3rd August (Issue 308)
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
Molesworth Street, Dublin 2 International law firm DLA Piper has signed a 16-year lease for a 6-storey office block on Molesworth Street in Dublin that was previously home to the EU’s mission in Ireland. DLA Piper will lease the 30,000 sq. ft city centre office space at the corner of Molesworth Street and Dawson Street, close to the Dáil and with neighbours including Barclays Bank, AIB and Davy Stockbrokers. The lease runs until 2037 and allows space for the significant growth of the practice.
The property at 40 Molesworth Street was extensively renovated in 2017 by former owner IPUT, which had pre-leased the building to Walmart owned Jet.com at an annual rent of €1.8m. The property was subsequently sold by IPUT to international investor State Street as part of a wider property deal. Irish Independent, 3rd August
INDUSTRIAL
Glasnevin, Dublin 11 With no industrial and logistics developer delivering units of less than 20,000sq ft in Dublin at present, agent Harvey expects to see strong interest in a property it is bringing to the market in Glasnevin. Extending to a total area of 929sq m (10,000sq ft), Units 107A and 107B Lagan Road occupy a self-contained and gated site of 0.42 acres in the long-established Dublin Industrial Estate. The property is being offered for sale at a guide price of €1.25 million (exclusive). A long-term lease of at least 10 years will also be considered by the vendor with a quoting rent of €100,000 per annum (exclusive). The Irish Times, 28th July
RESIDENTIAL / LAND
James Street, Dublin 8 St Patrick’s Mental Health Services (SPMHS) is considering relocating its Dublin city centre hospital in a move that would free up a residential property development site worth at least €100 million.
It is understood that SPMHS is looking at the feasibility of relocating the Hospital, which has 241 inpatient beds, from James Street in Dublin 8 to St Edmundsbury in Lucan, where it also owns land.
Relocation is one of a range of options under consideration as the organisation grapples with the need to modernise and expand its facilities.
The proceeds from the sale of most of the land at James Street would be used to fund the construction of a new 200-bed hospital at St Edmundsbury, where SPMHS already has a 52-bed facility. It is understood that preliminary meetings have been held with South Dublin County Council on the suitability of the Lucan site for a new hospital. The relocation is being considered because building a new hospital on the James Street site would be extremely costly and logistically difficult. The cost of a modern 200-bed hospital there would be close to €150 million, and building works would cause serious disruption to services for a number of years. The Sunday Times, 1st August
Monaghan Road, Cork A half-acre strategic development site in Cork city’s south docks campus is for sale with an unconfirmed price of up to €2m, equivalent to €4m per acre. The zoned development site, on sale through agents Sean McCarthy and Gerard White of ERA Downey McCarthy, is 1.3kms from the city centre, with Monahan Road identified as a key Bus Connects route with cycle lanes to serve the future docks’ brownfield redevelopment impetus for thousands of homes and jobs. The cleared site is adjacent to the likes of Phoenix House, the CORE building, Cleve Quarter & Business Park, Monahan Road Business Park, Tellengana House and Lawley House. ERA say the site may suit for a variety of uses including offices, residential, healthcare etc, and that the surrounding public realm is also getting significant upgrades. The Irish Examiner, 28th July
North Docklands, Dublin UK-headquartered property investor Round Hill Capital is closing in on the purchase of 349 apartments and a 100-bed aparthotel being developed by Johnny Ronan’s Ronan Group Real Estate (RGRE) in Dublin’s north docklands. Although the transaction has yet to be concluded, the parties are understood to be finalising the terms of a deal which would see the Spencer Place portfolio change hands for around €220 million. While the proposed price isn’t insignificant, it is substantially less than the €315 million RGRE had been in line to secure from the forward sale to US real estate investor Cortland of the larger scheme of 550 apartments and co-living spaces it had proposed for the Spencer Place site. While RGRE will no doubt be happy to have secured Round Hill Capital as purchaser for the Spencer Place portfolio, the limitations imposed on the scheme’s height and number of units have proved to be frustrating and costly for the developer. The Irish Times, 27th July
Carrickmines, Dublin 18 Agent Finnegan Menton is guiding a price of €1.5 million for a residential development site in the south Dublin suburb of Carrickmines. Located just off the Glenamuck Road on Golf Lane, the subject property extends to 0.50 acres and has potential, according to the feasibility study drawn up in advance of the sale, to accommodate a scheme of 44 apartments. The proposal, which was prepared by C+W O’Brien Architects, suggests the site would be suitable, subject to planning permission, for the development of a four- to six-storey scheme comprising a mix of 22 one-bed units (50sq m/538sq ft) and 22 two-bed units (80sq m/861sq ft). The site is well located within an established residential area and within 600m of the Carrickmines Park retail scheme and within a short distance of the Luas green line stop at Ballyogan and junction 15 (Cornelscourt/Kilternan) of the M50 motorway. The Irish Times, 28th July
