6th May (Issue 495)

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

Kilkenny & Limerick JLL has brought Project Abbey to market and is guiding €50m for it. Project Abbey is a provincial Irish hotel investment portfolio comprising two of Ireland’s regional city centre hotels, the Kilkenny Ormonde Hotel and the Absolute Hotel in Limerick, along with a substantial multi-storey car park. Spanning a total of 217 keys across the Ormonde Hotel and the Absolute Hotel, this portfolio provides investors with a robust in-place cash flow and the potential for further development and revenue enhancement. Notably, the offering also includes the 725-space Ormonde Street Car Park in central Kilkenny, one of the largest facilities of its kind in the city. Annual portfolio revenue exceeded €15m in 2024, with scope for incremental growth in the years ahead. The Business Post, 4^th May

Leopardstown, Co. Dublin The Loyola Group is selling one of south Dublin’s best-known hostelries, The Lep Inn, with BDM guiding €7.25m for its sale. Located on Brewery Road in Stillorgan, it is a two-storey premises extending to 14,250 sq. ft with a feature circular glazed bar fronting Brewery Road. Its accommodation includes a number of bars, catering kitchen and the Grape & Grain off-licence. On the first floor there is a self-contained function room with a roof terrace and bar, secondary kitchen, offices for 22 people and a conference room and stores. Outside, there is parking for approximately 75 cars. The Lep Inn occupies a site area of 0.91 acres which is zoned Neighbourhood Centre under the DLRCC Development Plan 2022-2028. The Irish Independent, 1^st May

Whitehall, Dublin 9 The Viscount Pub in Whitehall has come to the market with Lisney guiding in excess of €1.85m for it. Owned and operated by the O’Connell family since 1989, The Viscount is positioned on the busy Swords Road. The premises extends to two floors over a basement. Its approx. 2,300 sq. ft ground floor accommodates both a public bar and lounge bar. The approx. 2,230 sq. ft first floor is occupied under a licence by Golden Palace Chinese Restaurant. A basement extends to approx. 800 sq. ft. Externally, the property enjoys six off-street car-parking spaces partly held under an occupational lease and partly used as external patio seating with scope to expand. The Irish Independent, 1^st May

Kill, Co. Kildare The Club Hotel at Goffs in Co. Kildare is planning to invest €7m in an expansion of the site near the famous global horse auction house. Last week, a company-linked to the owners of the hotel submitted a planning application with Kildare County Council for the expansion. The significant plans would see a new 25-bed extension to the site, as well as a standalone spa area with sauna, steam room, pool and treatment rooms. The hotel will become part of Voco Hotels, the premium boutique brand of Intercontinental Hotels Group. The Voco deal is a “marketing franchise agreement” and not an acquisition or investment by IHG which means The Club must maintain certain standards and will recognise IHG’s member points. The Irish Independent, 5^th May

CBRE 2025 Report projects continued growth in demand for Dublin hotels, driven by high occupancy, limited supply, and strong economic fundamentals. Occupancy exceeded 80% in both 2023 and 2024, spiking above 90% on major event nights. Domestic visitors account for 62% of hotel stays, and 30% stem from corporate travel. Population is projected to grow from 5.4m (2025) to 5.7m (2030), and Dublin employment from 988,000 to 1.1m. Despite 3,772 rooms under construction, planning restrictions and high costs limit new supply. Tourism contributed €19.3bn (5% of GDP) in 2023, and with global air travel expected to double by 2042, lifting Dublin Airport’s passenger cap is critical. Investors are increasingly drawn to hotels, with €900m in transactions in 2024, the highest since 2006. The Future of Demand for Dublin Hotels Report, 30^th April

OFFICE

Molesworth Street, Dublin 2 Numbers 34 and 35 Molesworth Street are being offered to the market by CBRE at a guide price of €7m. The properties extend to a net internal area of 13,963 sq. ft. Number 34 comprises a modern five-storey building, rebuilt in the early 1990s, with a traditional Georgian-style facade. Number 35 meanwhile retains many of its original period features and is capable of being subdivided or let on a floor-by-floor basis. Number 34 comes for sale with vacant possession while number 35 has a short-term lease in place. The property has the benefit of nine surface car-parking spaces and of easy access to numerous public transport links, including the Luas, Dart and a wide range of Dublin Bus services. The Irish Times, 30^th April

PURPOSE BUILT STUDENT ACCOMMODATION

Sunday’s Well, Cork City Plans were lodged this week for a proposed major 957-bed student accommodation development at the long derelict Good Shepherd Convent. Bellmount Good Shepherd Ltd plans to build 274 apartments across eight blocks on the 7.8-acre site. The site would be roughly 1.5 km away from the UCC main campus. It was formerly an orphanage and Magdalene laundry, and was added to the local authority’s derelict list in 2019, valued at €1.8m. A blaze earlier this month was the sixth in the past few years, with residents and councillors repeatedly calling for action to bring the site back to life. The property has passed hands on multiple occasions after it was purchased by UCC in 1995. Most recently, it was sold by Cairn Homes to Moneda Developments Ltd in 2016 for an estimated €1.5m. Moneda received planning permission in December 2017 to build an 182-apartment development on the site. This did not happen, and permission for the apartment complex expired in December 2023. Moneda has now given consent to Bellmount Good Shepherd Ltd to lodge the planning application on its lands. The Currency, 30^th April

