6th June (Issue 400)
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
Park West Business Park, Dublin 12 Lisney is guiding a price of €3.5m (€128 per sq. ft; NIY 10%) for a fully let office investment at Park West Business Park in Dublin 12. The sale of Block 14 on Joyce Way offers the prospective purchaser the opportunity to secure rental income into the medium term of €384.16k, rising to €392.7k in July 2023. The subject property is occupied by a strong tenant line-up that includes ICRLA, Client Solutions (Ernst & Young), and Orchard Fostering. The WAULT is 2.9 years to the break option and 3.50 years to expiry. Block 14 briefly comprises a standalone three-storey building facing on to the main plaza at Park West. The property consists of a modern office building of 27,167 sq. ft together with 36 car-parking spaces. The Irish Times, 31st May
Fitzwilliam Street Lower, Dublin 2 Less than six months after it assumed the lease from Slack Technologies for all 135,000 sq. ft of office space at the newly developed Fitzwilliam 28 in Dublin city centre, SMBC Aviation Capital is looking to sublet a quarter of the building. The accommodation, which extends to 46,000 sq. ft in total, will be fully fitted out and available for occupation at a quoting rent of €59.50 per sq. ft in the final quarter of this year. The news of SMBC Aviation Capital’s move comes after the company’s decision to take on the long-term lease Slack Technologies committed to in early 2020 at a rent of €7.7m a year. The available space on the building’s first and second floor extends to 21,000 sq. ft and 25,000 sq. ft respectively and is bright thanks to the presence of floor-to-ceiling windows and a ceiling height of 2.8 metres. The Irish Times, 31st May
Ballsbridge, Dublin 4 Waystone has instructed CBRE to sublet the first floor of its headquarters at 35 Shelbourne Road in Ballsbridge, Dublin 4. The company currently occupies a total of 52,000 sq. ft across the first to fourth floors and 12 car-parking spaces at the newly developed building, having entered into a 20-year lease on the premises in April of last year. The fifth and sixth floors of the building serve as the Dublin headquarters of online takeaway delivery giant Just Eat. The first floor of the property comes to the market fully fitted with open-plan desk space capable of accommodating up to 160 workers. CBRE is offering the space by way of a flexible sublease at a quoting rent of €60 per sq. ft. The Irish Times, 31st May
City Centre, Cork The target date for completion of a €20m glass prism building has been pushed out until midway through next year. The planned 15-storey block was due for completion in August this year. However, the latest completion date is now Q2 of 2024. The Prism is to provide more than 64,583 sq. ft of office space. The Irish Examiner, 1st June
RETAIL
Lucan, Co Dublin The Griffeen Centre in Lucan, Co Dublin is being offered to the market by joint agents Colliers and Bannon at a guide price of €6.6m (€245 per sq. ft; NIY 9.4%). The subject property comprises a retail-led neighbourhood scheme extending to 26,900 sq. ft. It incorporates a grocery anchor, creche, medical centre, restaurant and five office suites. The centre’s surface level car park is to the front and has 94 car-parking spaces. The centre is more than 95% occupied and is producing overall rental income of approx. €682k pa with a WAULT of just over 5.88 years. The tenant line-up includes Musgraves Ltd (trading as Centra), Giraffe Childcare Ltd, McCabe’s Pharmacy, Boylesports and Pizza Hut. The Irish Times, 31st May
HOSPITALITY
Ballsbridge, Dublin 4 The American Embassy in Dublin is closing in on a deal to purchase the former Jury’s Hotel in Ballsbridge as it prepares to relocate embassy staff over the coming years. According to market sources, officials in the American government are currently carrying out a number of inspections and checks at the site as the embassy finalises a deal with the site’s owner, Chartered Land. Separately, the embassy is close to finalising a deal to purchase a number of premium apartments at the adjacent Lansdowne Place development to house embassy staff and overseas visitors. The latest embassy developments come after Dublin City Council agreed in 2019 to rezone the former Jury’s Hotel, which closed that same year, to facilitate the embassy’s relocation there. In 2021, planning permission was granted to separate the hotel site from the residential Lansdowne Place development with fencing, satisfying a key security concern for embassy officials. The Business Post, 31st May
Magheramore, Co Wicklow Oakmount’s plans for a multimillion-euro resort in Wicklow have been refused planning permission by the local council. Last month, a firm connected to Oakmount applied for permission to develop a tourism and leisure complex in Magheramore, Co. Wicklow. The site was sold to Oakmount in June 2021 following a competitive auction, with Wicklow county council reportedly among those bidding. The proposed facility would include 48 accommodation pods and a two-storey building with a gym, sauna, cinema and outdoor pool at lower ground level. A bar and restaurant would also be on site. It was widely reported Oakmount paid €700K to secure ownership of the wider Magheramore site in an online auction in June 2021. While the amount paid represented a massive premium on the €210k the property had been guiding in advance of its sale, intense competition involving five parties on the day saw bids surpass the €550k mark. The Business Post, 31st May
