30th April (Issue 445)
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.
HOSPITALITY
Ballyconnell, Co Cavan The Slieve Russell Hotel Golf & Country Club has hit the market with a price tag of €35m. The sale is being conducted by CBRE on behalf of the liquidator of IBRC, Interpath Advisory. The asset comprises 224 bedrooms with an 18-hole PGA championship golf course and nine-hole academy course set on 300 acres on the outskirts of Ballyconnell. The hotel extends across a total area of 296,007 sq. ft and has undergone capital investment of €7.5m since 2019 alone. The Irish Times, 24th April
CBRE Report The value of Irish hotel properties changing hands reached a record quarterly level of more than €600m in the first quarter of the year, according to research from CBRE. Two major hotel deals accounted for most of the activity. The sale of a majority stake in eight hotels in the Dean Hotel Group had an enterprise value of approx. €350m. The sale of the Shelbourne Hotel to Archer Hotel Capital was reported at €250m. Spend in the first three months of the year exceeded total annual volumes for 2023. The Irish Independent, 25th April
Glasthule, South Dublin The Greedy Eagle pub in Glasthule village has been sold by the Loyola Group in an off-market deal for €4m. The pub has been acquired by Paddy Doherty. The Irish Times understands the Loyola Group invested approx. €700k in the venue. The Irish Times, 25th April
Howth, Co Dublin Fingal County Council has refused planning permission for a 35-bedroom hotel in Howth which had been proposed by G Boppers Ltd, owned by Conor McGregor. G Boppers Ltd was seeking planning to demolish the bar and build a terraced hotel, rising to five storeys in part. The Irish Times, 29th April
Maynooth, Co Kildare The Elite restaurant and bakery premises, extending to approx. 3,767 sq. ft, in Maynooth is guiding €1.25m and comes with full vacant possession. The sale is being handled by joint agents Sherry FitzGerald Brady O’Flaherty and Liam Reilly Auctioneers. The Business Post, 27th April
OFFICE
Grangegorman, Dublin 7 Plans for a US company’s 550,000 sq. ft office complex in Dublin has been abandoned. Workday made the decision to scrap its proposals to create its own European headquarters in Grangegorman two years after announcing the move. Instead, it stated that it will seek existing office space in Dublin which would allow its staff to expand from 2,000 to 2,300 by 2025. React News, 26th April
South Frederick Street, Dublin 2 Core Capital is understood to be closing in on the purchase of No. 5-9 South Frederick Street in Dublin’s south city centre. The Irish Times understands negotiations are ongoing for approx. €10m. It would represent an approx.17% discount on the €12m CBRE had been seeking when it brought the property to the market on behalf of its owner and former occupier, New Ireland Assurance, last October. The Irish Times, 24th April
Ballsbridge, Dublin 4 Bannon is undertaking an off-market sales campaign for 2 Ballsbridge Park, a 57,500 sq. ft office owned by Intrust Properties, for €32.5m. The asset generates approx. €3m a year from corporate tenants Goodbody Stockbrokers, BlackRock and Coca Cola. From May 2025, there is a block expiry of all the leases in the building. The property is being sold with the benefit of full planning permission for an extension and refurbishment of the existing building, which would deliver an office 133,000 sq. ft in size. React News, 30th April
Fitzwilliam Square, Dublin 2 Agent McNally Handy is guiding a price of €3.8m for No. 66 Fitzwilliam Square. The property is being offered for sale on behalf of the owner of the Fitzwilliam Hotel, Michael Holland, with full vacant possession. No. 66 comprises a four-storey over garden-level building of 7,237 sq. ft made up of a main building of 6,115 sq. ft and a mews to the rear of 1,121 sq. ft with own-door access from Pembroke Lane. The Irish Times, 24th April
RETAIL
Kilkenny and Dublin Iroko Zen has paid €24.97m (NIY 8.18%) for Kilkenny Retail Park and €3.635m (NIY 8%) for No. 24 Suffolk Street. Kilkenny Retail Park generates rental income of €2.25m pa. It extends to 144,989 sq. ft and is anchored by Woodies with a strong mix of tenants along with parking for 650 cars. The WAULT to break is 5.35 years. 24 Suffolk Street extends to 6,793 sq. ft. The ground-floor retail unit is occupied by Zizzi which generates €200k pa with lease expiry in January 2042. €70k pa is paid by Cunnane Stratton Reynolds for the upper floors. The Irish Times, 24th April
INDUSTRIAL / LOGISTICS
Grange Castle, Dublin 22 Hyperscale data centre campus developer and operator Vantage Data Centers is set to debut in Ireland with a multiphase data centre campus called DUB1. The US based company said it will invest more than €1bn to construct and deliver the new project. The 405,000 sq. ft campus will be located at Profile Park, Grange Castle, on 22 acres. Bisnow, 29th April
STUDENT ACCOMMODATION
PBSA Investment The Government has committed to investing €100m in developments that will deliver 1,000 student accommodation beds. Taoiseach Simon Harris said it would allow 493 new beds to be developed in UCD, the progression of 405 new beds in DCU through tender stage and would help finance 116 new beds in Maynooth University to the construction stage. He confirmed that the State funding would be in return for 30% of the beds being made available for students who are eligible for SUSI grants or belong to priority categories at a discounted rent. The Irish Times, 25th April
RESIDENTIAL / DEVELOPMENT
Dunshaughlin, Co Meath A 30.12-acre landbank, of which approx. 24.52 acres is general employment zoned with the balance of approx. 5.60 acre currently unzoned, in Dunshaughlin is guiding €5m (approx. €166k per acre) through joint agents Sherry FitzGerald Commercial and Sherry FitzGerald Sherry. Sherry FitzGerald Press Release, 25th April
