3rd February (Issue 530)
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
Dorset Street, Dublin 1 Dublin One Hotel is being offered to the market for €46m by JLL, having failed to secure a buyer at €50m when it launched in Summer 2024. The four-star hotel is located on a 0.5-acre freehold site and was completed and acquired by its current owner in 2021. It comprises 163 air-conditioned guestrooms along with food and beverage facilities including the Botanical Restaurant and the Big Tree Pub, which has undergone a full refurbishment and is included in the sale. The Dublin One Hotel is highly sustainable, carrying an A2 Ber rating and LEED Gold certification. The Irish Times, 28th January
Temple Bar, Dublin 2 Colliers and John P Younge are guiding €2m for the Vintage Cocktail Club in Crown Alley. The 2,712 sq. ft property comprises a three-storey over-basement building with bar, lounge areas, a fully equipped commercial kitchen and a covered terrace. The property is let at an annual rent of €225,000 to The Workman’s Club Ltd under a 20-year full repairing and insuring (FRI) lease from June 2012. A former company within the Press Up group, the Workman’s Club Ltd now forms part of Eclective. The Irish Times, 28th January
Baggot Street, Dublin 2 Joint agents Colliers and John P Younge are guiding €1.95m for the Star Bar. Formerly Larry Murphy’s, the 4,993 sq. ft property comprises a pub at ground and basement level with office accommodation on its upper three floors. It is being sold by public auction. The pub premises, which is being sold with the benefit of vacant possession, briefly comprises a front bar, seating areas and a fully equipped kitchen. The first and second floors of the building comprise office suites with independent access from both Baggot Street Lower and Fitzwilliam Street Lower. The third-floor offices are let to Abdef Limited trading as Phoenix Magazine, on a 35-year lease from July 2001, at a current annual passing rent of €11,874. The Irish Times, 28th January
Bandon Road, Cork Cohalan Downing is guiding €1.6m for The Viaduct bar and restaurant. Cliste Hospitality, who bought the property for an undisclosed sum almost four years ago, has decided to sell to focus on expanding its hotel portfolio and hotel management platform. The 7,000 sq. ft property sits on a site of 2.9 acres with over 110m of profile on the N71 Bandon Rd. The property is currently laid out as a modern and spacious cafe, bistro, restaurant, and bar, and there is also a two-bedroom staff apartment. Outdoor areas include 80 lined car parking spaces and an additional open yard to the rear. The Irish Examiner, 28th January
Retail
Henry Street, Dublin 1 Colliers is guiding €4m (8.23% NIY) for 44 Henry Street. The property extends to 4,263 sq. ft and comes with independent access to the upper floors from O’Connell Street, as well as rear access via Sampsons Lane. No.44 is fully let to Carrolls Irish Gifts under a single 35-year FRI lease expiring in April 2030 at a total passing rent of €362,000 a year. The lease, which commenced in 1995, is subject to upward-only rent reviews. The Irish Times, 28th January
Donnybrook, Dublin 4 It is understood that Tesco has leased the former AIB branch at 69-71 Morehampton Road, with a plan to take over the ground-floor operations. Use of the building has changed from banking services to retail since it came on market in September 2023. Its listing said it had planning for grocery sales of 3,100 sq. ft, as well as the potential for an ancillary off-licence or restaurant/cafe use of 215 sq. ft. The property has 17.5 metres of frontage onto Morehampton Road. The entire property was listed for rent or sale in May 2025, with an annual rent of €180,000 quoted, which also included the first floor. It had guided for a sale price of €2.5m. The upper floor, which has its own door street access, is self-contained and offers scope for a variety of use cases, including office or medical use. The Business Post, 28th January
Industrial
Ballycoolin, Dublin 11 Harvey is guiding €7.5m for Cobalt House at Huntstown Business Park. The newly developed property comprises a detached warehouse of 31,422 sq. ft and includes 4,877 sq. ft of two-storey office accommodation. The property has a secure, gated and fenced yard with depths of 36-40m, 24 car-parking spaces and loading is provided via two dock levellers and one level-access door. The warehouse is of single-span steel-portal frame construction, with a clear internal height of 12m. Huntstown Business Park is located on the western side of Cappagh Road in Ballycoolin, 16km northwest of Dublin City Centre. The property sits equidistant from junctions five and six of the M50 motorway, providing ready access to Dublin Airport, Dublin Port Tunnel and to all the main arterial routes on Ireland’s national road network. The Irish Times, 28th January
Mixed Use
O’Connell Street, Dublin 1 French investor Iroko has made its latest investment in the Irish market, paying €3.3m for a fully let mixed-use property at 30-31 Lower O’Connell Street. The price paid represents a 6% premium on the €3.1m Colliers had been guiding when it was put up for sale in August 2025. The 8,617 sq. ft, four-storey over-basement building, is fully let to two tenants generating rental income of €270,000 (7.44% NIY) annually. The ground floor and basement are occupied by Mountain Warehouse, and the upper floors are let to film and TV producer Element Pictures. The Irish Times, 28th January
OFFICE
Harmony Row, Dublin 2 Knight Frank is guiding €1.65m for the fifth-floor turnkey penthouse suite at Unit 11, Harmony Court. Positioned just 400 metres from Pearse Street Dart station, the penthouse extends to some 2,597 sq. ft of high-quality, fully fitted accommodation and comes with three secure basement car-parking spaces. The suite is laid out in a predominantly open-plan and includes a reception area, four private offices, a dedicated boardroom and a fully fitted kitchen. The penthouse unit’s extensive glazing and full-length, southwest-facing balcony, with its panoramic views, are a defining feature. Unit 11 is held under a long 500-year leasehold title from 2006, and is offered for sale with vacant possession. The Business Post, 29th January
