3rd June (Issue 499)
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.
RETAIL
Johnson’s Court, Dublin 2 Paul Sheeran Jewellers is set to relocate its jewellery and diamond business from its original home just off Grafton Street to a larger premises near Chatham Street. Number 7-8 Johnson’s Court is being offered to the market by Colliers and JLL at a guide price of €5.5m. The property is alternatively available to let at an annual rent of €275,000. Located on the pedestrianised thoroughfare linking Grafton Street with Clarendon Street, 7-8 Johnson’s Court comprises 4,500 sq. ft of space distributed across three floors over basement level. The agents say it could also accommodate alternative uses such as a restaurant, entertainment venue, or a licensed premises, subject to planning permission. To facilitate that potential, a planning application is now being submitted seeking approval for a change of use to an entertainment/food and beverage venue. The Irish Times, 28th May
Balbriggan, Co. Dublin Savills is guiding €5m for a bank branch let to Bank of Ireland. This guide equates to a 9.05% net initial yield (NIY) which will increase to 9.68% in April 2028 and 10.36% in July 2029 due to fixed rental uplifts. Located at 24/26 Dublin Street and comprising a modern retail building extending to 7,826 sq. ft it is currently producing a total passing rent of €497,324 pa, with a WAULT of 8.56 years. It is let under two leases which feature upward-only rent reviews linked to the higher of the open market rent or fixed 15% uplifts. These terms provide secure rental growth for investors. Located on a 0.46-acre site which includes 31 car-parking spaces, it was redeveloped in 2008 and holds a BER B3 energy rating. The Irish Independent, 29th May
Donaghmede, Dublin 13 Savills is guiding €3m for the Grange Clinic in Donaghmede. The Grange Clinic is fully occupied and produces a rent of €247,558 pa with a WAULT of 4.15 years. Extending to 13,409 sq. ft over three floors, the ground floor comprises three retail units let to Boots Pharmacy, Grange Barber and Sima café. Occupiers on the upper floors include Smart Dental. Located on a 0.3-acre site including 25 car spaces to the rear, the property occupies a high-profile position on Grange Road, adjacent to the high footfall Donaghmede Shopping Centre. While the leases for two tenants, Boots and Grange Clinic, expire in 2028, Savills note that 38% of the occupiers have been there for over 10 years and 62% have been in occupation for over five years. The Irish Independent, 29th May
HOSPITALITY
Dalata A consortium including Sweden’s Pandox and Norway’s Eiendomsspar has submitted a non-binding bid for Dalata which values the Dublin-based hospitality operator at €1.3bn. The bid value of €6.05 per share represents a 27.1% premium to Dalata’s stock before it announced a sale process in March. Eiendomsspar already owns approx. 8.8% of Dalata’s shares. Ireland’s largest hotel operator hired Rothschild & Co. to advise on options including a sale earlier this year, citing a lacklustre share price that did not reflect the underlying value of the business. The bidders haven’t participated in that sale process to date and have formulated their proposal independently. They are also currently in negotiations with a “reputable European hotel operator” to conclude a framework agreement for the operation of the Dalata hotels should the deal go ahead. The Business Post, 3rd June
MIXED-USE
Harcourt Street, Dublin 2 Knight Frank is guiding €4.5m for Clonmell House, a prime Georgian building located at 17 Harcourt Street. Extending to 8,811 sq. ft across four floors over basement level, along with a mews to the rear, the building is predominantly in office use. The basement of Clonmell House and first floor of the mews is let to Vaugirard, a designated activity company under two separate leases with the basement in use as a bar/nightclub. The car park to the rear accommodates 10 parking spaces and is accessed via Montague Lane. Both leases are for a term of 25 years from January 11th, 2016, with a passing rent of €55,700 and €8,000 respectively. The sale will not affect the tenants currently occupying the building. The Irish Times, 28th May
Molesworth Street, Dublin 2 Knight Frank is guiding €4m for Molesworth House, a five-storey over-basement building with a NIA of 9,264 sq. ft (€432 psf). The building has dual access and frontage on to Molesworth Street and South Frederick Street, and gated rear access via Dawson Lane. The property comprises retail and office accommodation, and includes options for refurbishment, rooftop extension or full redevelopment, subject to planning permission. The building is 63% vacant. It is partially let to Mitsui & Co Europe Plc and M&T Aviation, generating a combined passing rent of €167,000 pa. Both tenants have signed deeds of renunciation, offering the prospective purchaser the option of securing vacant possession. The Irish Times, 28th May
Donnybrook, Dublin 4 Jones Investments has engaged Savills and Agar to sell the former AIB building at a guide price of €2.5m. The property is alternatively being made available to let at an annual rent of €180,000. Located at the junction of Morehampton Road and Marlborough Road, the property comes to the market with the benefit of two grants of planning permission in place. The first permits the use of the building for grocery retail with ancillary off-licence and stores. The second permits restaurant/cafe use and upper-floor medical/office use. The property has 17.5m of frontage on to Morehampton Road and a total of 3,928 sq. ft of space distributed across ground and first-floor levels. The building has had bespoke feature glazing installed by the owner and is being offered to the market in shell condition, ready for fitout by a new owner or occupier. The Irish Times, 28th May
