29th April (Issue 494)
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
East Wall, Dublin 3 The Beckett Building has gone sale agreed at just over €25m, the Sunday Times understands. KB Kookmin Bank, a South Korean financial group purchased the building in 2018 for €101m. It was placed on the market last May with a guide price of €35m. The group’s German bankers appointed Grant Thornton as receivers in late 2023 in an attempt to recoup its approx. €60m loan. Meta vacated the building nine years ahead of its 15-year lease expiring but it is still responsible for the annual rent of €5.75m until at least the end of July 2027. It is believed that the new owner will repurpose the building for part use as office and part use for storage. The six-storey-over-basement building is just over 188,000 sq. ft in size. It had been reported last August that BCP Capital was close to doing a deal on the building, but the sale did not proceed. The Sunday Times, 27th April
Santry, Dublin 9 Cosgrave Property Group has sold two office blocks in Northwood for approx. €30m to Camgill Conway, a Canadian-Irish investment fund. They are fully let and at the time they were launched in June 2024 were generating a combined contracted rent of €4.2m pa. Together they offer a combined floor area totalling 157,860 sq. ft. Block 2 is let to the ESB in its entirety. Block 1 is let to nine commercial tenants including BMW, Close Brothers, NSAI and Affidea with average lease terms approx. two years to break. The Irish Independent, 23rd April
NURSING HOMES
Munster & Connaught Cohalan Downing is offering four purpose-built nursing home properties for sale by tender, in one or more lots. Three of the properties (Charleville, Co Cork; Killaloe, Co Clare and Headford Road, Galway) are trading and for sale as going concerns. One of the properties, a former nursing home at Churchtown, Co Cork is vacant. St Martha’s Nursing Home, Charleville comprises 29 bedrooms with 36 bed spaces on a site of 1.43 acres. The guide sale price is €1.25m. The Lakes Nursing Home, Killaloe, Co Clare comprises 52 bedrooms with 57 bed spaces on a site of 1.3 acres. The guide sale price is €2.6m. The Galway nursing home is situated at Headford Road about 3.5km north of Galway city centre. It comprises 56 bedrooms with 60 bed spaces on a site of some 1.11 acres. The guide sale price is €2m. A former nursing home in the village of Churchtown, about 18km north west of Mallow, which is vacant, has a guide sale price of €2.1m. It comprises 47 bedrooms with 50 bed spaces on a large site of about 5.44 acres. The tender date is Thursday, May 22. The Business Post, 25th April
INDUSTRIAL / LOGISTICS
Ballycoolin, Dublin 15 Private bus firm Go Ahead Ireland, through Go Ahead Transport Services (Dublin) Ltd, has lodged plans with Fingal Co Council for a bus depot with a capacity for 187 buses at Unit 200 Northwest Business Park, Ballycoolin. The application follows Go Ahead recently signing a letter of intent with the National Transport Authority to operate the Outer Dublin Metropolitan Area North and South routes, which requires the establishment of a new depot. The depot will operate on a 24/7 basis in line with the NTA’s plans for the rollout of more 24-hour bus services. The Irish Independent, 23rd April
RETAIL
Tramore, Co. Waterford Ikea is planning to open a new “plan-and-order” point in Tramore, as the Swedish furniture retail giant expands its presence across Ireland. Last week, Ikea submitted a planning application to Waterford City and County Council looking to install a sign on the proposed outlet in Tramore, located at the former ‘Mum N Me’ in Tramore Road Business Park. These “plan-and-order” points are smaller Ikea stores dedicated to kitchen, bedroom, and living-room planning where customers can get advice on home furnishings and design expertise. Aside from its huge retail outlet in Dublin, Ikea has plan-and-order point stores in Naas, St Stephen’s Green, Drogheda, Cork, Carlow and Sligo. The Sunday Independent, 27th April
Dublin City, Dublin 2 The €6m regeneration of the area between Grafton Street and Dawson Street in Dublin city centre, first announced more than a decade ago, will finally get under way in the coming weeks. The two-year construction project involves a revamp of South Anne Street, Duke Street, Lemon Street and the lanes which run between them, with Leinster granite paving, tree and flower planting, water bottle filling stations, a play area, public seating and bicycle stands. Dublin City Council will also for the first time introduce automated rising bollards, instead of flexible wands, to stop delivery drivers from entering the zone outside authorised hours. The scheme aims to capitalise on the pedestrianisation of South Anne Street four years ago, and the enthusiasm for outdoor dining which grew during the Covid-19 pandemic. The Irish Times, 28th April
PURPOSE BUILT STUDENT ACCOMMODATION
Abbey Street, Dublin 2 Plans for a nine-storey student accommodation block at the former Independent Newspapers headquarters in Dublin city centre will be lodged by British developer Summix in the coming days. In the published statutory planning notice, Summix IHD Developments Ltd says it intends lodging a Large Scale Residential Development application with DCC to develop a 316 student bed-space scheme. The notice states that 272 standard and accessible rooms will be provided in 42 clusters ranging from five-bed spaces to nine-bed spaces at 87 to 93 Middle Abbey Street, known collectively as Independent House. The scheme will also involve the construction of a part nine storey over basement building connected to retained protected structures on the site. The Irish Times, 25th April
RESIDENTIAL/DEVELOPMENT
