10th June (Issue 500)
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
Athlone, Co. Westmeath JLL has brought a high-quality industrial building and a 5.7-acre site on Moydrum Road in Athlone to market guiding €7.3m. The property extends to approx. 111,000 sq. ft and is situated just off junction 9 of the N6. It is fully let to Heat Merchants on a 10-year lease from June 2022 with a current passing rent of €450,000 pa. In addition, an adjoining site of approximately 5.7 acres is available for sale, which offers further opportunities for development in the area. The site is zoned “employment and enterprise” under the Athlone Town Development Plan 2014-2020 (current plan). The Business Post, 4th June
OFFICE
South Docklands, Dublin 2 Zara Founder Amancio Ortega’s investment firm Pontegadea has bought a 68,286 sq. ft office building in Dublin’s south docklands for almost €70m from US property group Kennedy Wilson and Nama, according to sources. The deal to buy Ten Hannover Quay, a grade A office development let out to Fiserv, closed last week, the sources said. It marks Nama’s final exit from the capital’s docklands. Fiserv is paying €57.50 psf, almost €3.93m pa, with a rent review scheduled for 2027, according to an information memorandum distributed by CBRE and Savills, who handled the sale of the building. The Irish Times, 4th June
Swords, Co. Dublin The HSE has acquired a prime development site in Seatown, Swords for in excess of €20m. The price paid represents a slight premium on the €19m Knight Frank had been guiding when it offered the property to the market in January 2024. The 16-acre site at Swords Business Park, which is close to a proposed stop on the Metrolink service, includes a 200,000 sq. ft office building, which was originally constructed in 1996. The building was formerly occupied by car rental company Hertz who put the property up for sale last year with a view to relocating its Irish operations to a smaller office facility. As well as being close to the proposed Seatown stop on the Metrolink, which is due to start construction in 2027, the site is also located within 500 metres of the main street in Swords village. The Irish Times, 4th June
Swords Road, Dublin 17 Colliers is guiding €6m for Block 3 at Woodford Business Park on the Swords Road near Dublin Airport. Block 3 is fully let to a tenant line-up consisting of Concentrix, the OPW and J2 Global, and is generating an overall rental income of €960,927 a year. Should a sale proceed at the guide price, the buyer would be in line for net initial yield of approx. 14.5% and a capital value of €128 per sq. ft, which is significantly below replacement cost. The site offers the occupier immediate access to the M1 and M50 motorways. The investment briefly comprises three two-storey, terraced office blocks, and extends to a total gross internal area of 46,856 sq. ft with 165 car-parking spaces. The Irish Times, 4th June
Citywest, Dublin 24 2022 Bianconi Avenue is for sale through TWM at €9m (€116 psf), a sizeable reduction on its 2022 sale price of €37m. 2022 Bianconi Avenue is one of only four properties in Citywest Business Campus with direct frontage on to the N7. Eir opted to move its headquarters from Dublin city centre to the property back in 2018, but it is now available for sale with the benefit of vacant possession. The property comprises a large building extending to 77,490 sq. ft with a BER rating of C3, set on a site extending to 5.76 acres, representing a site coverage of only 13.31%. The sale includes 260 surface-level car-parking spaces, affording an incoming purchaser extensive redevelopment options subject to planning permission. The Irish Times, 4th June
Monivea Road, Co. Galway The value of the new headquarters for Galway City Council has already decreased by approx. €8m, but the local authority said the move is still the most economical option. Acquired in December 2022, Crown Square on the Monivea Road is expected to become the council’s civic offices by the end of 2026. The local authority explained the building has seen its valuation decline from €36m in early 2022 to €28-29m as of May 2025. However, they added that over its 40-year life cycle, the property’s value is expected to exceed the original €36m purchase price. The move will avoid a combined estimated cost of €107m by consolidating four existing office sites into one. Refurbishing and expanding the current City Hall on College Road, which is no longer fit for purpose, was projected to cost €69m. In addition, a further €38m would have been required to temporarily relocate staff to suitable office space during the works. The Irish Independent, 4th June
St Stephens Green, Dublin 2 Vodafone Ireland is to move its headquarters to the city centre next year, leaving the Sandyford location it has occupied for more than two decades. The company said it would relocate to 70 St Stephen’s Green as the building’s sole occupant from April next year. The lease on its Mountainview building in Central Park, Sandyford, was due to expire or renew in 2026. Vodafone announced the move to Mountainview in May 2002. More than 2,000 people work with Vodafone in Ireland, and almost half are currently based at its headquarters, with the company operating a hybrid policy that has staff in the office between eight and 10 days a month. The Irish Times, 6th June
