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
Nangor Road, Dublin 12 Quinn Agnew is guiding €1.95m for Block E, Westland Business Park where the top two floors are let. These first and second floors are generating a passing rent of €145,000 pa with the lease expiry on those floors extending for 20 years from August 2024. In all, the three-storey building extends to 13,568 sq. ft and comes with 40 designated car-parking spaces. Completely refurbished, the office block is laid out with both open-plan and cellular offices as well as meeting rooms to match. The first and second floors are occupied by H+K International, a provider of integrated equipment and service solutions to the restaurant and retail industries. Having been fully refurbished with raised-access carpeted floors, suspended ceilings and LED lighting, each floor is equipped with a kitchenette, staff welfare facilities and lift access to each floor. The Irish Independent, 2nd July
Leasing Activity Over 400,000 sq. ft of office space was signed for in Q2 according to a report from Knight Frank. The steady pace of leasing in the period April-June means total take-up for the first half of the year came to almost 800,000 sq. ft. This is in line with the average achieved across the preceding five half-year periods. Half of the space taken during the six months was located in Dublin 2, which will add further pressure to current supply and future availability of space in this location. The largest space reserved was 100,000 sq. ft at 160 Townsend Street for which Enterprise Ireland agreed terms. The authors of the report point to a strong pipeline of reserved space, with 1.1m sq. ft agreed, half of which is focused on Dublin 2. One of the largest outstanding deals is artificial intelligence firm OpenAI’s move to the Tropical Fruit Warehouse on Sir John Rogerson’s Quay. The former warehouse had been earmarked for TikTok, but OpenAI is now set to take up its 88,000 sq. ft of space. Forecast total take-up will reach 2.0-2.2m sq. ft for the year. Given the ongoing strong steady demand for space, the pace of rental growth will accelerate, with prime rents expected to be €70 psf by year-end and at least €75 psf for pre-lets. The Irish Times, 1st July
RETAIL
Henry Street, Dublin 1 Zara will almost triple the physical footprint of its Dublin flagship store under new plans to revive its presence on Henry Street. Under the plans, due to be completed in the final quarter of the year, the store will be its biggest in Ireland. The Spanish fashion giant in September 2024 closed its 20,000 sq. ft. store on Henry Street, in the old Debenhams building, saying it intended to reopen the premises in the future. The Business Post understands Zara’s Henry Street store will reopen towards the end of 2026, with the retailer set to occupy the entire basement of the Debenhams store as well as the upper floors of its previous space. The 210,000 sq. ft. building has been redeveloped in recent years, having been bought by Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group in 2024. Sports Direct, also owned by Ashley, is planning to open a flagship store there in the near future, alongside a 27,544 sq. ft gym, which will be the first opened by the group in the south of Ireland. The Business Post, 1st July
HOSPITALITY
Rosses Point, Co. Sligo The owners of the Glasshouse hotel in Sligo town have bought Yeats Country Hotel Spa & Leisure just a few kilometres down the road. The Rosses Point hotel was owned by Fiona McEniff, who is thought to be retiring out of the trade. Michael O’Hehir and Ronnie Greaney, long-term business partners, are believed to have purchased the 98-bedroom hotel for €7m. The duo developed and opened the Glasshouse, then known as the Silver Swan hotel, in 2003. The Yeats Country Hotel has been closed since 2023 to accommodate Ukrainian refugees. However, the last of the residents were due to move out of the hotel in June, as the Department of Justice closes accommodation centres around the country. Before its closure, the business operated as a four-star hotel with a swimming pool, spa and leisure club. The hotel was put on the market in 2024 but did not sell. It has an oceanfront location, overlooking Coney and Oyster islands. The Sunday Times, 5th July
Hotel Performance Dublin hotels are outperforming most of their European counterparts in terms of revenues and occupancy levels according to a new report from Savills. Revenues per room (RevPAR) in Dublin reached €148 in the 12 months to April this year while occupancy levels reached 84.1%, well above the European average of 71.7% and ahead of major gateway cities. Only Edinburgh outperformed Dublin in terms of occupancy at 85% and RevPAR, at £141 (€163). The research found Dublin recorded 146 nights where hotel occupancy exceeded 90%, known in the hotel industry as compression nights because demand leaves very little bedroom capacity available. The report also highlights the continued importance of the US market, with American visitors accounting for around one-fifth of overseas visitors to Ireland while generating 41% of international tourism expenditure. This high-spending visitor base continues to support premium room rates, luxury accommodation and year-round demand. The Irish Independent, 2nd July
