5th June (Issue 149)
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
New Ireland Assurance Building:The Press Up Hospitality Group has outbid several developers to purchase the HQ of New Ireland Assurance on Dublin’s Dawson Street for €38m. The building comprises of two interlinking five and six-storey office blocks, and it is believed the Group plans to convert the ground floor into restaurant and other retail uses and to add an additional office floor to bring the overall office space to c. 70,000 sq. ft. The Irish Times, 2nd June
Vista Building, Dublin: Joint agents CBRE and Colliers have brought the 92,000 sq. ft. eight storey over basement Vista Building at Elmpark Green in Dublin to the market, guiding €39m (€424 psf). The entire building is let to Novartis Ireland, one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies, on a 10-year lease at €1.683m p.a. (€18 psf), equating to an initial yield of 4%. The current rent is highly reversionary, with Market Rent in the region of €39 psf. The Irish Times, 30th May
Cork Office Market Q1 2018: Cushman & Wakefield’s Cork Office Market Q1 2018 report identifies a strong start to 2018 for the market. A total of 78,500 sq. ft. of space was taken up to March, compared to 15,600 sq. ft. year on year. Q1 take up was boosted by three deals over 10,000 sq. ft. in size. Supply levels in Cork declined by 4.6% in the first quarter to c. 700,000 sq. ft. with the vacancy rate in Cork falling to 11.4% from 11.9% as at year end 2017. There is currently 235,000 sq. ft. of development schemes under construction. Cushman & Wakefield Website, 5th June
46 James Place East, Dublin: Savills has brought a 0.18 acre site to the rear of Upper Mount Street on James Place East with lapsed permission for an office block to the market for €4m. There is an existing building of 7,222 sq. ft. on the site and a feasibility study indicates that a new four-storey office building of c. 18,000 sq. ft. could be developed on the site. The Irish Times, 29th May
RESIDENTIAL / LAND
Cherrywood Twon Centre: International developer Hines has received planning permission to build a 2.1m sq. ft. town centre at Cherrywood, including apartments, office and retail space. As part of the €1bn mixed use development, Hines will build 1,269 apartments to rent and 585,000 sq. ft. of retail and office space, as well as leisure space. It is expected Cherrywood town centre will provide housing for more than 3,200 people, office accommodation for 2,300 and employment for an additional 2,500 retail and leisure workers. The Irish Independent, 1st June
Waterfront Apartment Scheme, Howth: Savills is seeking offers in excess of €25m (€3.7m per acre) for a 6.61 acre site with potential for a luxury waterfront apartment scheme in Howth, Co. Dublin. The former Techcrete and Teeling Motors sites have planning for two alternative developments, one for 229 apartments and 32,246 sq. ft. of retail space, restaurants, a crèche and leisure centre. The other option is for 127 apartments, 51 houses together with 29,663 sq. ft. of retail and commercial facilities. The first planning permission was recently extended to 2021 while the second permission is valid until 2023. The Irish Times, 30th May
Ford Site, Cork:Glenveagh Properties, is understood to be the preferred bidder for the former Ford motors site in Cork’s docklands. It is understood that Glenveagh bid close to €15m (€1.3m per acre) for the 11.3 acre site which was guiding €8.5m. It has planning permission for 564 residential units, 344,000 sq. ft. of offices, a 205 bedroom hotel and a 5,000 seater event centre. The Irish Times, 3rd May
Belgrave Collection Sale: CBRE has brought thirty period homes split into 265 apartments in Dublin 6 to the market in a single lot sale for €60m (€226k per apartment). The houses, producing a total gross rental income of €4.2m p.a. (€1,320 per apartment per month) are located in Ranelagh, Rathmines, Rathgar, Portobello and Ballsbridge. A sale at guide price will result in an initial yield of 6.4%. The Irish Times, 30th May
Kilmainham Site: Turley Property Advisors has brought a 0.35 acre site with planning permission for seven residential units in Kilmainham to the market for €1.3m (€185k per site). The site has permission for five three-bed houses, a three-bed duplex and a two-bed apartment and is located in Kilmainham close to Heuston Station. The Irish Times, 29th May
RETAIL
7-9 Henry Street, Dublin: UK fashion chain Next plans to open a new flagship store on Dublin’s Henry Street, with fit-out on the new premises due to start in the Autumn and the store to be open for the run-up to Christmas. Next has agreed rent of €1.8m (€50 psf) for the 35,500 sq. ft. four-storey high-profile store with 25m frontage on to Henry Street. The new arrangement will result in Next vacating its double unit in the nearby Jervis Shopping Centre, where it has been trading from for more than 20 years. The Irish Times, 30th May
OTHERS
Appian Burlington Property Fund: Irish real estate fund Appian Burlington Property Fund has purchased a modern 29,500 sq. ft. office building in Clonskeagh and a shopping centre in Swords for c. €18m. The office building has 84 car-parking spaces and will yield a net initial return of 5.75%. Boroimhe Shopping Centre in Swords has a floor area of 33,349 sq. ft., with 10 retail tenants, including SuperValu as anchor tenant, with an initial yield of 7.5% The Irish Times, 30th May
Irish Mortgages Vulnerability: A new study conducted by the Central Bank has shown that 3.9% of Irish mortgages taken out before the crash could potentially default in the event of a financial shock. The research, assessed the vulnerability of mortgaged households here to a hypothetical shock, involving a 4% decline in property prices; a 1.1% increase in interest rates; and a 3.3% rise in unemployment over a three-year period. The study, which used data relating to 533,589 owner-occupier mortgages, found that some 8,000 loans (3.9%) taken out between 2004 and 2009, which are currently not in arrears, could default in such circumstances. In contrast just 2% of mortgages that originated after the crash, were likely to be put at risk of defaulting under the same scenario. The Irish Times, 30th May
April Mortgage Approvals: New figures from Banking & Payments Federation Ireland show the number of mortgage approvals rose more than 14% in the year to the end of April. The value of mortgages was up almost 20% in the year. The figures showed the total value of mortgages approved in the month was about €842m, with €400m attributed to first-time buyers and €281m to movers. Re-mortgaging and switchers were worth €116m, while top-up approvals of €21m represented a rise of 60.4% year-on-year. Buy to lets totalled €25m. The Irish Times, 30th May
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