7th March (Issue 387)
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
Sandymount, Dublin 4 Bagnall Doyle MacMahon is offering Mulligans pub in Sandymount to the market at a guide price of €2.5m. The purpose-built building extends to 4,370 sq. ft. The property also benefits from full planning permission for a new shop front incorporating a central glazed-entrance doorway and folding floor-to-ceiling windows opening out on to the street seating area which has a capacity for 40 people. Mulligans occupies a pivotal trading location in the heart of Sandymount village. The Irish Times, 1st March
Charlemont Street, Dublin 2 McCafferty’s, an established pub chain, has completed its acquisition of The Barge on Charlemont Street, Dublin 2. While the price paid for the premises has not been disclosed, it is understood to have secured close to the €3.75m CBRE had been guiding when the pub was offered to the market on behalf of the liquidators of IBRC, KPMG last May. The Barge comprises a part two-storey/part three-storey over-basement licensed premises fitted in traditional style. It trades over three floors and extends to 3,875 sq. ft. The Irish Times, 1st March
Camden Street Lower, Dublin 2 No.19 Camden Street is being offered to the market with the benefit of full vacant possession by Lisney at a guide price of €1.7m. The four-storey property is currently laid out as a restaurant called Dig In over ground and first-floor mezzanine level with extra seating on the upper balcony. The Irish Times, 1st March
Skerries, Co Dublin An Bord Pleanála is reviewing documents related to its controversial overturning of planning permission for a hotel development on the north Dublin coast in 2017, it has confirmed. The c. 7.4 acre site known as Holmpatrick Cove – just south of Skerries – had been earmarked for a hotel and eco-housing development, until it was blocked by a three-person An Bord Pleanála committee. The owners had received planning permission from Fingal Co Council to build a hotel on the site, but lost control of a large portion of the land in a receivership which followed ABP’s decision. The Irish Independent, 5th March
OFFICE
Sandyford, South Dublin QRE Real Estate Advisers, on behalf of its client, Mount Amber Investments, has recently completed the letting of the ground floor office at Corrig Court in Sandyford in South Co Dublin. The office, which extends to 7,534 sq. ft, is beside Beacon South Quarter and was let to global IT systems integrator Bechtle Direct. Following the extensive refurbishment of the second and third floors of Corrig Court, QRE is offering the two floor plates of 10,247 sq. ft each, or 20,500 sq. ft. in total, which are available to let immediately. The Business Post, 4th March
RETAIL
City Centre, Cork Krispy Kreme has taken out a 10 year lease on the ground floor only of Porter’s, which closed last October, ending its 46-year presence on the high street. The arrival to Cork of the doughnut chain follows on from the introduction of a dedicated Krispy Kreme manufacturing plant, in Naas, Co Kildare, which the franchise said would mean that “doughnuts are made fresh and delivered daily”. The lease terms include a break clause – at year five – and annual rent of €90k pa, exclusive of VAT. The Irish Examiner, 2nd March
Opera Lane, Cork Cushman & Wakefield is guiding €26.75m for the “Opera Lane Retail Investment”, a prime portfolio of retail properties in the heart of Cork city centre. Opera Lane has a strong tenant line-up that includes Tommy Hilfiger, H&M, Skechers, Select+, Next, New Look, Specsavers and Starbucks. Only recently, H&M committed to a lease re-gear underlining its commitment to Opera Lane, its only store in Munster. Located just off St Patrick’s Street and within close proximity to Cork Opera House, Opera Lane extends across a total area of 107,251 sq. ft. The investment’s €26.75m guide price reflects a NIY of 9.22%. The Irish Times, 1st March
Headford Road, Galway French investor Iroko Zen has completed its latest acquisition in the Irish investment market, paying €4.965m for units 5A and 6 at Galway Retail Park. The properties, which are let to Halfords and Lifestyle Sports, comprise two identical retail warehouses, extending to a total of 23,980 sq. ft over both units, and benefit from the provision of a 400-space communal surface car park at the scheme. Unit 5A is let to Lifestyle Sports on a 25-year lease from May 2002 at a passing rent of €190k pa, while unit 6 is let to Halfords on a 20-year lease from November 2010 at a passing rent of €200k pa. The Irish Times, 1st March
INDUSTRIAL / LOGISTICS
Westlink Industrial Estate, Dublin 10 Joint agents CBRE and JLL are bringing Unit 4 at the scheme to the market on behalf of pan-European investor M7 Real Estate. The subject property comprises a modern business unit extending to a total area of 5,943 sq. ft and includes 1,722 sq. ft of office space distributed over two floors. The Irish Times, 1st March
Carrigtwohill, Co Cork HIV and hepatitis C drug specialist Gilead Sciences has secured planning permission for expansion at its Carrigtwohill manufacturing base. The €45m investment will deliver significant additional warehousing and storage capacity at a site that produces 30% of the US drugmaker’s global supply of oral drugs for 100 markets. The 55,714 sq. ft warehouse building will have net zero emissions and feature 764 solar panels that will supply 10% of the site’s energy needs. The company expects building to start in April and be complete in November of next year. The Irish Times, 2nd March