Dundrum, South Dublin An Bord Pleanála has conceded a legal challenge taken by a developer to the building of 852 homes on the former Central Mental Hospital site in Dundrum, the High Court has heard. Mark Leonard, who is behind a company called Centurion Homes, had called for a stay on the development of the project, known as Dundrum Central. The development plans were being progressed by the LDA. The Business Post, 29th April
Carrickmines, South Dublin The LDA and Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) have agreed preliminary terms on a deal to exchange lands at Leopardstown Racecourse, Carrickmines paving the way for the development of 1,000 affordable homes. As part of the deal, the LDA has conceded to halving its housing target from 2,000 to approx. 1,000 homes, and HRI will keep rights to approx. 40% of the 56.8-acre site for its development plans. The Sunday Times, 28th April
Vacant Site Levy Dublin Port Company (DPC) has been told to pay more than €1.1m worth of backdated levies over vacant land it owns. In 2018, a site owned by DPC on East Wall Road in Dublin 3 was placed on DCC’s vacant site register. Last October, DCC issued notices to Dublin Port requesting four separate payments of €280k in relation to vacant site levies for the years between 2019 and 2022. DPC appealed the demand for the payment to ABP, but the planning authority’s board has upheld the decision. The Business Post, 24th April
Housing Construction The government’s target to build 50,000 homes pa can only be met through increased private capital from investment funds, Michael McGrath has been warned by his own officials. The government needs a “new housing model” that can attract “private capital at significant scale” if it’s to reach its ambitious target of building 50,000 homes a year, according to the Department of Finance’s economics unit. The Business Post, 28th April
Claregalway, Co Galway BV Real Estate has brought a 4.4-acre plot of land for sale at the Claregalway Corporate Park, located in Claregalway. The site is suitable for a number of commercial uses. The total area of the site is approx. 4.4 acres, and it is guiding €2.4m (€545k per acre). The Business Post, 26th April
Ratoath, Co Meath The commercial arm of Coonan Property has brought a 139 acres farm to the market which is for sale by public auction and is guiding in excess of €3m (€21.58k per acre). The property at Ballymore in Ratoath is laid out in two large divisions. The Business Post, 26th April
Housing Completions The number of apartments completed in the first three months of the year dropped by a third compared with the same period in 2023, according to new CSO figures. The CSO report said that 5,841 homes were completed in the first quarter of the year, made up of 1,603 apartments, 1,200 one-off units and 3,038 delivered as part of housing schemes. Overall, this was a drop of 12.6% on the 6,647 homes completed in the same period last year. The Business Post, 25th April
Development Contribution Waiver The government has extended a scheme for developers that waives the need to pay contributions towards councils’ infrastructure budgets and water connection charges. The announcement was made as part of the latest quarterly update on Housing for All. A clause in the scheme requires developers to complete the commenced housing projects by December 31, 2025, to qualify for the waiver. The Business Post, 24th April
Fairview, Dublin 3 A Dublin city river-front site with planning permission for 16 one-bedroom apartments has come to the market with a €1.2m guide price. The site is located at 12A Poplar Row, Fairview and is exempt from Part V social and affordable housing due to the site size being limited to only 0.07 acres. The Irish Independent, 25th April
Horgan’s Quay, Cork Work is underway at Cork City docklands’ first major residential development, set to deliver more than 300 apartments within two years. The Horgan’s Quay development by Clarendon Properties/BAM should see the delivery of approx. 200 cost-rental apartments. The remaining units will be earmarked for sale to owner-occupiers under the Croí Cónaithe subsidised building scheme. The build will consist of a single stepped block, up to 11 storeys in height on the six-acre CIE-owned campus. The Irish Examiner, 24th April
Mullingar, Co Westmeath A 15.7-acre holding at Rathgowan in Mullingar is guiding €4.5m. The site has full planning permission for 207 new homes (€21.74k per unit) and is being offered to the market by Savills on behalf of Davy Select Properties Ltd. Planning for the Rathgowan SHD was granted on September 15th, 2023. The Irish Times, 24th April
Athenry, Co Galway The Redemptorist Order has retained Bannon to find a buyer for its monastery at Esker near Athenry and the wider 173-acre estate. The former religious complex is being offered to the market in one or more lots at a guide price of €3.75m. The existing buildings within the complex extend to a GIA of approx. 49,072 sq. ft. The accommodation is occupied under a short-term licence agreement for providing temporary housing for refugees which is due to expire in July. The Irish Times, 24th April
OTHER
Ballyvolane, Cork Dunnes Stores has lodged a planning application seeking permission to create an urban farm in Cork. An application has been lodged under the name of Dunnes’ company Better Value Unlimited Company for the development, which will be located on lands immediately south of the Ballyvolane Shopping Centre. Bordered by the Ballyhooly Road and the North Ring Road, the 3.51-acre site would be repurposed as an urban farm focused on market gardening, agroforestry, and educational activities. The Irish Examiner, 24th April
Forestry Land Sale More than 1,000 acres of forestry land in Ireland has been launched for sale, React News can reveal. Lisney has been mandated to sell the portfolio, with offers in excess of €7.5m sought for the entire platform. The sale comprises 11 plots with three in Wicklow, two in Kildare, one each in Louth, Westmeath, Donegal, Galway, Cork and Waterford. React News, 30th April
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