RESIDENTIAL / DEVELOPMENT
Rathgar, Dublin 6 A prime residential development opportunity has come to the market quoting in excess of €6m. The former Murphy & Gunn Hyundai dealership, at the corner of Kenilworth Square and Rathgar Avenue, last came to the market in 2021 quoting €8.5m. At the time, a feasibility study suggested the site could accommodate a scheme of 90 apartments, subject to planning permission. This time around the site, which extends to approx. 0.8 acres and no longer includes 45 Kenilworth Square, is being offered to the market by Knight Frank and benefits from planning permission for the demolition of all structures on site and the development of 19 residential units across a mix of houses, apartments and duplexes. The proposed scheme includes a three-bedroom plus large study mews house, three four-bedroom mid-terrace houses and one four-bedroom end-of-terrace house. The scheme includes seven ground-floor, two-bedroom apartments, ranging from approx. 769 to 789 sq. ft, and seven three-bedroom duplexes. The Irish Times, 1st July
O’Connell Street, Dublin 1 Support for a state acquisition of the landmark Carlton Cinema site on O’Connell Street is growing after being left vacant for almost 32 years, as politicians across parties rally against dereliction. The site’s location at the heart of the capital’s main thoroughfare has made it the poster child for the problem of derelict properties in Dublin city, due to decades-long legal issues that have stymied its development. The cinema closed in October 1994 and has remained vacant ever since. O’Connell Street’s issues were laid bare last week after travel bible Lonely Planet described the area as a “troubled street”, highlighting vacant buildings, dereliction and long-stalled redevelopments. The Irish Independent, 6th July
Various JLL is guiding €650,000 for a development site at 32 Hatch Street, close to the junction of Leeson Street and Hatch Street in Dublin 2. Extending to 0.03 acres, it benefits from 10 metres of frontage onto Hatch Street Lower. While the site does not currently have planning permission, it presents an opportunity for redevelopment as a small-scale infill residential or guesthouse scheme. In Finglas, the site of the former Drake Inn pub was sold at a BidX1 auction for €806,000 or 34% over its €600,000 guide price. It came with permission for 25 apartments. In 2023 it was guiding €1.5m and in 2024 the vendor, a company named Mulsh Sarl, received permission for a retail unit and cafe along with eight one-bedroom apartments, 11 two-bedroom units and six three beds. Near Kildare town, an 11.8 acre land holding sold for €500,000 or the equivalent of €42,000 per acre at a Coonan Property auction. That was about 25% more than the €400,000 guide price. It is believed to have been bought by a local landowner. The Irish Independent, 2nd July
Home Building Programme Dublin City Council (DCC) is seeking builders to participate in a €2.5bn house building programme across the capital over a four-year period. In a notice published on Monday, DCC states that it intends to establish two four-year contractor multiparty framework agreements “for the delivery of a significant programme of housing projects”. This will utilise primarily the design and build (DB) delivery model. An estimated value of €2.5bn has been placed on the works. The council said 26 sites comprising approx. 4,000 residential units have been identified for inclusion in the scheme and further sites may be added. DCC has already secured planning permission for 13 of the sites and obtaining planning consents will be its responsibility for the remaining sites. Among the sites where DCC has secured planning permission are 167 units for Stanley Street in Dublin 7; 171 homes for Basin View in Dublin 8; 171 units for Cherry Orchard Avenue in Dublin 8; 288 properties for Ballymun LAP site, and 110 units for the Church of Annunciation in Finglas. The Irish Times, 6th July
OTHER
Q2 Investment More than €1bn worth of investment property deals were done in Q2 according to the latest provisional figures compiled by CBRE. This represents the strongest second quarter since 2022, driven by a large industrial portfolio sale, Horizon Logistics Park, and also supported by healthy activity across other sectors including offices and residential. The figure brings to approximately €1.5bn the total value of deals done in the first half of this year which is nearly 70% ahead of the same period last year. Henderson Park’s sale of Horizon Logistics Park in north Dublin for €500m was one of the largest individual property transactions ever recorded in the Irish market. It was purchased by Singapore-based GIC in partnership with Valor and accounted for approx. 50% of the total Q2 investment. A second Henderson Park sale contributed to office investment activity as the UK-based investor sold One Molesworth Street, Dublin 2 for €110m. Best known for the upmarket Ivy restaurant on its ground floor at the corner of Dawson Street and Molesworth Street, this mainly office building was purchased by MEAG, the investment management arm of Munich Re. The Irish Independent, 2nd July
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