RESIDENTIAL / DEVELOPMENT
Knockrabo, Dublin 14 Bain Capital is exploring strategic options, including a sale, for a prime residential development opportunity in south Dublin with a potential GDV of c. €120m. The US investor has instructed CBRE to review exit and delivery options for 6.8 acres of land in Knockrabo, Dublin 14. Knockrabo currently has extant planning permission for 81 homes and apartments, although An Bord Pleanála granted a SHD planning consent for 227 residential units in March 2022. The SHD application is subject to a judicial review, but no date has yet been set for a decision. React News, 6th March
Mount Merrion, Co Dublin Located at the corner of Callary Road and Foster’s Avenue, the Mount Merrion site is being offered to the market by Bannon at a guide price of €2.75m. Extending to a total area of 0.7 acres, the site is zoned ‘Objective A – Residential’ under the terms of the Dun Laoghaire Rathdown Development Plan 2022-2028. The land is currently occupied by a detached dwelling known as ‘Clonbeg’, a 1930s-built five-bedroom detached house extending to 2,691 sq. ft. The Irish Times, 1st March
Blackhorse Avenue, Dublin 7 Knight Frank is guiding a price of €3.5m for a residential development site on Blackhorse Avenue in Dublin 7 with full planning permission in place for the construction of 68 build-to-rent apartments along with 15 car-parking spaces at basement level. The subject site is located 500m from TU Dublin’s Grangegorman campus and just a short distance from the amenities of Stoneybatter and Cabra. The Irish Times, 1st March
Land Buying Strategy Homebuilder Cairn is examining paying a fee to landowners in return for a first option to buy properties at a future date. The publicly listed company has said its land-buying activity will be “quite limited for the years ahead” as it looks to build out its existing landbank. And while it is pulling back on land deals, the company is looking at option purchasing. Cairn already has a “substantial landbank” of 34 sites capable of holding 16,800 apartments and houses. It said the introduction of a residential zoned land tax, which looks to impose a levy on undeveloped sites, would reduce margins on construction projects. The Sunday Times, 5th March
Cairn Results Cairn Homes said it expects property prices to be “flat” throughout the year due to problems around customer affordability. It came as the company reported operating profits of €103m for 2022, nearly double the €58m in 2021, as its sales rose strongly. In its full year results for 2022, Cairn said it closed 1,526 new homes sales, up from 1,120 in 2021. This delivered revenue of €617m, up from €424m. However, despite this Cairn said that property prices were unlikely to continue to rise due to constraints on buying power. The Business Post, 2nd March
Glenveagh Results Glenveagh posted revenues of €644.7m in 2022, a 35% increase on the year before, the housebuilder has confirmed. In its full-year results for 2022, Glenveagh said it had closed out the year with pre-tax profits of €63m – a 38% jump YoY. The company’s gross margin was 16.8%, a slight decline on the 17.8% it reported in 2021 driven mostly by a strong performance in suburban homes. Glenveagh closed 1,354 suburban units in 2022, up 50% from the 902 units closed the year before and 90% ahead of the company’s performance in 2019. The firm’s EPS last year increased to 7.6c in 2022, from 4.5c the year before. The Business Post, 1st March
Foxrock, Dublin 18 A residential property with potential for up to 27 new houses has been relaunched on the market with a reduced guide price. Known as ‘The Grove’, Mart Lane, Foxrock, Dublin 18, it comes with an existing house on 1.48 acres and Cushman & Wakefield are guiding at excess €2.25m. That is a reduction on the €3.25m which was quoted by other agents when it was launched a year ago. The Irish Independent, 2nd March
Terenure, Dublin 6W A developer recently refused permission for 364 rental apartments on former Terenure College playing fields is looking to quash Dublin City Council’s decision to restrict build-to-rent housing schemes. Dublin-based Lioncor Developments Limited says the council’s decision last November to limit numbers of rental-only apartments to a maximum of 40% of any complex is a departure from national policy without coherent or rational justification. The site is zoned for community and social infrastructure but, while previously it allowed residential use in exceptional circumstances, Lioncor says the latest iteration of the development plan places further restrictions on the residential development in this zoning. The Carmelites run Terenure College and have stated that the proposed 364-unit build-to-rent development would help secure the future viability of the college. Last month An Bord Pleanála upheld Dublin City Council’s decision to refuse permission for the seven-storey residential scheme which was to include 15 studios, 166 one-bed apartments, 174 two-bed apartments, nine three-bed units and 21 houses. The Irish Times, 6th March
