4th February (Issue 482)

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

Temple Bar, Dublin 2 Temple Bar Inn, a 101 guestroom hotel is being brought to the market by JLL, quoting over €50m. The sale includes a separate large ground-floor Tesco retail unit in addition to 7 Westmoreland Street. The property comes to market with full planning permission for the development of an additional 121 guestrooms. The vendors Heights Hospitality previously put the property on the market in 2019 for €45m, but as the Covid-19 pandemic hit soon after, the property was withdrawn from the market. The Irish Times, 29th January

Parnell Street, Dublin 1 Dublin sports bar The Wool Shed has sold for a price understood to be in excess of the guide price of €2.5m. It was acquired by experienced hospitality operators Eoin and Colin Pardy, and Rory Keogh. The trio own and operate The Bad Ass Café in Dublin’s Temple Bar, as well as The Grand Social on Liffey Street. The approx. 8,500 sq. ft two-storey sports-oriented bar comprises three separate bars, one at ground level and two at first-floor level. The Irish Times, 29th January

 

RETAIL

Dublin Landings, Dublin 1 CBRE is quoting €4.5m for 9 retail units at the Dublin Landings mixed-use development in the city’s north docklands. The retail units extend to a combined floor area of approx. 13,750 sq. ft. Five of the retail units are currently leased producing an annual income of €275k with a WAULT of approx. eight years. The scheme is anchored by Fresh supermarket, while the other tenants are Grindstone Café, Grafton Barber, Dry & Fly and Bakehouse. The Irish Times, 29th January

N1 Road, Tyrone Softdrive, a holding company for Supermac’s, is seeking to open a new €12m Supermac’s Plaza on the N1 road between Aughnacloy and Ballygawley in Tyrone. It will be the firm’s first forecourt operation in Northern Ireland but its second outlet. The current application has put forward a detailed proposal for a petrol filling station, retail unit, food court and drive thru. The development will comprise of a two-storey building that has a floorspace of approx. 10,750 sq. ft and a retail unit of approx. 1,075 sq. ft. The site in question is spread across a 4.5 acre site of land. The Business Post, 30th January

Ely Place, Dublin 2 QRE has successfully closed the sale of 19 Ely Place. It was sold to a domestic purchaser, for just under the guide price of €1.19m. The property, a three-bay, four-storey over-basement, mid-terrace Georgian building, extends to 2,551 sq. ft and had been occupied by a laser and lens eye surgery clinic under a long-term lease. The Business Post, 1st February

 

OFFICE

Pembroke Road, Dublin 4 A long-income office building is coming to the market through CBRE guiding €16m, reflecting a running yield of 7.8%. 87-89 Pembroke Road is owned by Irish Life Property Fund and extends to approx. 30,000 sq. ft, with 42 car parking spaces. Bank of Ireland occupies the 3,000 sq. ft ground floor bank branch on a 150-year lease from 1968, and the 8,300 sq. ft first-floor office on a 25 year lease, due to expire in 2031. The third floor extends to 7,935 sq. ft and is currently leased to the US embassy until 2033, with a tenant break option in 2031. The remaining accommodation on the part ground floor (736 sq. ft) and second floor (8,413 sq. ft) is currently available to let. The Irish Times, 29th January

Park Place, Dublin 2 Apple has been given an 18-month rent-free period at its Park Place offices in Dublin. The terms of the tech giant’s lease agreement are revealed in recently filed property price register documents. The company signed a ten-year lease with no break clause for the offices at 4 and 5 Park Place. Apple has agreed to pay an annual rent of €2.27m and will occupy floors eight and nine at the scheme. The offices comprise approx. 37,500 sq. ft of floor space, which would accommodate approx. 350 people. Apple agreed to pay for its own fit-out and will also pay a service charge of €385k. The Sunday Times, 2nd February

 

MIXED-USE

Ormond Quay Lower, Dublin 1 Xestra Asset Management is seeking expressions of interest for 9 and 10 Ormond Quay Lower and 3-10 Strand Street Great. It is guiding in excess of €12m for the plot, which extends to approx. 0.31 acres and benefits from Z5 City Centre Land Use Zoning under the Dublin City Development Plan 2022–2028. The assets are located beside the Morrison hotel, which was put on the market for between €90m-€95m last week. Number 9 was most recently used as office accommodation, while number 10 functioned as a high-end private event venue. The Irish Times, 29th January

Cabinteely, Dublin 18 QRE is launching a mixed-use investment opportunity at 35/35A Johnstown Road and guiding €1.25m for the investment, which equates to a net initial yield of 6.5%. The investment is anchored by Centra on a long-term lease, which is currently paying €54k pa with the next rent review in March 2027. Upstairs the property is occupied by MF Properties/Castlepark, which is signing a new 10-year lease with a break at year five for approx. €24k pa. The remaining office suite is occupied by Johnstown Therapy Centre, which has been in occupation for over eight years at a current passing rent of €11.5k pa. Total income equates to approx. €89k pa. The Business Post, 1st February

 

INDUSTRIAL / LOGISTICS

Carrigtohill, Cork GE Healthcare, the health division of US giant General Electric, has said that it plans to invest €132m in a new facility at its Irish base in Cork. The approx. 32,300 sq. ft facility will see the expansion of its contrast media production and will enable the firm to produce 25m additional patient doses pa upon completion in 2027. The Business Post, 31st January

