9th September (Issue 513)
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.
INDUSTRIAL
Rathcoole, Co. Dublin Kennedy Wilson has engaged CBRE to find a buyer for Units 502 B & C at Greenogue Business Park. Extending to a total area of 43,551 sq. ft and sitting on 1.75 acres, the site comes to market guiding €10.5m (5.2% NIY). The two units are leased to Capital Switchgear Limited, a data centre industry specialist, on two co-terminus 20-year FRI leases from March 2025, with break options in year 10. The investment is generating annual rental income of €598,827, which equates to €13.75 psf. Post a recent extensive refurbishment programme, the two units each come with a 12.5m clear internal height, three dock levellers, two grade-level doors, 40m yard depths and 71 car-parking spaces in total. The wider Dublin logistics market meanwhile continues to perform strongly with prime rents now being forecast to reach €14.50 psf by the end of 2025. Prime yields remain stable at 5%. The Irish Times, 3rd September
OFFICE
East Wall, Dublin 1 The Beckett Building has returned to the market. Having first been offered for sale on behalf of receivers Grant Thornton in May 2024 at an already heavily discounted price of €35m, the building was on the verge of being acquired by London-based Roundstone Capital. That transaction fell through in late August however. Roundstone’s withdrawal comes more than one year after another party, Irish-headquartered real estate and investment manager BCP Capital, reversed its own decision to buy the Beckett Building for approx. €35m. The property is now being brought for sale by Colliers at an even lower price of €25m. The figure represents a reduction of 69% on the €80m that had been mooted when CBRE first offered the building for sale in January 2023, and an even steeper discount of 75% on the €101m South Korean Kookmin Bank paid when they acquired it in 2018. Although Meta has now vacated the property, the social media giant remains responsible for its annual €5.75m rent until the break option of its lease on July 31st, 2027. The Beckett Building extends 188,228 sq. ft and is laid out as modern grade A office accommodation over six floors, together with 400 designated bicycle spaces and 77 car parking spaces. The Irish Times, 3rd September
MIXED-USE
Limerick City The Talbot Collection hotel group is the frontrunner to buy the four-star Absolute Hotel in Limerick city, in a deal that could be worth in the region of €15m. The acquisition of the 99-bedroom Limerick property will bring the number of hotels under the Talbot Collection’s ownership to seven. The group is owned by Wexford’s Pettitt family. Hotels in its stable already include the Talbot Hotel in Wexford town, as well as five other Talbot-branded hotels in locations including Cork, Dublin, Clonmel and Carlow. It also owns the Talbot Suites self-catering apartments in Wexford town, and Newbay House in the county. The Absolute Hotel was put up for sale earlier this year alongside its sister hotel, the Kilkenny Ormonde Hotel. Estate agent JLL was guiding a total of €50m for the two hotel properties, which were being sold either individually or as a pair. The Irish Independent, 5th September
Ballsbridge, Dublin 4 DCC has refused planning permission for a planned luxury boutique hotel on a site at 166a Shelbourne Road, as the scheme would constitute over-development of the site. The scheme by Badlands Developments Ltd for the six-storey 24-bedroom Windjammer Hotel resulted in widespread local opposition, with concerns being expressed over the scheme by 4 different associations. In response to the planned hotel on the site of a former Ulster Bank branch, the Council has refused planning permission as the scheme “would have an unreasonable overbearing and visually dominant effect on adjoining sites”. The council has also refused planning permission as the development “is located on a heavily trafficked road” where several roads converge at the junctions of Pembroke Road, Shelbourne Road, Merrion Road, Ballsbridge Terrace and Elgin Road. The Irish Independent, 4th September
Little Britain Street, Dublin 7 Hospitality giant Eurostars Hotels has reached a deal to open its first Irish venue on a site which is on the corner of Little Britain Street and Little Green Street. The company controls six hotel brands operating worldwide including Aurea Hotels, Exe Hotels and Ikonik Hotels. The firm has agreed a deal to open its first Irish location near Jervis Shopping Centre on a site which currently contains a disused warehouse but has planning permission for a 195-bed hotel. An Irish subsidiary of the Gold Tree Group, a Swiss property investment firm that owns the site, has said Eurostars Hotel Group has committed to operating a hotel from the site when construction has been completed. Last week, Gold Tree Group’s Irish subsidiary Gold Tree Hotels Dublin 2 Limited applied for permission to DCC to make internal reconfigurations to floor layouts of the approved hotel project that would result in a reduction in the number of bedrooms from 195 to 149. The Business Post, 6th September
Donnybrook, Dublin 4 European-wide tech-powered hospitality provider Bob W is set to make its first foray into the Irish market where it is planning to operate a 143-bedroom aparthotel. Planning documents lodged by Red Rock Donnybrook Ltd with DCC show the firm is seeking to construct a seven-storey aparthotel at the Circle K petrol station at the junction of Donnybrook Road and Brookvale Road. The move comes almost one year since the then An Bord Pleanála refused planning permission to Red Rock Donnybrook for a 10-storey 225-bedspace student accommodation on the same site. In a letter of support lodged with the application, Bob W requests the city council to grant planning permission, and confirmed that Bob W seeks to become the long-term operator of the proposed aparthotel. The Irish Times, 9th September