RESIDENTIAL / DEVELOPMENT
Liberties, Dublin 8 London-based Valpre Capital, together with Irish firm Revelate Capital and a UBS-managed fund, has sold an 134-apartment development in Dublin’s Liberties to German reinsurance firm Munich RE’s asset manager. The project, 18 Newmarket Square, includes a retail unit, a co-working lounge, public amenities, 301 designated bicycle parking spaces, a landscaped courtyard and three communal rooftop gardens. Newmarket Square contains a mix of studio, one, two and three-bedroom homes, constructed to Nearly Zero Energy Building standards. It was designed by Reddy Architecture + Urbanism and built by Walls Construction. The value of the deal was not disclosed. The Business Post, 2nd February
Ballincollig, Co. Cork Plans for nearly 550 homes in Ballincollig have been appealed to the planning commission by local residents. Developers Murnane and O’Shea received approval from Cork City Council for the ambitious development at Greenfield in December, authorising plans for 544 homes. The development was approved despite almost 50 submissions, including from councillors, a TD, and a residents’ group, raising concerns about the size of the development, lack of school and healthcare services, traffic congestion, and potential social problems. Despite the objections, the council approved the plans, granting permission subject to 59 conditions. The plans have now been appealed to An Bord Pleanála by several residents, including the Greenfields Concerned Group, with the decision date yet to be announced. The Irish Examiner, 28th January
Whites Cross, Co. Cork A planning permission for more than 100 apartments in Cork City has been appealed by local residents to the planning commission. Developer Whitestone Corner Properties Ltd got the green light in July 2025 from the city council for a large-scale residential development on Ballyhooly Road, Laherdane in Whites Cross. The scheme was to comprise three apartment blocks up to five storeys in height, consisting of 114 units. Despite the more than 30 submissions to the city council, local planners approved the plans with 45 conditions. The plans are now with An Coimisiún Pleanála (“ACP”) following a third-party appeal, with the planning commission due to issue a decision by May. The Irish Examiner, 28th January
Airport Hill, Cork City Part of a landbank which famously sold for €2.4m per acre at the height of the boom, is on course for the construction of 121 homes, within a €50m development, expecting to break ground in April. A consortium led by developer Denis McBarron bought the 7.23-acre site for an undisclosed sum after it returned to market in 2018 with a guide price of €3m. The scheme, across 4.5 acres of the landbank, is being developed in partnership with approved housing body Clúid, and the homes will be provided under the cost-rental model. Mr McBarron also confirmed to the Irish Examiner that plans to build a 158-bedroom hotel on the site, which adjoins the N27 Kinsale Rd, are on hold. The Irish Examiner, 29th January
House Completions There were 36,284 new dwelling completions last year, an increase of over 20% from 2024 and the highest number in well over a decade. There was a particular bounce back in apartment building, with the number completed rising to 12,047, up 38.7% YoY, according to new data from the CSO. The final figure is well ahead of many independent predictions. The Central Bank’s most recent forecast was for 33,500 units, while the ESRI said it thought completions would be in the region of 35,000. A surge of activity in the final quarter is the reason why those forecasts were exceeded. While the Government proclaimed the big jump in completions as evidence that its housing policies are finally working, 36,284 completions still leaves it behind target. It has promised to build 300,000 new housing units by 2030. Independent analysts say the underlying need is for an extra 50,000 to 60,000 houses a year to clear the pent-up demand. The Irish Independent, 29th January
Greenhills Industrial Estate, Dublin 12 KeyWaste and Ravensburg Unlimited Company have appealed planning permission for a project that will deliver almost 600 homes. Last year, a company linked to Elkstone and Olympia Capital lodged plans to build 588 apartments on a site in Greenhills Industrial Estate, previously owned by Chadwicks, the builders’ merchant. The €200m project received planning permission from South Dublin County Council in December. Appeal documents for KeyWaste show it has “serious concerns” about the proximity of the residential development to its 24-hour facility on Greenhills Road, where “a significant portion of its waste processing activities takes place”. Ravensburg said the redevelopment of the site “must protect and respect” Concrete Pumping Limited’s existing operation in the Greenhills area. The company has asked ACP to order Elkstone and Olympia Capital to address how the existing and planned water services infrastructure “appropriately protects the existing serviced status of the Ravensburg site”. A decision on the appeal is expected in the coming months. The Business Post, 29th January
OFFICE
Mortgage Drawdowns New figures from Banking and Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) show that a total of 46,358 mortgages were drawn down in 2025, a 7.7% increase YoY. These mortgages were valued at almost €14.5bn, an increase of 15.2% and marking the highest annual drawdown values since 2008. First-time buyers (FTB) continue to drive the mortgage market last year, accounting for 60% of the volume and 61% of the value of mortgage drawdowns in 2025. BPFI noted that new properties, including self-builds, accounted for 41% of the volume and 43% of the value of FTB mortgage drawdowns in 2025, the highest shares since 2009. RTÉ.ie, 28th January
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