Swords, Co Dublin TWM is guiding €17m for a portfolio of enterprise units in Swords Enterprise Park. The sale comprises a portfolio of 61 enterprise units, which are a combination of light industrial and workspace/office buildings extending to over 78,000 sq. ft. The units are contained within a larger development of 72 units overall on a site of approx. 6.9 acres. The guide price equates to a net initial yield of 8.1%. The current passing rent of the portfolio is over €1.5m pa, with 95% of the units leased. Tenants include Fingal County Council, Newport Pharmaceuticals and Quay Logistics. The Irish Times, 29th January

Laragh, Co Cork Hodnett Forde is guiding €2.5m for a vacant industrial unit located in the IDA industrial estate in Laragh, 4km west of Bandon. The property extends to 44,000 sq. ft on a 6.1 acre site and comprises 22,000 sq. ft warehouse and 22,000 sq. ft of offices over two floors. The property formerly occupied by French telecoms company Alcatel, has planning permission for conversion to a distillery with visitors’ centre which runs until May 2026. The Irish Examiner, 30th January

 

STUDENT ACCOMMODATION

Supply Just 116 of the more than 3,700 student accommodation beds the Government has promised in the years since 2022 have so far made it to construction, according to new analysis. Just one student accommodation development – the 116-bed facility in Maynooth, Co Kildare – is currently under construction. Two other developments the Government said it would fund – 405 beds at DCU and another 478 beds at UCD – are now out to tender. But there has been no progress on another 2,500 student beds promised by the Government in their announcements. There are currently 50,000 student beds available in the market but demand in the sector is set to hit 90,000 beds this year, according to new analysis by construction and planning consultancy Mitchell McDermott. It predicts that, in total, just 576 more new student accommodation beds are due to be delivered this year in time for the commencement of 2025/2026 academic year. By 2030, it is expected that there will remain a shortfall of 40,000 beds in the sector. The Sunday Independent, 2nd February

 

RESIDENTIAL/DEVELOPMENT

Moygaddy, Co Kildare Glenveagh has acquired land spanning 250 acres on the Kildare-Meath border for €55m. The site was reported to be valued at €40m in 2023 during a court case over plans to develop the site. Based on residential density guidelines, more than 2,000 homes could be built at the site. Glenveagh’s land bank now has capacity for an estimated 20,000 homes. The developer has targeted to deliver between 2,600 and 3,600 units pa through to 2029. The Business Post, 2nd February

Naas Road, Dublin 12, The Land Development Agency (LDA) has bought a site on Dublin’s Naas Road with the potential to deliver over 1,200 cost rental homes. The Agency has reached an agreement with the owners to purchase the approx. 2.5 acre Royal Liver site. It follows an independent valuation process and is part of the LDA’s private land acquisition initiative. The Royal Liver site is located next to the Red Luas line and close to the Grand Canal at the junction of Naas Road and Kylemore Road. There is existing planning permission for housing development on the land, with an initial first phase delivering at least 465 new homes. Rte.ie, 31st January

Bettystown, Co Meath Agents CBRE are quoting in excess of €4m for Bettystown Caravan Park. Unlike many caravan parks which accommodate holiday makers, this is a residential park which generates all-year-round income from renting out its 285 pitches to caravan owners. Although the 11 acre site is surrounded on three sides by residential developments, it is not considered to have development potential in the near future because of the nature of the tenancies with the caravan owners. The Irish Independent, 30th January

Malahide, Co Dublin CBRE has brought to market a 2.66 acre residential development site off Seamount Road with a guide price of €2.95m. The site has planning permission for four three-bedroom terraced houses. The site is approx. 1.2km south of Malahide Main Street and is zoned ‘RS – Residential’. The four planned terraced houses extend to 1,679 sq. ft and are located at the front of the site. The property is being offered to the market in three lots, including Lot 1, which includes the portion of the site with planning in place, extending to approx. 0.47 acres, Lot 2 at the rear of the site, which extends to approx. 2.19 acres; and Lot 3 is the entire. The Business Post, 1st February

Leeson Street, Dublin 2 A high-profile refurbishment or development opportunity, incorporating the former Hourican’s pub, has come to the market through Lisney, quoting €1.25m. The sale comprises three properties and offers an opportunity to renovate the properties or transform the site into a mixed-use development. The sale also includes a derelict site (6 Lower Leeson Street) and a three-storey-over-basement retail and office premises (5 Leeson Street Lower). When combined, the development opportunity extends to a total site area of approx. 0.1 acres. The Irish Times, 29th January

 

OTHER

BidX1 February Auction The most valuable lot in the BidX1 February 20th auction is a residential investment portfolio comprising 8 residential units at Long’s Place, Dublin 8 which is guiding €2.25m. The portfolio is fully let to private tenants and generates €214,104 in annual rents which at the guide price would equate to a gross yield of 9.51%. Four vacant apartments at Units 7, 7A, 10 and 10A Simmonscourt, Simmonscourt Road are also among the million euro lots and are guiding €1.9m. These units comprise two ground-floor 2-bedroom apartments ranging in size from 645 sq. ft to 678 sq. ft and two first and second-floor 3-bedroom duplex apartments ranging in size from 1,205 sq. ft to 1,291 sq. ft. The Business Post, 1st February

 

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