8th July (Issue 504)
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
Smithfield, Dublin 7 Corum Asset Management has paid approx. €47.2m for the Infinity Building, a six-storey block in Smithfield. The building occupies a corner location comprising 126,717 sq. ft of office accommodation along with 63 secure underground car-parking spaces. The building is fully occupied and generating annual rental income of €3.895m, with approximately 90% of the property let to the Office of Public Works (OPW) and occupied by a number of State agencies including HIQA and CORU. The WAULT currently stands at about 7.5 years to break and 12.5 years to expiry. The Infinity Building last changed hands in January 2019 when it was acquired by a fund connected to Credit Suisse for approx. €57m. That figure represented a 99% increase on the €28.65m a Norwegian investor had paid for the property in April 2015. Some €5m is understood to have been spent on the building’s refurbishment between 2015 and 2019. The Irish Times, 2nd July
City Quay, Dublin 2 Dublin City Council has granted planning permission to Ventaway for a 14-storey office block scheme for a site on the former City Arts Centre. The council granted planning despite opposition from the OPW, an inner-city primary school, a religious trust and An Taisce. The council has ordered Ventaway to pay €3.18m in planning contributions towards public infrastructure and €1.08m towards Luas works. The current plans follow An Bord Pleanála refusing planning permission in May 2024 to Ventaway to develop what would have been Dublin’s tallest building at 24 storeys for the same site. The revised scheme is 61.05m tall, which is 46.95m lower than the scheme refused in 2024. The Irish Times, 2nd July
MIXED-USE
Broomhill Business Complex, Dublin 24 The owners of Niko Bathrooms are seeking a buyer for Unit 5 following the company’s move to new 90,000 sq. ft premises at nearby Belgard Square. Unit 5 is a detached industrial/warehouse and office property and being offered to the market by Harvey at a guide of €3.25m. The property extends to 19,257 sq. ft, which includes two-storey offices/showroom of 6,943 sq. ft. The unit has a large, gated side yard and 27 designated car-parking spaces to the front of the building. Niko Bathrooms had fitted much of the office space as a bathroom showroom, which has now been reinstated to offices. The industrial/warehouse area has a clear internal height of 6.3m and is fitted with LED lighting and a gas supply. The Irish Times, 2nd July
Dublin, Kildare and Clare Private Irish investors have purchased four medical property investments which were sold by French asset manager MNK Partners for €4.75m through Colliers. As MNK had acquired the portfolio in 2021 for €3.5m, the sale has delivered a 36% uplift on its purchase price. Each of the four had included Centric Health, the Irish healthcare provider. Three of the investments were acquired by a Dublin investor with the fourth investment in Ennis acquired by a Clare investor. The Irish Independent, 3rd July
RETAIL
Patrick Street, Cork City Urban Outfitters, which has just one other Irish store in Temple Bar, is set to open at 101 St Patrick’s Street in September, which has been empty since the 2019 closure of Dorothy Perkins-Evans. The deal was put together by Mc2 Accountants which owns the 6,000 sq. ft building. At one stage the building was on the market with letting agents Savills, seeking a rent of €230,000 pa. However, it was bought from its investor owner by Mc2 for a sum thought to be between €1m – €2m. Separately, a planning application is due to be lodged shortly for the redevelopment and reuse of the former Debenhams at 12-17 St Patrick’s Street which will seek to reinvigorate key frontage onto St Patrick’s Street and Maylor St. The Irish Examiner, 4th July
Westmoreland Street, Dublin 2 Big Mamma Group, a French-owned Italian restaurant chain renowned for its extravagant interiors, is set to open its first outlet in Ireland. It has a signed a 20-year lease with MHL Hotel Collection for the old AIB bank branch at 41 Westmoreland Street. Renovations of the building, which is located next door to the College Green Hotel, are under way and the restaurant will open by the end of the year. Big Mamma operates about 30 eateries across Europe under various names. The Irish restaurant will be its third Gloria Osteria. The Sunday Times, 6th July
Nationwide Tesco Ireland has announced plans to open 10 new stores nationwide over the next 12 months, creating 400 jobs. The plans are part of a €40m investment aimed at expanding the retailer’s operations across Ireland. 100 of these new opportunities will be created at Tesco’s new Fermoy store, set to open at the end of July. In addition to Cork, new Tesco stores will be opened in Dublin, Galway, Louth, and Meath, with recruitment for supermarkets in both the M1 Retail Park and Howth set to start in the autumn. The new stores will include larger supermarkets and smaller express shops, bringing Tesco’s total presence in Ireland to 193 locations. The Business Post, 7th July
Purpose Built Student Accommodation
Goatstown, Dublin 14 Orchid Residential Limited has been granted planning permission for a 204-bed development on the current home to Vector Motors. Initial permission to build on the site was granted in 2020 by Dun Laoghaire Rathdown Council. After a series of appeals and re-drafts, planning permission was granted by An Coimisiún Pleanála (“ACP”) on a number of conditions. The original proposed student accommodation was to accommodate 220 student bedspaces, including 10 studio apartments across the five-storey building. However, after appeal, the commission ruled the fifth floor was to be omitted and replaced by a “green roof”. The commission was “not satisfied” there was sufficient demand to warrant a net density of 155 units per hectare, and revised the plans to accommodate 16 fewer bedspaces, bringing the total down to 204 for a net density to 150 units per hectare. The Business Post, 4th July
HOSPITALITY
Camden Street, Dublin 2 Permission has been granted for a seven-storey, 195-bed hotel just off Camden Street. ACP granted permission for the development to ORHRE Camden Row. The project involves demolishing the existing building for the development of the hotel, to include a gallery, restaurant, patio area and a garden at the ground floor level. According to planning documents, it would comprise a total floor area of approx. 59,250 sq. ft. The Business Post, 4th July