MIXED-USE
Tallaght, Dublin 24 After 19 months of being tied up with an application for 334 apartments in the Government’s “fast-track” planning system, the former Dublin headquarters of global technology company ABB on Tallaght’s Belgard Road is being put up for sale. The subject property is being offered to the market by joint agents Colliers and Cushman & Wakefield on the instructions of Myles Kirby as receiver over Landmarque Belgard Development Company Ltd at a guide price of €5.25m. The building briefly comprises a detached warehouse unit along with three-storey office accommodation extending to a total area of 41,254 sq. ft on a 2.2-acre site. The warehouse element of the property extends to 13,392 sq. ft while the office space measures 27,862 sq. ft and is laid out over three floors. The building has a secure yard to the south measuring 0.3 acres and 81 car-parking spaces around its perimeter. The Irish Times, 31st May
Blanchardstown, Dublin 15 Planning permission has been granted to the owners of Blanchardstown Town Centre for a €450m apartment scheme with approx. 1,000 units despite strong opposition by several major retailers with outlets in the shopping centre. The proposed development consists of 971 apartments in seven blocks ranging from one to 16 storeys in height as well as a shop, office, gym, restaurant/cafe, creche, mobility hub, community facility and place of worship. The development on a 16.3-acre site is being proposed by Blanche Retail Nominee, a company linked to the shopping centre’s owners, Goldman Sachs. A total of 97 apartments are due to be sold to Fingal County Council for an estimated cost of €44.9m. The Irish Times, 31st May
INDUSTRIAL / LOGISTICS
Rialto, Dublin 8 Harvey is guiding a price of €3.75m for an investment/development opportunity at Silverdale on Herberton Road in Rialto, Dublin 8. Offers for the property will be considered on a straight-sale basis, or subject to planning permission. The sale comprises two industrial warehouse and dry-storage buildings, measuring a gross external area of 31,022 sq. ft and located on a site of 1.5 acres, which is zoned Z10 under the Dublin City Development Plan 2022-2028. The property was occupied for more than 30 years by G4S Securicor as its cash-counting base, before being vacated in 2018. It is occupied by Dublin Street Parking Services Ltd under two leases and Vodafone Ireland Ltd under a mast licence, generating a total rent of €173k pa. The leases run for seven years from September 13th 2019, and contain mutual break options in September 2024, subject to serving six months’ written notice. Deeds of Renunciation have been signed in relation to both leases. The passing rent of €173k a year is well below market rent. The Irish Times, 31st May
Ballycoolin, Dublin 15 Joint agents Savills and CBRE are seeking an occupier for Unit 736, which is now nearing completion. The subject property will extend to 68,727 sq. ft. Unit 736 Northwest Logistics Park will be available to lease at an annual rent of €12.95 per sq. ft. Park Developments is awaiting a decision on planning permission in the coming weeks for Unit 735, which will extend to 55,240 sq. ft. The Irish Times, 31st May
RESIDENTIAL / DEVELOPMENT
Donaghmede, Dublin 13 Knight Frank is guiding a price of €700k for a residential site in north Dublin with full planning permission secured by Gannon Homes, owned by developer Gerry Gannon, for the construction of 18 new homes. The 0.84-acre site, at Grattan Lodge, off the Hole in the Wall Road in Donaghmede, has approval in place for 10 four-bedroom houses (1,472 sq. ft), one one-bed duplex (543 sq. ft) and seven two-bed duplexes (921-945 sq. ft). The Irish Times, 31st May
Residential Portfolio, Dublin The Vestry Partnership, a property fund backed by a Singapore sovereign wealth fund, has amassed a portfolio of more than 1,000 separate rental properties in Ireland. The portfolio consists of single or multiple units in different developments, mostly apartments in Dublin. Vestry is believed to be controlled by GIC, a Singaporean state wealth fund, and has received debt financing from DBS, a Singaporean lender. According to its most recent accounts, up to March 2022, the partnership controlled 813 units and had let 99% of the properties. Mortgage charge documents just filed in the Companies Office indicate that it has since added 200 further units to the portfolio. Sources say that the fund has acquired a large number of properties from Cerberus, a vulture fund. The Sunday Times, 4th June
Lucan, Co Dublin Fingal County Council is understood to have bought 60 acres of land next to St Catherine’s Park in Lucan, Co Dublin, for more than €4.5m, which is well over its €3.6m guide price. The local authority had to see off competition from investors, developers and farmers as selling agent Coonans said there was significant interest from other potential buyers. Located at Coldblow with extensive frontage onto the R419 Lucan to Clonee road, the lands are close to residential developments at Rokeby and Laraghacon. The Irish Independent, 1st June
Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) Government spending on a social housing support scheme for people in the rental sector has increased by 45% since 2019, with a record more than half a billion euro being paid to private landlords last year, new figures show. Figures from the Department of Housing show that last year a total of €515.2m was paid to landlords by the State through the scheme, a 45% increase on the €354.6m spent four years earlier in 2019. At the end of last year, there were 59,258 active HAP tenancies, which was a decrease on the 61,907 tenancies in 2021, although still higher than the 52,529 in 2019. Under the scheme, there are official maximum rent limits, which vary across the State, but in almost two-thirds of cases last year the local authority had to break these limits using “discretionary additional payments” to secure tenancies due to the high cost of rent in the State. The average rate of discretion was 25.5% above the limit last year. The Irish Times, 5th June
Coolegad, Wicklow Wicklow County Council has refused planning permission for 98 houses near Greystones on residentially zoned land, on the basis that the town has already reached its population target for 2028. The decision could have far-reaching implications – including an effective ban on new planning permissions in the Greystones–Delgany area for the next five years. Cairn Homes applied to Wicklow County Council in April for permission to construct 89 new homes at Coolegad, on the northern fringe of Greystones, an area close to the local, Temple Carrig School. Cairn Homes currently has an application for 586 new homes covering the same site and adjoining lands, made directly to Bord Pleanála last year, under the State’s former Strategic Housing Development initiative. Sources said a decision has not been made and is not likely to be made until much later this year. The Irish Times, 2nd June
Housing Demand Demand for housing nationally is up by 17% on this time last year while demand in Dublin is up by 34%, according to property website Daft.ie. To assess the demand, the site looks at the growth and change in the number of inquiries related to property listings on its website. The company estimated that demand for new homes specifically rose up by 114% in the 12 months to May this year. Homes with a listed price of €400k-€600k had the largest increase in demand of 38%. New homes within the price bracket of €400k-€500k marked the strongest surge in demand of 1,783%, Daft said. While demand for homes between €200k-€400k have risen 24%, homes listed between €600k-€800k grew by 20% compared with this time last year. Separate figures from the CSO showed the volume of production in construction rose by 7.5% in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the previous quarter and was up 2.8% on an annual basis. However, the CSO noted that compared to pre-pandemic levels the volume of construction activity was still down over 13%. The Irish Times, 2nd June
Fairview, Dublin 3 Dublin City Council has given the green light to plans for 785 apartments on the grounds of St Vincent’s Hospital in Fairview in Dublin 3 despite local opposition. The council granted planning permission for the €300m scheme after reducing the number of units from 811 to 785 by reducing the highest bloc from 13 to 11 storeys. The scheme on the 23.4-acre site is being developed by Royalton Group, a British property development firm, in partnership with the board of St Vincent’s Hospital. Under the terms of the deal, Royalton is to construct a new 73-bedroom mental health facility for the hospital. As part of 39 conditions attached to the permission, the council is requiring that the developer pays €8.7m in planning contributions towards public infrastructure. As part of its Part V social housing obligations, the developers were planning to sell 174 apartments (21% of the total number of units at an indicative price tag of €87.72m (€504k per unit)). With the reduction in the number of units, the number of Part V units will reduce to 164 or 165. The Irish Times, 1st June
Housing Underspend The Department of Housing had to return more than €380m to the exchequer over the last four years amid underspends blamed in part on Covid-19 construction stoppages, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) will be told. Despite the ongoing housing crisis the department has struggled to spend its full allocated budget. It was previously reported that it failed to spend more than €1bn earmarked for housing over the past three years. The department is able to carry over some of its capital funding allocation to be spent the following year under budgetary rules. However, secretary general Graham Doyle is expected to tell PAC that €382m has been surrendered back to the exchequer. His opening statement says the surrendered amount cumulatively represents 1.8% of the total funds allocated to the department. The Irish Times, 1st June
Ballyboden, South Dublin South Dublin County Council has given the green light to plans for a 402-unit apartment scheme for Taylor’s Lane in Ballyboden despite local opposition. The planning authority has granted planning permission to Shannon Homes Dublin UC for the large-scale residential development (LRD) scheme comprising three blocks rising to five storeys despite the opposition of local residents. The planning permission for the LRD plan follows the High Court in January 2022 quashing an An Bord Pleanála planning permission for a Shannon Homes UC Strategic Housing Development scheme for 486 apartments at the same site. Underlining the scale of the scheme, the council has attached a condition requiring the developer to pay €4.19m in planning contributions towards public infrastructure to the council. The Irish Times, 31st May
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