INDUSTRIAL / LOGISTICS

Park West, Dublin 12 M7 Real Estate is seeking an occupier for a newly refurbished industrial facility at Park West business park. Unit 43, which extends to 21,873 sq. ft, will be ready for tenant fit-out in the third quarter of this year and is quoting an annual rent of €349,000 through Harvey. The property will have an A3 Ber rating following the completion of the landlord’s programme of works. The building comprises light industrial/warehouse space of 18,137 sq. ft and 3,736 sq. ft of two-storey offices and staff facilities. The property’s office accommodation has curtain-wall glazing while the warehouse features two dock levellers and one level-access door within a fenced, enclosed site. The offices are being given a full overhaul with new ceiling grids, lighting, air-conditioning system and floor coverings throughout. M7 is also investing in new mechanical and engineering infrastructure for the property. The Irish Times, 30^th April

MIXED-USE

Mountjoy Street, Dublin 1 Sartini Court, a portfolio of 27 apartments and three commercial units in Dublin city centre, is being offered to the market by agent Colliers at a guide price of €8.75m. Producing gross annual income of €515,000, the property comprises 25 two-bedroom and two one-bedroom apartments distributed across a mix of five and six-storey buildings around an open-air courtyard and above a basement car park. Sartini Court sits just 200m from the Luas green line stop at Dominick Street and a short walk from O’Connell Street. The scheme’s three ground-floor commercial units, extending to 4,150 sq. ft, are vacant, and could potentially be converted into additional residential accommodation, subject to planning permission. The portfolio’s rental income is expected to increase to €570,000 following the letting of the scheme’s two vacant apartments and the completion of some outstanding rent reviews. The Irish Times, 30^th April

RESIDENTIAL/DEVELOPMENT

Balbriggan, Co. Dublin Grimes are guiding €18.75m for approx. 37.5 acres of zoned residential development lands in Balbriggan (€500,000 per acre). Balbriggan is one of Irelands fastest growing towns with the lands located within the Flemington Local Area Plan, adopted in December 2024 by Fingal County Council. The subject site is currently in agricultural use but located close to Balbriggan town centre and its full range of retail, educational and recreational amenities. Grimes Press Release, 30^th April

Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin Fitzwilliam Real Estate is seeking €5.25m for a site with full planning permission for 74 build-to-rent apartments. The 0.8-acre site is located to the rear of St Michael’s Hospital on Crofton Road and currently comprises an operating car park on a short-term licence agreement and a two-storey dwelling. The existing planning approval provides for 74 rental apartments consisting of a mix of 55 one-bedroom units and 19 two-bedroom units along with one commercial cafe unit over two buildings with heights ranging from four to eight storeys. The subject site’s development potential could yet increase should an alternative strategic housing development application for 102 rental apartments, currently before An Bord Pleanála, be approved. The €5.25m price being guided by Knight Frank represents a 19% reduction on the €6.5m which had been sought when they last offered the site to the market in 2019 without planning permission in place. The Irish Times, 30^th April

Bray, Co. Wicklow Savills is guiding a price of €2.25m for a site with full planning permission for the development of 24 apartments on Church Road. The 0.82 acre Westwings site secured approval in June 2024 for 12 three-bedroom duplexes, six two-bedroom apartments and six one-bedroom apartments. Westwings currently comprises a greenfield site and frontage of 33m on to Church Road. The property is well connected by public transport, with several Dublin Bus routes operating on nearby Vevay Road. Bray Dart station is a 20-minute walk away. The Irish Times, 30th April

Cloyne, Co. Cork A 7.5-acre land parcel in Cloyne, zoned for housing and on the market with a €2.4m guide price, is attracting interest from developers. On sale through Sherry FitzGerald O’Donovan, the land is currently being used for agricultural purposes. Buildings in one corner of the site, where there is road frontage, include a cottage and a farmyard with crop sheds, machinery sheds, and a disused general purpose roof shed. A pedestrian path connects to the centre of Cloyne village. Midleton, the nearest town, is less than a 10-minute drive away, while Cork City is a 30-minute spin. The Examiner, 1^st May

BidX1 auction Two tranches of Dublin apartments sold at a BidX1 auction at sharp discounts to market prices. One of these lots comprised three apartments, 307, 308 and 311 Beechwood Court Stillorgan, which sold for €1.15m after only one bid. That equates to an average of €383,333 per unit which is much less than recent sales. The flats were all two bedrooms and two of them measured approx. 710 sq. ft each. Earlier this year, two similar-sized units sold, one for €461,000 and another for €451,000. In the city centre, five units, apartments 17, 18, 60, 61 and 62 Liberty Corner, James Joyce Street, Dublin 1, sold for €1.5m or an average of €300,000 each. Comprising two one-bedroom apartments and three three-bedroom apartments, they range in size from approx. 460 sq. ft to 970 sq. ft. With a total of 3,766 sq. ft of floor space, the price equates to an average of €400 per sq. ft, a significant discount to the average €473 per sq. ft prices achieved for Dublin 1 two-bedroom apartments in the second half of 2024, according to an IPAV survey. The sale included three valuable city centre parking spaces. The Irish Independent, 1^st May

If you have an article which you would like to have considered for inclusion in our next weekly report, please contact us at info@origincapital.ie

Origin Capital funds senior debt transactions in the CRE investment sector, typically in excess of €3m, and has lent over €400m to clients since April 2015.

29th April (Issue 494)