MIXED-USE
Finglas, Dublin 11 A mixed-use investment is being offered for sale on Jamestown Road through Ray Cooke Auctioneers with a €1.6m guide price. Located at Gofton Court, it is currently generating €110,900-a-year in rental income (6.3% NIY). The rental income could be increased by converting two vacant first-floor office units to residential apartments. This would boost rental income to between €179,300 and €185,300 pa. The total floor area of the combined units extends to 8,970 sq. ft. It has three ground-floor retail units which are currently occupied by Expert Home Renovation Centre, Dream Hair Salon and Finglas Vape Store. These range in size from 653 sq. ft to 2,927 sq. ft. The first floor extends to 2,829 sq. ft in size. The Irish Independent, 4th September
Purpose Built Student Accommodation
Clonskeagh, Dublin 14 St Brigid’s Novitiate, a 35-bedroom property of 31,405 sq. ft on a site of 3.5 acres on Roebuck Road and adjacent to UCD has come to market through Avison Young guiding €10m. The site is being sold by Little Sisters of the Poor, who intend to remain on site in their house and to continue operating the Holy Family Residence Nursing Home, which is to the front of the campus. The St Brigid’s Novitiate building and its site are zoned Objective A – Residential with an institutional tag in the DLRCC Development Plan 2022-2028. A feasibility study prepared in advance of the sale by Henry J Lyons Architects and CJ Falconer & Associates suggests the property has the potential to accommodate a PBSA scheme comprising approx. 460 bed spaces across four blocks, including the renovation and extension of the Novitiate building. This property comprises 35 bedrooms on the first and second floors, with potential for expansion. The ground floor includes a variety of spaces, such as reception rooms, offices, dining rooms, a chapel and a library, offering scope for a range of uses. The Irish Times, 3rd September
Residential/Development
Croí Cónaithe Scheme The state’s scheme to subsidise the construction of apartments for sale has received applications from developers to build close to 6,000 homes this year. The Croí Cónaithe Cities scheme provides subsidies of between €25,000 and €144,000 per unit to bridge the gap between how much it costs to build an apartment and the price people can afford to pay. In June, James Browne, the housing minister, issued a fresh call for applications to the scheme. Martin Whelan, chief executive of the Housing Agency, recently told the Beauchamps Housing Conference that the Housing Agency has received close to 40 compliant submissions under the latest call for expressions of interest, which closed on August 15th. He said the submissions contained plans to deliver more than 5,800 apartments. The bulk of these applications were for the Dublin region (4,600). The remainder have been mainly in Cork (600), Galway (200) and Waterford (200). The Business Post, 2nd September
Purchasing Managers Index Irish construction activity continued to fall last month, according to AIB’s latest Construction PMI. The headline seasonally adjusted figure fell to 45.9 in August, down from 47.1 in July. It is the fourth successive month where the Construction Total Activity Index was below the key breakeven level of 50. The report said output was down across the housing, commercial and civil engineering categories. Purchasing activity was also scaled back, but AIB said companies continued to increase employment, “in part due to positive expectations for the future”. The report said the latest fall was “marked and the sharpest since January 2024” and for the first time in a year and a half, all three categories of construction saw a drop in activity last month. Rte.ie, 9th September
OTHER
Cork Airport PJ Hegarty has won the contract for the DAA’s €200m Cork Airport development plan. Work on the new mezzanine floor will begin this month and will house an expanded security screening area and a larger executive lounge. The new mezzanine floor will extend over the existing arrivals concourse and feature a larger passenger security area equipped with the latest C3 EDS technology. It will allow passengers to keep liquids, gels, pastes and large electronic items in their cabin baggage. A dedicated fast-track lane will also be added. The arrivals area will include a new café-bar and upgraded car hire facilities. The mezzanine will also accommodate a new executive lounge with 30% more capacity and an expanded Cork Airport Duty Free shop. The Business Post, 5th September
Greater Dublin Drainage Project The €1.3bn Greater Dublin Drainage Project will be delayed after Wild Irish Defence filed a judicial review challenge against An Coimisiun Pleanála (ACP) and several others, in an attempt to block the development. The case is due to come before the High Court on September 15th. It comes after ACP granted Uisce Éireann planning permission for the project in July. Once operational, it will have the capacity to provide wastewater treatment to around half a million people. The Business Post, 5th September
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