Dundalk, Co. Louth JLL and REA Gunne Property are guiding €5.5m for a substantial land bank zoned for development just off the M1 on the outskirts of Dundalk town centre. Located just 200m from junction 16 of the motorway, the subject holding extends to 19.54 acres and is zoned “E2/Business and Technology”. Uses generally permitted under this zoning include high technology manufacturing, light industry, research and development, and data centres, subject to planning permission. The lands are also incorporated in the Mullagharlin Framework Plan which identifies the property as a future high-quality, sustainable and employment area accommodating a proposed new, adjoining station on the Dublin-Belfast railway line. The framework plan proposes development potential for approximately 425,577 sq. ft with buildings ranging in height from three to five storeys. The Irish Times, 23rd April
Dublin Regeneration Plans to regenerate some of Dublin city’s oldest flat complexes are at risk following a Department of Housing decision not to fund projects that result in a significant reduction of homes. The department has rejected the first phase of Dublin City Council’s long-planned redevelopment of Pearse House off Pearse Street in the city centre that was built almost 90 years ago. The redevelopment involves the amalgamation of small flats, which do not meet minimum size standards, to create larger homes. The council seven years ago announced plans to regenerate more than 6,000 of the city’s oldest and most dilapidated flats under a 15-year plan to raise social housing standards across the city. More than 100 flat complexes were to be included in the programme. All were more than 40 years old and some were built in the 1930s. The Irish Times, 23rd April
House Prices The price of a home in the Republic rose by 9.8% on average in the first quarter compared with the same period last year, according to a report from data technology company Geowox. The figures are based on completed home sales and includes all entries in the Irish residential property price register for the quarter. The median price for a home reached €360,000, which represented an increase of €32,000 compared with the same quarter of last year. A total of 10,798 homes were sold in the quarter, which was down 4.5% compared with the same period in 2024. Co. Dublin topped the charts at 3,543 sales, followed by Co. Cork (1,262) and Co. Kildare (557). Out of the top 25 urban centres, Dublin city was the most expensive, with a median price of €552,000, followed by Naas, Co Kildare, at €444,000. Longford was the most affordable at €138,000. The Irish Times, 26th April
Castleknock, Dublin 15 An Bord Pleanála has rejected contentious plans for a €30m apartment scheme for Dublin’s Old Navan Road. Bartra Property (Castleknock) Ltd was planning to build a five storey, 56 apartment scheme on the site at Brady’s Public House, Old Navan Rd. The refusal upholds a decision by Fingal Co Council to refuse planning permission after 75 objections were lodged against the proposal. It is now the second failed attempt by Bartra to secure planning permission to redevelop the site. In its refusal to the new scheme, the appeals board concluded that having regard to its height, massing, bulk and design and its lack of a direct relationship with the public open space located immediately to the north-east of the subject site, the proposed development fails to integrate with the established character of the area. The Irish Times, 28th April
Kilbarry, Co. Waterford An application by Kilbarry Developments Ltd for 99 residences in Lacken, Kilbarry, is at pre-validation stage. Kilbarry Developments Ltd lodged the application on April 17 seeking a seven-year planning permission for the proposed development, comprising phase seven of an overall masterplan. It includes 57 houses and three apartment blocks with a total of 42 apartments, including 30 three-bed two-storey semi-detached houses. The plans include one three-bed two-storey detached house, 22 four-bed two-storey semi-detached houses, four four-bed two-storey terraced houses, 18 two-bed apartments, and 24 one-bed apartments. The Irish Independent, 28th April
Land Development Agency State bodies are set to face increased pressure to sell sites to the LDA, with the Government also considering steps to allow the agency to build more private housing at its projects. Amid heightened concern in Government over housing output, senior officials are to discuss proposals to reform the LDA’s remit in the hope of increasing the number of homes it is delivering. It is understood that the agency’s focus on social and affordable homes on large sites will be on the table for discussion, with some in Government of the view that more private homes should be built at these projects. There is also significant frustration over the pace of transfer of lands to the LDA from State bodies, with Government sources of the view that it is happening too slowly, that there is a lack of co-operation and often there are too many conditions attached to transfers of land. The Irish Times, 28th April
OTHER
Cherrywood, Dublin 18 A new €190m sports arena is planned for Cherrywood in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown. Prime Arena Holdings Limited is expected to submit planning documentation for the development by September 2025. The venue is projected to generate a socio-economic impact of over €230m pa. The anchor of the facility will act as a permanent base for Olympic-standard winter sports, as well as a home for Dublin’s first professional ice hockey franchise. Additionally, two full-sized Olympic ice rinks will be included in the facility, with a 5,000-seat indoor arena. The arena will act as a conference and gala venue and is expected to accommodate up to 1,500 seated guests and subsequently adding 200,000 hotel bed nights per year. The Business Post, 25th April
Werburgh Street, Dublin 8 Dublin City Council is planning to turn the vacant St Werburgh’s Church into a 250-seater Arts venue. The 18th century church has remained closed for a number of years due to its state of disrepair, and the proposed redevelopment is expected to cost around €5m. The plan is to transform the space into a destination for tourists, and as a venue for classical music, choral music, chamber music, organ recitals, poetry readings, lectures, and folk and jazz performances. Details of the proposed lease agreement with the Church of Ireland will be submitted for approval to the Council. The Irish Independent, 24th April
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