HOSPITALITY
Castlemartyr, Cork Cork’s Castlemartyr Resort has been purchased by the owners of the five-star Sheen Falls Lodge in Kenmare, Co Kerry. Castlemartyr Resort is the third Irish hotel acquired by Singapore-based Dubliners Dr Stanley Quek and Peng Loh. The purchase price is not being disclosed by the purchaser or vendor but is understood to be in the region of €20m. The Castlemartyr Resort had been acquired for close to €14m in 2015 by British businessman and hotelier Martin Shaw. Included in the purchase of Castlemartyr Resort and within the grounds are 38 self-catering cottages and lodges, a mix of two and three-bedroom properties which are popular with families and golfers. Developed by the Supple family, Castlemartyr opened in 2007/08 as a luxury 109-bedroom property. It currently employs 250 full and part-time staff in high season. The Irish Examiner, 27th July
Rathmines, Dublin 6 Three months on from the €15 million sale of the city’s oldest pub the Brazen Head to London-based Attestor Capital and entrepreneurs Ray Byrne and Eoin Doyle, the famous Slattery’s pub in Rathmines has changed hands in an off-market transaction brokered by John Ryan of commercial real estate advisors, Bagnall Doyle MacMahon. The pub was sold by Roddy Slattery whose family have traded from the premises for two generations and has been acquired by Tim and Wendy O’Connor who also own O’Connor’s pub and guest house on Mount Street, Dublin 2. While Mr Ryan declined to comment on the price paid by the O’Connors, it is understood the property sold for close to €3 million following competitive bidding involving several parties. The Dublin 6 premises comprises a two-storey over-basement building of 343sq m (3,690sq ft) consisting of a ground-floor bar with a mahogany interior and snug areas. The first floor there has another traditional-style bar which has over the years played host to traditional and other music sessions. The Irish Times, 29th July
RETAIL
Patrick Street, Cork Plans have been lodged for the revamp of the Easons building on Cork’s busiest shopping street. Number 113-115 Patrick Street is the subject of a planning application lodged by Heatons Unlimited Company, owned now by Sports Direct founder Mike Ashley and which is set to move into the premises later this year. The plans, lodged with city planners in recent days, include proposals for a new shopfront on the eastern elevation of the property, including a new entrance, lighting and glazing. In 2020, Heatons Unlimited Company received conditional planning permission to change the second floor of the Easons building from storage to retail as part of its planned takeover of the iconic premises located close to the northern end of Cork’s main thoroughfare. The Irish Examiner, 28th July
Occupier Activity A report from BNP Paribas Real Estate confirms that there have been 7 new retail warehouse lettings across the 13 Dublin retail parks. 4 are Discount Stores, 2 fall into the Lifestyle, Furniture & Home Furnishings category, and 1 is a Health & Beauty brand. In terms of occupier origin, there are 2 brands from Ireland, 2 from Mainland Europe, 2 from the UK and 1 from Australia.
BNP are also aware of an 8th letting currently in progress at one of the retail parks which once complete will see vacancy reduce to 3% by units or 3.3% in terms of overall retail warehousing space.
In total, these new occupiers have taken up 5,964 sqm of retail warehousing and 673 sqm of ancillary space across the parks, with the majority of these lettings involving units that were previously leased by a different occupier. In terms of new vacancies since their last report, just 2 of the 5 units currently vacant have become vacant, with the remaining 3 having been vacant since before 2019 for various reasons.
While many UK brands are leaving the market, BNP note that they are seeing a notable increase in demand from European brands in particular seeking to open stores in Ireland. Eye on Dublin Retail Parks Report, BNP Paribas Real Estate, 30th July
MIXED USE
Newmarket Square, Dublin 8 BAM Ireland has been appointed as the main contractor for the construction of a mixed-use scheme on the site of the former IDA Ireland Small Business Centre at Newmarket Square in Dublin 8. Due for completion in 2023, the development will comprise of 413 rental apartments and a 151-bedroom hotel to be operated by the UK-headquartered Whitbread’s Premier Inn brand. Extending across 29,570sq m (318,289sq ft) the Dublin 8 scheme will cost an estimated €100 million to deliver. The residential element of the development will be concierge-serviced and aimed at the upper end of the city’s private rented sector market. The apartments will be complemented by a gym, cafe/lounge, a cinema, multipurpose rooms, an artists’ studio and retail space at street level, as well as bike and car parking spaces at basement level. The design also includes 1,925sq m (20,720sq ft) of landscaped spaces, including a biodiversity terrace, spa terrace, communal courtyard and new public walkway through the site from Newmarket Square to St Luke’s Avenue. The Irish Times, 28th July
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