9th July (Issue 455)
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
Grafton Street, Dublin Quanta Capital has acquired nos. 69 and 72 Grafton Street from Iput on behalf of the Goldstein Icav for approx. €20m. No. 69 Grafton Street, which extends to 4,853 sq. ft, is let to Dune Shoes and Robert Chambers Hair Salon and is generating €324k in annual rental income (WAULB is 6.4 years and WAULT is 8.1 years). No. 72 Grafton Street, which extends to 8,818 sq. ft, is let to TWC Retail (Ireland) Limited with a guarantee provided by The White Company (UK) Limited and is generating annual rental income of €570k. The break option and rent review is due on February 29th 2028, while the lease expires on February 28th 2033. The Irish Times, 3rd July
OFFICE
South Frederik Street, Dublin 2 Quanta Capital is understood to have completed the purchase of No. 3-4 South Frederick Street. The building comprises a stand-alone office building dating from the 1940s and extending to 7,118 sq. ft. The property was offered for sale by Savills on behalf of New Ireland Assurance at a guide price of €2.6m and is understood to have been acquired by Quanta at around this level. The Irish Times understands that the new owners have already agreed a deal to let the building in its entirety to the Cork-headquartered insurance company, McCarthy Insurance Group. The Irish Times, 3rd July
Dublin and Galway A fund managed by Arkèa REIM has acquired a pair of office developments in Dublin and Galway. With a combined price of approx. €30m, the transactions were made on behalf of SCPI Transitions Europe. Both properties were sold by Aviva Life & Pensions Ireland DAC. Transitions Europe purchased Plantation House on 29 Herbert Street, Dublin 2, which comprises 13,434 sq. ft of office space. The asset was guiding a price of €7.6m. It had a WAULT of 9.5 years and an annual rental income of €546k (6.5% yield). The fund also bought Citypoint, a €21.5m mixed-use development in Galway spanning 81,899 sq. ft. Located off Eyre Square in the city centre, Citypoint is fully let and generates a total passing rent of approx. €1.87m (yield approx. 8%). The property has a WAULT of 8.5 years. Green Street News, 8th July
Yew Grove Portfolio The Canadian owner of a portfolio of 22 commercial properties in Ireland faces increased financial pressures after defaulting on its loans. Shares in Slate Office Reit, which bought the portfolio of publicly quoted Yew Grove Reit for €170m in 2022, have plunged by 82% in the past year. The Toronto exchange has put the Reit’s listing under review. The company’s properties, which include offices in Dublin, Kildare, Westmeath and Cork, are valued at €171m. The Sunday Times, 7th July
JLL Report The volume of office space leased in Dublin in the second quarter of this year was up 355% on the first three months of 2024, according to a new report from JLL Ireland. The study found that 919,000 sq. ft of office space was leased in the capital during the quarter, representing a 125% increase on the same period last year. According to JLL Ireland, there was a total of 7.6m sq. ft of vacant office space in Dublin in the second quarter of this year, resulting in a vacancy rate of 15.7%, up 0.3% from the previous quarter. The Business Post, 8th July
HOSPITALTY
Glengarriff, West Cork The Eccles Hotel in Glengarriff has gone to market with a €5m guide price. Current owners are hoteliers Ray Byrne and Eoin Doyle who are now selling via CBRE. The four-star Eccles Hotel & Spa now has 59 refurbished bedrooms, wedding/conference and banqueting facilities and a spa with three treatment rooms. The Irish Examiner, 7th July
Castleknock, Dublin 15 The developer of Ashleigh Centre, a neighbourhood shopping centre in Castleknock Village, is offering The Twin Oaks pub in the shopping centre for sale for €1.75m or for rent at €100k pa. Extending to 5,328 sq. ft, the Twin Oaks property accommodates an extensive licensed premises and restaurant. Its ground floor extends to approx. 3,014 sq. ft and comprises a coffee shop and a lounge-bar/restaurant. The basement of approx. 2,314 sq. ft contains a food preparation area and kitchen. The Irish Independent, 4th July
MIXED-USE