INDUSTRIAL
Longford Town Arrow Capital Partners has retained TWM and CBRE as joint agents for the former Masterlink Logistics facility in Longford. The property is available for sale with the benefit of vacant possession at a guide price of €9.75m, or to let on flexible lease terms at €6.50 psf. Positioned on a 9.44-acre site on the outskirts of Longford town, the building comprises a detached high-bay warehouse of 139,225 sq. ft and two-storey offices of 8,580 sq. ft (€66 psf guide price). The warehouse is of steel-frame construction with reinforced concrete flooring and an insulated metal deck roof and is divided into ambient and bonded sections. It has a clear internal height of 9m, with access via 15 dock levellers and eight grade-level doors. The Irish Times, 28th May
Dublin Airport Business Park, Dublin 9 Palm Logistics is seeking an occupier for a detached logistics facility at Dublin Airport Business Park. Unit D1, available for let through Cushman & Wakefield and Savills, extends to 92,483 sq. ft and comes with 30 dock levellers and two grade-level roller shutter doors that open on to a 34m-deep yard. The warehouse has a clear internal height of 9m throughout and is equipped with high-bay LED lighting. The property will be available for immediate occupancy in the final quarter of this year following an extensive refurbishment programme. Unit D1 is targeting a minimum Ber rating of A3. The Irish Times, 28th May
OFFICE
Burlington Road, Dublin 4 Fine Grain Property has commenced the transformational repositioning of Connaught House. In line with its strategy to deliver sustainable, high-performance workplaces, Fine Grain will invest over €10m to upgrade the building’s environmental credentials, foster biodiversity, and revitalise communal and public spaces for the benefit of tenants and visitors alike. MCA Architects have been appointed to lead the redevelopment. Lauder Teacher Press Release, 3rd June
RESIDENTIAL/DEVELOPMENT
Spencer Place, Dublin 1 Ardstone Capital is set to pay €177m to acquire Spencer Place, the high-end residential scheme developed by Ronan Group Real Estate. The first round of bidding saw seven parties either bidding or expressing their interest in the scheme. Offers for the portfolio are understood to have come in at €160m to €170m in the first round. Should Ardstone Capital complete its acquisition of Spencer Place for €177m, it stands to secure a yield of 4.9% on its investment. The portfolio that is now being sold comprises 393 apartments arranged across three blocks along with a range of facilities that include coworking area, bookable kitchen, gym, cinema, top-floor communal areas, 78 car-parking spaces and 828 bicycle parking spaces. The Irish Times, 28th May
Balbriggan, Co. Dublin Grimes are inviting parties with an interest in purchasing 37.5 acres of Zoned Residential Development Land at Flemington Lane, Balbriggan to submit a best bid prior to 12 noon on Wednesday 11th June 2025. The guide price is €18.75m (€500,000 per acre). The lands are currently in agricultural use and laid out in 4 divisions, are generally level in topography and well drained. The entirety of the lands are zoned Residential and are located within the Flemington Local Area Plan (“LAP”) adopted in December 2024. Grimes Press Release, 27th May
Corbally, Co. Limerick Development land with the potential to deliver almost 70 homes is on the market, with Savills seeking offers in excess of €2.75m. The greenfield site, on the Mill Road in Corbally, is just over 20.3 acres, of which 4.7 acres is zoned “new residential”. The prescribed residential density, under the current Limerick Development Plan (2022-2028), is for approx. 14 homes per acre. The remaining land, just over 15 acres, is zoned for public open space. Last year, development land sold in Lower Park, Corbally, for €485,000 per acre. The council has carried out significant improvements to the neighbourhood road infrastructure since the same site came to market three or four years ago. The Irish Examiner, 29th May
Cork City Plans have been unveiled to take traffic off the main gateway road into Cork City. The details of the €20m-plus project are contained in planning documents that have been published by Cork City Council for public consultation. If approved, it will transform Horgan’s Quay from a traffic centric corridor into a pedestrian-friendly riverside promenade, bookended by public parks. A key element of the project will involve the relocation of the existing N8 national road, which carries traffic city-bound along Horgan’s Quay, away from the water’s edge, to facilitate the creation of a promenade on the waterfront. The project will require land acquisition, most of which involves the Port of Cork and Iarnrod Eireann, but the council has had extensive engagement with both state bodies already. The Examiner, 29th May
Galway City Galway Harbour Company and the LDA have launched a public consultation on the redevelopment of Galway Inner Harbour, including proposals for 350 homes at the new Amharc Atalia development. The homes will be built on a 3.4-hectare site within the inner harbour, the transfer of which was agreed in principle last year and which include plans for cost rental and social housing, a creche and three retail or café units. GHC owns and operates the Port of Galway, which it is looking to develop into a mixed-use city centre urban quarter as part of the Galway City Development Plan, which includes the construction of a new port complex in deeper water, allowing redevelopment of the inner harbour as a mixed-use residential, commercial and recreational area. Bisnow, 2nd June
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