7th February (Issue 82)
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
Salamanca Restaurant: Agents Bagnall Doyle McMahon are guiding €2.8m for the Salamanca restaurant building, located at 1 Andrew Street in Dublin 2. The building extends to 4,768 sq. ft. and is held on a 25-year lease running from March 2014. The current rent is €155k p.a, with five yearly rent reviews. The first review is linked to the CPI, with subsequent reviews linked to market rents. The tenant has break options in 2029 and 2034, offering the new owner c. 12 years of uninterrupted rent. The Irish Times, 1st February
OFFICE
Clanwilliam Court: A partnership agreement agreed between Hibernia REIT and Iconic Offices will see three floors (c. 21,000 sq. ft.) of serviced office / co-working space made available in Clanwilliam Court in Dublin 2. As the owners of the property, Hibernia is providing the office space whilst Iconic will oversee the business operations. Under the income-sharing element of the arrangement, Hibernia will fund the majority of the c. €1m fit-out costs, and will receive most of the net income from the occupiers up to a level equating to the headline rent of about €45 psf. Iconic Offices will then receive the majority of any income above this level. The Irish Times, 2nd February
River House, Chancery Street: The Irish Times reports that Derek Quinlan acted as an advisor to an unnamed purchaser on the €8m acquisition of River House on Chancery Street in Dublin, near the Four Courts. The building, which dates from the 1970s, was previously the motor tax office, however it had been vacant since the government agency moved out a decade ago. The property had been owned for the last 15 years by developers Joe and Patrick Linders, who recently renewed a planning permission to redevelop and double the building’s capacity to approximately 75,000 sq. ft. It is believed the new block could be of particular interest to UK legal firms who may be planning to relocate to Dublin following Brexit. The Irish Times, 6th February
RESIDENTIAL / LAND
Liffey Valley Apartments: The Irish investment manager Carysfort Capital has paid in excess of €36m to buy 160 apartments at St. Edmunds near Liffey Valley Shopping Centre in west Dublin. Carysfort Capital outbid several overseas companies, paying above the €32.5m guide price for the complex, which also contains 167 car parking spaces. The transaction equates to a price of c. €225k per apartment. The apartments are split over three blocks, and currently produce a rent of c. €2.435m p.a., offering the new owner a gross initial yield of c. 6.75%. The apartments benefit from good transport links, being located alongside the N4 and M50, and are served by both Dublin Bus and regional bus services. The Irish Times, 1st February
Housing Completions: New figures from the Department of Housing show that 14,932 homes were completed during 2016, representing a c. 18% increase on 2015. However, this is still significantly below the c. 25,000 units which are required to restore the market to a healthy level. Of the completed housing units, 6,289 were in the Greater Dublin Area, with the remainder situated across the rest of the country. The figures, which are published in the second quarterly report of the Government’s housing strategy ‘Rebuilding Ireland’, show that planning permission was granted for over 16,000 homes in the year ending September 2016, an increase of c. 45% year-on-year. The Irish Independent, 7th February
OTHER
Nursing Home Sector: Emerald Capital Partners is reportedly considering the sale of its Irish nursing home assets. The company paid c. €38m in December 2014 for Munster nursing home company Carechoice, which operates five nursing homes in Cork and Waterford. Carechoice also took over the running of a large facility on the Malahide Road in Dublin which was developed by Emerald. In total the group controls more than 500 beds. In addition, Emerald has gathered four development sites in Dublin with planning permission for nursing homes. The sites, which are located in Dublin 8, Dublin 12, Lucan and Swords, are now on the market through Knight Frank, with a combined asking price of c. €9.8m. The sites are also being offered to purchase on an individual basis. Industry sources have reported that Emerald has also been informally sounding out interest in Carechoice, with a view to selling the Carechoice group as well as the development sites. The Sunday Times, 5th February
Bank of Ireland (BoI) Drogheda. The BoI branch located on St Laurence Street in Drogheda, Co. Louth, has been bought by the Appian Burlington Property Fund for €4.2m, in a deal which will offer an initial yield of c. 7.05%. BoI occupy the building on a 25-year lease, which has c. 15 years remaining. The current rent of c. €310k p.a. is subject to upwards only rent reviews. The Irish Times, 1st February
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