O’Connell Street, Limerick Joint agents Rooney Auctioneers and JLL have brought 94 O’Connell Street to the market with a guide of €1.75m. Located in Limerick City, the former Bank of Ireland premises offers full planning permission for a mixed-use development featuring 24 modern apartments and 6,383 sq. ft of ground-floor commercial space. Planning permission was granted in August 2023. The Business Post, 5th July
INDUSTRIAL / LOGISTICS
Santry, North Dublin Planning approval has been granted for a speculative 120,000 sq. ft logistics development in Dublin, to be delivered by a joint venture between Chancerygate and Bridges Fund Management. To be called Airport Trade Park, the five acre site in Santry was acquired from Carey Building Contractors in May 2022. The park will have a total of 14 units ranging in size from 3,600 sq. ft to 22,370 sq. ft. The partnership intends to begin construction this autumn, with the scheme having a projected gross development value of approx. €40m. Green Street News, 3rd July
Residential / Development
Quintain Ireland Lone Star is on the cusp of selling the majority of its interest in Quintain Ireland, the property developer, to Texas-based fund TPG. The more than €200m sale deal will include the Quintain Ireland platform, its operational team and its sites at Adamstown, Clonburris and Portmarnock. Collectively, these plots have the capacity to deliver approx. 4,500 homes. The deal does not include the developer’s 3,000-home Cherrywood site, which has a build-to-rent focus. The Business Post, 6th July
BNP Paribas Real Estate Ireland Report Activity in residential construction grew as the commercial sector slumped in June, new data has shown. Total construction in Ireland was down last month posting at 47.5, below the 50 mark, which denoted a solid reduction in construction activity, the latest construction PMI from BNP Paribas Real Estate Ireland showed. Despite the overall fall in activity, residential construction activity continued to grow, up to 52.4 on the index compared to 52.0 in May. The research by the property agency also showed new orders began to fall during the month, down to 51.8 from 52.9 the month prior. The Business Post, 8th July
Donnybrook, Dublin 4 Red Rock Developments has made several bids to redevelop the Circle K petrol station site in Dublin 4 in recent years, which have faced severe opposition from both locals and the planning authority. In April, Red Rock Developments asked Dublin City Council for clearance to build a PBSA block on the site. The project would involve construction of 225 bedspaces across a new ten-storey building. Dublin City Council approved the application on the condition Red Rock Developments would reduce the height of the building to eight storeys. The developer added it is willing to reduce the height of the development to nine storeys, which would result in a block of 202 bedspaces. A decision is expected in October. The Business Post, 9th July
Cairn Homes, the Irish housebuilder, saw revenues increase 66% in the first half of the year compared with the same period in 2023, and “is poised to deliver an exceptional output and financial performance in 2024.” In a trading update, the company said that it delivered 894 closed units in the first six months of this year, generating turnover of €365m. This compares with 35 closed sales and €220m revenue in the first half of 2023. Cairn’s closed and forward orderbook increased to 3,100 new homes, with a net sales value of approx. €1.2bn. The Business Post, 3rd July
OTHER
CBRE Research In December 2023, the Economic Development Office of Dublin City Council appointed CBRE Research to provide analysis and data around the implications of increased remote working on Dublin. Some of the most notable findings are: Dublin city companies are now reporting a 50% office attendance rate on average across the working week; this is down from 65-70% prior to the pandemic. Office attendance was 35% on Mondays and 29% on Fridays. Of the 100 office-based employees surveyed, 76% were working remotely at least one day per week. Findings from the retailers surveyed are: approx. 50% of retailers reported that footfall has been lower by 21-40% in city centre stores since the pandemic. 48% of respondents selected Friday as the day on which they had seen the most notable decline. The Irish Times, 3rd July
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