3rd May (Issue 44)
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
Blanchardstown Shopping Centre: Blackstone is set to be named the preferred bidder by Green Property for Blanchardstown Shopping Centre in Dublin, after bidding c. €950m. Interestingly, it has been reported that Blackstone’s bid was not the highest received by Green Property. However Green has chosen Blackstone’s bid as they have greater confidence in their ability to close the transaction, as opposed to other bidders. The shopping centre was opened in 1996 and has c. 1.25m sq. ft. of retail and retail warehousing space. The Irish Times, 28th April
Nenagh Retail Park: Savills has set an asking price of €2.6m for Nenagh Retail Park in Co Tipperary. The 10 year old retail park has seven warehouse units which extend to 158,000 sq. ft. and is situated on a c. 3.1 acre site. The annual rental income is €240k, with the anchor tenant Woodies DIY paying 43% of the rental income. Woodies is in situ under a lease which expires in 2031, however there is a break option in five years. Other tenants include Export Electrical, World of Wonder, Jump N Gyms and Slattery Tiles. With one of the units vacant, there is potential to increase the annual rental income to €290k. The Irish Times, 27th April
Downe Retail Park: Cerberus has retained Lambert Smith Hampton to oversee the sales process of Downe Retail Park in Co Down in Northern Ireland. The agent is guiding GBP17m for the 110,000 sq. ft. retail park. With the retail park fully occupied and generating annual rental income of c. GBP1.15m, the park offers a yield of c. 6.75%. NAMA Wine Lake, 1st May
OFFICE
Clanwilliam Court: London + Regional is to dispose of three office buildings located at 1, 2 and 5 Clanwillliam Court in Dublin 2, with offers in the region of €54m being sought. The three buildings have a total floor area of 93,637 sq. ft., of which 58,540 sq. ft. is currently vacant. There is an underground car park which facilitates the entire Clanwilliam Court development, with 228 car spaces allocated to Blocks 1, 2 and 5. London + Regional purchased Block 2 in 2012 for c. €10m and later acquired Block 1 in 2014 for c. €12m. Block 5, which has been fully let to An Bord Bia, would be the most valuable of the three buildings. London + Regional estimate that the current annual rental income of c. €887k could be increased to c. €4.6m through rent reviews and the letting of vacant space. The key value in the properties is understood to lie in their redevelopment potential. There is already planning permission on the site for the development of a seven storey office block consisting of 56,177 sq. ft. The Irish Times, 27th April
90 St Stephen’s Green: TWM is guiding €25m for an office block at 90 St Stephen’s Green in Dublin 2. The five storey, 26,591 sq. ft. property is fully let to Standard Life Employee Services under a lease which expires in September 2021. The lease is fully guaranteed by Standard Life. While the net initial yield based on current rental income (€650k) is just 2.49%, there is a rent review in September 2016 which should allow prospective investors to increase their return. 25 car spaces are on site and are included in the sale. The Irish Independent, 28th April
13 Merrion Square: CBRE is inviting offers of €3.6m for 13 Merrion Square in Dublin 2. The main property located on the premises is a 5,031 sq. ft. Georgian which has been newly refurbished and comes with vacant possession. To the rear are two two-bed apartments, an office and private cinema. The total annual rental income of these units is €54k. Secure car parking is available with the property. The Irish Times, 27th April
Dublin Docklands: Two planning applications have been lodged with Dublin City Council for sites in the Dublin Docklands. Oxley Holdings has applied for planning permission to develop a 350,000 sq. ft. office block in the North Dublin Docklands. The property would be seven storeys tall and located near the Central Bank’s new HQ. The second application is to develop an 18,000 sq. ft. commercial property on the former site of the Wool Store in the North Dublin Docklands. The application was lodged by an IBRC appointed receiver who proposes to develop 5,000 sq. ft. of retail space on the ground floor and 13,000 sq. ft. of office space overhead. NAMA Wine Lake, 1st May
HOTEL
Carnegie Court Hotel: Savills is guiding €4.75m for the Carnegie Court Hotel in Swords, Co. Dublin. The three star, 36-bed hotel is located close to Dublin airport and is understood to be trading profitably. There is also a recent planning approval which allows for an additional 35 bedrooms to be added to the hotel. The hotel features The Harp Bar, Rouge nightclub and the award-winning Courtyard Restaurant. The Irish Independent, 28th April
Dalata Beasley Street: Dalata is reportedly putting the final touches on a c. €10m deal to acquire the partially completed Beasley Street hotel in Cork City. The property could facilitate a four-star, 120 bed hotel and Dalata may look at operating the hotel under the Maldron brand if they can complete the transaction. The Sunday Business Post reports that Lone Star is the seller of the property. The Sunday Business Post, 1st May
RESIDENTIAL / LAND
Cairn Homes Acquisition: Cairn Homes has completed the purchase of Argentum Property for €105.6m. Argentum’s property portfolio consists of c. 164.5 acres of land in and around Dublin. Development has already commenced on one of the sites, which is located in Ashbourne. Cairn Homes intend on taking over the management of this site in the coming weeks. Another site on Griffith Avenue in Marino, Dublin has planning for 101 units consisting of a mix of houses and apartments. Cairn Homes is currently working on three sites and hopes to increase this number to eight within twelve months. The Irish Times, 29th April
New Generation Sites: The Sunday Business Post reports that Richard Barrett’s Bartra Capital is in a prime position to purchase a development land portfolio being sold by New Generation Homes for c. €225m. Some sites are located in Dublin and the remainder are within the Dublin commuter belt. New Generation decided to put the sites up for sale after seeing how much interest Ulster Bank’s Project Clear received from investors. Broadhaven and Centerbridge Partners are also understood to be interested in New Generation’s portfolio. The Sunday Business Post, 1st May
Ardstone Capital Acquisition: NAMA is understood to have chosen Ardstone Capital as the preferred bidder for six development sites located within the Dublin commuter belt. Ardstone will reportedly pay close to €50m for the sites, which had a combined guide price of €44.75m. The six sites comprise c. 128 acres of land and include 38.5 acres in Leixlip, 15.8 acres in Naas, 50.8 acres in Newbridge, and three sites in Swords (totalling c. 22.5 acres). The sites, which are linked to David Daly’s Albany Group, were placed on the market through Savills in February 2016. The Irish Times, 27th April
Property Prices: The latest figures from the CSO show that residential property prices rose by 0.3% in March. For the year ending March 2016, prices were 7.4% higher than a year ago. This annual increase is substantially below the annual increase for the twelve months ending March 2015, when prices rose by 16.8%. While prices in Dublin rose by 0.9% in March 2016, prices outside of Dublin fell by 0.2%. This is the first month where a decrease has been recorded for properties outside of Dublin since January 2015. The Irish Times, 27th April
OTHER
2015 Property Transaction Figures: New figures from DTZ Sherry Fitzgerald reveal that there was c. €15.8bn spent purchasing residential and commercial properties in Ireland in 2015. The €15.8bn figure was c. 6% higher than the 2014 figure. DTZ’s numbers also confirm that the recovery in the property market is no longer confined to Dublin, as the value of property transactions outside of Dublin rose by 28% during 2015. Dublin did continue to dominate the market though, with c. €8.9bn spent on property transactions, however this was c. 6% lower than the 2014 figure. In 2015 the residential market represented 68% of the sales figure, while commercial property accounted for the other 32%. The Irish Times, 27th April
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