INDUSTRIAL
Ballycoolin, Dublin 15 New Frontier Properties is understood to have secured about €12.8m from a French fund for Unit 1 at Stadium Business Park. New Frontier acquired the building in October 2017 for €8.65m. At the time, the 78,441 sq. ft detached industrial/warehouse headquarters was occupied by Viking Direct on a 20-year FRI lease from August 2007 at a rent of €743,518 pa. Following its acquisition, New Frontier oversaw a significant refurbishment of the property before letting it to Dunnes Stores, who occupy the building under a 15-year FRI lease from March 2022, incorporating a tenant break option in March 2032. The annual passing rent is €775,000, and the first rent review is due in March 2027. The new owner stands to secure a net initial yield of 5.5%. The property has a clear internal height of 39 ft, eight dock levellers, two level-access doors, an ability for HGVs to circulate the building, dedicated trailer parking and a passenger lift. The sale of Unit 1 was handled by Harvey with BNP Paribas advising the purchaser. The Irish Times, 2nd July
Residential/Development
Mount Merrion, Co. Dublin Sherry FitzGerald Commercial is guiding €4.75m for an investment in Mount Merrion. Fitzwilliam Court is a block of 11 apartments consisting of nine two-bedroom units, a one-bedroom apartment, and a three-bedroom penthouse. The building benefits from 17 secure basement car-parking spaces. The portfolio is currently generating a gross annual rent of approximately €203,580 from eight tenancies. The three vacant units offer immediate reletting potential and scope for significant rental uplift. The Irish Times, 2nd July
Sallins, Co. Kildare Coonan Property is guiding €4.9m for a 35.7-acre landholding on the outskirts of Sallins. The site, which is near the Waterways residential scheme and Sallins train station, is a short drive from the M7/N7 interchange via the R407 Sallins-Naas Road. While the lands are zoned for agricultural use, they lie just outside the development boundary of the Local Area Plan (2016–2022). The lands are laid out in eight divisions and contain a number of vacant buildings along with a four-bedroom dormer-style residence on approximately 0.5 acres. The Irish Times, 2nd July
Killarney, Co. Kerry Land capable of taking a €100m housing development, just opposite the 26,000-acre Killarney National Park and Golf Club, is guiding €9.5m. The 15.3 acre site on the Port Road comes with full planning granted by ABP for 224 units. The €9.5m cited by Savills equates to €42,000 per site. Approval was given by the appeals board to Portal Asset Holdings late in 2024, after a 2022 application for a marginally higher density (228 units) was rejected. The planning mix approved at Port Road is for two-storey houses, townhouses, duplexes and apartments spanning one, two, and three bedrooms, and 96 one and two bed apartments in three blocks, at a standard density of 30-40 units to the hectare. The Irish Examiner, 2nd July
Kinsealy, Co. Dublin Fingal County Council has granted planning permission to the LDA for 193 homes on a site of the former Teagasc Research Centre at the Malahide Road, despite local opposition. The LDA lodged the plans in February after Teagasc agreed to transfer the lands to the LDA for the development of affordable housing. The scheme comprises 193 residential dwellings including 153 houses and 40 duplex units arranged in three storey blocks on a site 4km southeast of Kinsealy village centre. The scheme also provides for 229 car parking spaces, 345 bicycle spaces and four acres of public open space. The Irish Times, 7th July
Apartment Regulations A major overhaul of regulations for building apartments is under way by the Government to boost construction, with the aim of cutting the cost of building by as much as €100,000 a unit. Restrictions will be lifted on the number of one-bedroom apartments allowed in any development, which under current laws stands at no more than 50% within any scheme. The minimum size for studio apartments will be reduced from approx. 400 sq. ft to 344 sq. ft. Current restrictions on not having more than 25% studio apartments in a given development will also be removed. In addition, current guidelines require at least 33% of units to be dual aspect in urban locations and 50% in suburban locations. The new guidelines will create a single standard of 25%. The Government believes this will create greater certainty and allow for increased standardisation in building design and flexibility. The current guidelines also limit the number of units that can be provided per lift to a maximum of 12 units. The new guidelines are expected to remove any limitation on the number of units per lift, subject to compliance with Building Regulations. The Sunday Independent, 6th July
Home Building Levels of home building fell for the second month in a row in June, according to AIB’s latest purchasing managers’ index (PMI) report. The PMI rate in the report was 48.6, down from 49.2 in May, indicating a modest fall in total construction activity. A PMI rate above 50 corresponds with growth, while below means stagnation. The rate of decline was modest, but the fastest in almost a year-and-a-half. Civil engineering activity was also down, leaving commercial as the sole source of growth during the month. Commercial activity increased for the fifth month running, and at the same solid pace as in May (53.4). The AIB construction PMI was compiled by S&P Global from a series of responses to questionnaires sent to a panel of roughly 150 construction companies in Ireland. The Business Post, 8th July
OTHER
Investment Market A total of €394m was invested in the Irish commercial property market in the second quarter of 2025, taking the total spend for the year to date to just over €940m. While the figures for the first six months of 2025 are less than half the 10-year historical average spend of €1.9bn, CBRE says it sees “clear signs” that investment is continuing to recover gradually from the lows of 2023 and 2024. They believe this interest is being driven by the series of cuts to ECB interest rates which have taken place since June 2024. While the retail sector accounted for the most valuable transaction in the second quarter, the office sector proved to be the most attractive to investors overall, accounting for nearly 50% of the €394m spent. The Irish Times, 1st July
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