Building One Glassworks, Waterford The first building in what is being billed as Ireland’s first co-located university enterprise quarter has been launched on the site of the former Waterford Crystal factory site on Waterford City’s Cork Road. Extending to 80,000 sq. ft across four floors of LEED Gold, WiredScore Gold and A3 Ber-rated office space, Building One at Glassworks can accommodate approximately 800 workers. The property offers occupiers flexible floor plates ranging in size from 1,400 sq. ft to 17,000 sq. ft and lettings are being managed by Cushman and Wakefield. Located next to the South East Technological University’s (SETU) academic and research facilities, the IDA Business & Technology Park and the IDA Industrial Park, the Glassworks development is aiming to emulate the success of other university-enterprise quarters internationally. Building One forms part of the wider 37-acre Glassworks campus, which upon completion, is expected to have capacity for a 6,000-strong workforce. The Irish Times, 10th June
HOSPITALITY
South William Street, Dublin 2 Balrath Investments has sought permission to convert the four-storey Maryland House vacant office building to 44 bedrooms providing 273 hostel beds, documents filed with Dublin City Council show. The plans also include converting the basement and ground floor levels from car park and retail use into a restaurant of 4,055 sq. ft, fronting onto Drury Street. Balrath bought Maryland House, the former AA office building, on South William Street and the adjoining 50-51 Drury Street property for a reported €10m in 2022. An assessment sent to Dublin City Council by Brock McClure as part of the application noted there is a specific shortage of hostel beds, which currently represent only a small fraction (2.4%) of available tourist accommodation bedrooms. The Business Post, 5th June
RESIDENTIAL/DEVELOPMENT
Dock Road, Limerick Savills and Power Property are seeking €4.5m for development land in Limerick Docklands, which is the focus of an ambitious regeneration project. The 20.7-acre site, just north of the N18 and 2.5km west of the city centre, is strategically located off the Dock Road, at the heart of a well-established light industrial and commercial hub. Transport links are excellent, via the nearby M20 and M7 motorways with access to sea routes also close by, via Limerick Port and Foynes Port, bolstering the area’s appeal as a logistics and industrial hub. Under the Limerick Development Plan 2022- 2028, the land is zoned ‘enterprise and employment” in the plan, with an objective to provide for, and improve, general enterprise, employment, and business and commercial activities. The Examiner, 4th June
Rochestown, Co. Cork Savills is guiding €3.75m for a 7.2-acre development site at the foot of Clarke’s Hill in Rochestown. This is the second time it has been offered, after a gap of five years, and at the same price point. Aperee were the purchasers in 2020, paying 20% over the then guide price of €3.75m, or €4.75m, for the entire, the development land, and an unoccupied c 1970s, 2,500 sq. ft family home in a prime position. Aperee signed contracts and the sale of the original family house closed out as planned. However, Aperee never got to close out on the sale of the land portion. It did get planning for a 100-bed nursing home and 47 independent residential units, consisting of 27 apartments in two blocks and 20 townhouses. Meanwhile, the 1970s-era family home on a portion of the 7.3 acres, and which had successfully sold, was bought back from Aperee’s receiver after being put for sale last year for a purchase sum close to €550,000. The Examiner, 5th June
Arklow, Co. Wicklow Lioncor has submitted a planning application for 666 residential units in Arklow town. Within easy access of the M11, the development will include 578 houses, of which 317 will be three-beds, 161 four-beds and 100 two-beds. In addition, there will be 88 apartments comprising 24 one-beds, 51 two-beds and 13 three-beds. To cater for the residents, a local centre will accommodate three retail units, three community/medical units and a crèche. More than a thousand car-parking spaces will see 1,126 allocated for residential occupiers and 59 allocated to the local centre. The project is part of a larger development which Lioncor plans. It will ultimately see 1,500 dwellings and include two new schools. Earlier this year, Lioncor secured a grant of planning permission for 84 units on the site. The Irish Independent, 5th June
Dublin City, Dublin 2 An Bord Pleanála has approved plans by the O’Callaghan hotel group to demolish derelict buildings and build 82 new apartments in Dublin city centre. The planning body last week upheld permission, with revised conditions, to demolish a number of buildings on Fenian Street, Bass Place and Sandwith Street Upper in Dublin 2. The plans for the half-acre site, consisting of nine two-storey terraced houses and a commercial warehouse, had been approved despite significant opposition from homeowners in the vicinity. The Business Post, 9th June
HOSPITALITY
Ashford, Co. Wicklow Ballylusk Quarry, famous for its quartzite stone, is being offered for sale through Lisney, along with adjoining properties and plant and machinery, for €4.25m. Located just over 3km south of Ashford village, Co Wicklow, the sale offers a turn-key business opportunity which has traded as O’Reilly Bros Wicklow Ltd. With significant reserves, the quarry area itself extends to 20.87 acres and produces quartzite stone for landscaping and site development, with a smaller volume of granite for ornamental and reconstituted uses such as gravel for driveways. In addition to an aggregate processing plant, the quarry comes with a bagging shed, office, maintenance/storage shed and weighbridge. The quarry also has the advantage of being surrounded by Coillte forestry. Also included in the sale are two plots of agricultural land, one of 7.87 acres and the other of 2.41 acres, and a 2,690 sq. ft industrial shed set on a 0.36-acre site. The Irish Independent, 5th June
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