Townsend Street, Dublin 2 Refurbishment of one of the oldest, State-built social housing complexes will start this month. The Peter McVerry Trust is renovating former “artisan dwellings” in Dublin’s south inner city, eight years after getting the go-ahead from the Department of Housing and more than a century after the flats were built by the then Dublin Corporation as “healthy dwellings” for “the working classes”. The 18 tiny flats, at 181-187 Townsend Street, have been empty since 2011 when the last, mainly elderly, residents were rehoused. Ground floor retail units were fully de-tenanted during the pandemic. The trust identified the boarded-up buildings as a refurbishment opportunity but, despite getting initial planning permission and funding in 2015, has faced repeated delays. Partial demolition works are due to get under way, to the rear, on March 20th. When completed in mid-2024 there will be 20 one-bed apartments – considerably larger than the current dwellings – over four storeys. The Irish Times, 6th March
Kinsale, Cork A private Munster businessman who bought a Kinsale home and 27 acres of unzoned land last year for c. €5.5m has just added to this Compass Hill landbank, paying over €4m for a further six zoned acres directly adjacent, and outbidding all other developer interest. Confirmed as ‘sold’ is 5.9 acres of elevated land at Compass Hill, with the purchase strongly associated with a business entrepreneur and sold by a local long-time landowning family, via agents Josie Dinneen and Savills Cork who had guided at €4.5m. The Irish Examiner, 4th March
Dundrum, Dublin 14 Hibernia Real Estate Group (formerly Hibernia Reit) is to seek a buyer for a portfolio of 293 rental apartments it owns in the south Co Dublin suburb of Dundrum. Located within walking distance of Dundrum Town Centre, the units are distributed across the Dundrum View and Wyckham Point residential schemes and are understood to be fully let at rents below current market rates. According to market sources, the Dundrum portfolio will be offered to the market at a guide price of between €140m and €150m. In the case of Dundrum View, Hibernia Real Estate Group is seeking to dispose of 80 apartments comprising a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments arranged across two buildings along with 114 secure on-site car parking spaces. Hibernia Reit acquired the scheme for €28.05m in an off-market transaction in 2015. Hibernia’s holding at Wyckham Point, meanwhile, consists of 213 apartments. It acquired the units in a partly-completed state in 2014. The Irish Times, 1st March
OTHER
Refugee Accommodation There will be a “problem” in the coming weeks when a number of hotels currently accommodating refugees end their contracts with the Government, Minister of State for Integration Joe O’Brien has said. Mr. O’Brien said he was not going to “sugarcoat” the situation and there was an “inadequate” number of contracts to replace those coming off stream and that there would be intensive work in the weeks ahead to find new arrangements. The Green Party TD also said he did not have figures as to how many hotels would not be renewing their contracts with the State and that the department was “continually bringing on new contracts as well”. The Irish Times, 4th March
Third-Level Colleges, Ireland A Macquarie-led consortium has won a €250m deal to build new buildings for third-level colleges around the Republic. Enbarr Partnership, led by the Australian lender, recently won a contract from the Department of Further and Higher Education to build six new facilities on campuses in Dublin, Dún Laoghaire, Cork, Tralee and Athlone. The €250m deal will provide 5,000 extra student places across four colleges, Technological University Dublin, Munster Technological University in Cork and Tralee, Institute of Art, Design and Technology, Dún Laoghaire and Technological University of the Shannon in Athlone, Co Westmeath. Macquarie is the consortium’s equity sponsor and financial adviser. The project is to design, build, finance and maintain the six buildings. Under the deal’s terms, Enbarr will operate and maintain the facilities over a 25-year period, during which time it will get a monthly payment from the department. At the end of the contract’s terms, the buildings will pass to State ownership. The Irish Times, 1st March
O’Connell Street, Dublin 1 The developer of the old Carlton Cinema and buildings to the rear of it on Dublin’s O’Connell Street is seeking to bring a High Court challenge over a decision to put protection status on six buildings it wants to demolish or partly demolish. Last November, Dublin City Council decided certain buildings, as well as walls of other buildings, in Moore Street, Moore Lane and Henry Place should be included on the record of protected structures (RPS) which became part of the 2022-2028 Dublin City Development Plan. UK property group Hammerson, which controls the 5.5-acre site extending over three urban blocks, is awaiting decisions on five separate planning applications in relation to the redevelopment project. The Irish Times, 6th March
Irish Life has moved to restrict investors taking money out of its €500m flagship retail investor-focused Irish Property Fund following a spike in withdrawals amid concerns about the outlook for the commercial property sector. The group has introduced a six-month notice period for withdrawal requests, it said. “The notice period allows time to make any property sales as required to pay future withdrawals, in a way that is fair to all of our Irish Property Fund customers,” it said. “Irish Life will contact customers to tell them about the notice period.” The Irish Times, 7th March
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