail and office scheme generating an annual rent roll of c. €2m which equates to an initial yield of c. 5.5%. The development, built in 2007, is in three blocks from two to five storeys and includes 145 residential units (127 form part of this sale) including one, two and three-bed apartments and duplexes. The apartments for sale are all let and generate €1.8m p.a. in rent. There are 16 commercial units at ground and first-floor level with 280 car-parking spaces. The commercial element, which produces a rent roll of €177k (€4.81 psf), extends to c. 36,782 sq. ft. with a mix of retail, offices and a crèche. Tenants include a pharmacy, medical centre and gym. There is potential to increase income from the commercial element by letting out some of the vacant space. The Irish Times, 21st February
Merrion Road, Dublin 4: Hooke & MacDonald have brought a block of 11 apartments at Elmpark Green, Merrion Road in Dublin 4 to the market with a guide price of €3.4m. The 11 apartments which overlook Dublin Bay and the Elm Park Golf Club comprise six one-bedroom and five two-bedroom units. The combined rent from existing tenancies and the previous rents attributed to two vacant units comes to c. €174k p.a. equating to a gross yield of 5.12%. Hooke & MacDonald expect the sale to generate significant interest with the asking price working out at c. €309k per apartment – considerably below the selling prices for individual sales. The Irish Times, 21st February
The Elysian Tower Cork: Kennedy Wilson is expected to complete the purchase of Ireland’s tallest building, the Elysian Tower apartment block in Cork, from private equity fund Blackstone. Blackstone acquired the building from builder Michael O’ Flynn in 2014 and recently sought bids for the high rise tower. It has now emerged that Kennedy Wilson are the preferred bidders for the 17-storey apartment block. If Kennedy Wilson succeeds in buying the Elysian, it would mark its first significant move outside Dublin, where it is one of the capital’s largest landlords with c. 1,000 apartments. The Irish Times, 21st February
Pembroke Road, Dublin 4: Agent Knight Frank has completed the sale of Halcam Court at 61 Pembroke Road in Dublin 4 to a private investor for c. €9m, well in excess of its €6.5m guide price. The house which was built in 1843, was divided into 15 apartments and has three mews houses to the rear, produces an annual rental income of €362k, an initial yield of c. 4%. The Irish Times, 21st February
RETAIL
St. Patricks Street Cork: Agent GVA O’ Buachalla has brought a high end commercial investment property on Cork’s Patrick Street to the market quoting €5.75m. The entire three-storey building is let to Boots Retail (Ireland) Ltd on a 35-year lease from October 1987 (four years and seven months unexpired term).The FRI lease is guaranteed by Boots Chemists Ltd, and incorporated 5-yearly upward only rent reviews. The current rent level is €540,000, showing a net initial yield of 8.65%. The Irish Examiner, 22nd February
Plucks of Kilmacanogue: Lisney’s are seeking €2.25 million for Pluck’s of Kilmacanogue, a well-known bar and restaurant business with planning approval for a large extension on 1-acre of grounds at Kilmacanogue, Co Wicklow. The site marks the gateway to the Wicklow Mountains and the last prominent services location on the N11 before it joins the M50. The business has been trading for c. 200 years and was rebranded by the current owners when they acquired it in 2014. A new kitchen and cold room have since been added and planning permission has been obtained for an additional floor area of c 2,895 sq. ft. to expand the restaurant, bar and function areas as well as the kitchen. The grounds have 92 car parking spaces. The Irish Times, 21st February
One Molesworth Street: Belgian bakers, Le Pain Quotidien are to open a new outlet alongside the Ivy Restaurant at the junction of Molesworth and Dawson streets in Dublin city centre. The international chain with over 230 outlets worldwide have been trading in Kildare Village for over two years and are expected to open at least two additional facilities in the Dublin area. Le Pain Quotidien has agreed a rent of €250k p.a. (€100 psf) for a shop and restaurant on the ground floor of One Molesworth Street, extending to 2,500 sq. ft. The Irish Times, 21st February
OTHER
Horgan’s Quay Cork: Cork City Council have approved an ambitious €160m mixed use development on Horgan’s Quay in Cork which will deliver more than 230 apartments, a 136-bedroom hotel, and up to 400,000 sq. ft. of office space. The proposed eight buildings on a six-acre dockland site in close proximity to the city’s train station will have the capacity to house up to 5,000 employees. Unlike most of the schemes delivered in the docklands to date which have been office blocks, this scheme includes residential, retail and hotel elements, marking a significant expansion of the city eastwards into the docklands. CIE sold the site last year to joint purchaser Clarendon Group and BAM Ireland and under the terms of the deal negotiated by agents Lisney, CIE will be entitled to 10% of the income from the development. Pending possible appeals, it could take between three and five years to deliver. The Irish Examiner, 24th February
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