29th July (Issue 507)

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.

HOSPITALITY

Haddington Road, Dublin 4 An Coimisiún Pleanála (ACP) has given the green light to Courtney Lounge Bars Ltd for plans to demolish Smyth’s pub and replace it with a bar and apartments despite locals’ fears of a ‘superpub’ being developed. This entity now has permission to demolish all existing buildings on site at 10 Haddington Road and construct a four-storey and part five-storey mixed-use building comprising a pub at basement level and ground floor, and six residential units on the upper floors. The Irish Times, 25^th July

Battlebridge, Co. Roscommon Battlebridge Caravan & Camping Park, and a gastro pub on the banks of the Shannon, has been brought to the market by Savills seeking offers in excess of €1m. The nine-acre site and business near Leitrim village is also convenient to Carrick-on-Shannon. Overlooking 245 metres of river frontage, the property combines a Fáilte Ireland-approved caravan, camping and glamping park, a private 16-berth marina and pub and restaurant, Beirne’s of Battlebridge. The park offers 43 hard-standing touring pitches and 20 tent pitches, all with electric hook-ups and water access, as well as a luxury glamping area featuring 11 eco-units. The site also accommodates a reception building, communal facilities, beer garden and a car park. The Irish Independent, 24^th July

INDUSTRIAL

Ballycoolin, Dublin 15 Tech giant Amazon has scrapped plans to build a big industrial plant because it could not secure an electricity supply for the €300m project. The move has closed off the prospect of more than 500 jobs being created in the proposed plant at Ballycoolin, where Amazon already has a large base. Amazon’s cloud computing unit AWS wanted the new site for making high-tech server racks, a form of specialist shelving used in data centres that drive AI technology. The AWS plan had Government support, while Fingal County Council planning permission for the 250,000 sq. ft site and 562 car-parking spaces, was in place since 2022. IDA Ireland saw the project as a good way of positioning the State to take advantage of the next wave of AI technology. However, Amazon stopped the AWS investment when ESB Networks said there was no scope to provide an electricity connection within the company’s time frame because of constraints in power networks in that area. The Irish Times, 25^th July

MIXED-USE

Carrickmines, Dublin 18 The Park business campus has strengthened its range of medical services after Veonet, the ophthalmology group, signed a 10-year lease for the third floor of The Herbert Building, a mixed-use building on the campus. The Park has attracted a number of medical occupiers including VHI Swift Care Clinic, Optilase, AllView, Cognate Health, Avoca Clinic, Venus Medical, and Thérapie Fertility Clinic. Savills said there is 87,000 sq. ft of medical space in The Park and it accounts for 38% of the campus’s office space. The office vacancy rate in the Park is now less than 2% and contrasts with the 15% office availability rate across Dublin. The Irish Independent, 24^th July

Residential/Development

Sandyford, Dublin 18 Karuna and Glenina, set on a combined 2.24-acre site, have been brought to market with a €7.5m guide price through Hooke & MacDonald. The site benefits from two full planning permissions. Located on Sandyford Road, just 700 metres from Sandyford village, the site enjoys proximity to the Luas. The first of the two planning permissions, allows for a mixed-density scheme comprising 13 detached houses and 54 apartments across two residential blocks (€111k per site), with surface-level car parking. The second scheme, also fully approved, is for a development of 116 apartments (€65k a site), offering a broad mix of unit types with a particular focus on two-bedroom homes. The Business Post, 25^th July

Ballybane, Co. Galway Plans have been put forward to demolish a closed Galway pub to make way for a major new student accommodation complex. A proposal has been submitted to turn former pub, The Lantern Bar, into a major new development which will include four storeys of student accommodation. The application plans to demolish the existing building and construct a new mixed use four storey building including a retail unit and seventeen bedrooms. If approved, the development will accommodate seventeen bedrooms at upper floor levels, with an associated study room and gym area as well as a communal kitchen, living and dining area along with roof terrace. The Lantern Bar closed its doors back in 2019. A decision on the plans is expected from Galway City Council by September this year. The Irish Independent, 23^rd July

Rathcoole, Co. Dublin 23.5 acres of land near Rathcoole has come to the market with Coonan Property quoting €1.175m. It is located at Crockshane, to the south of Rathcoole and east of the N7, situated close to the proposed Western Dublin Orbital Route which will link the N81 Dublin to Tullow road, as well as Tallaght to the N7 and the N4 at the Leixlip Interchange. There are numerous business parks in the wider area, the most notable being Greenogue Business Park, Aerodrome Business Park and the Citywest Business Campus. The guide price is based on a figure of €50,000 per acre which suggests strong “hope value” on the prospect of rezoning for either residential or logistical use. The Irish Independent, 24^th July

Swords, Co. Dublin Fingal County Council has told Cairn Homes it must wait for Metrolink to be up and running before it can complete a 640-home Swords development. The council has approved the project, with an estimated cost of around €300m, in principle, but told the developer it cannot complete half the homes until the Metrolink is completed. Cairn has appealed the planning decision. Last year, Cairn Homes applied for permission to develop 640 new homes on a 32.5 acre site known as the Estuary West Lands at Holybanks, near Swords. The Metrolink project was first proposed in the mid-2000s but has faced many setbacks over the past two decades. The project is now due to be finished by the mid-2030s, but won’t be completed by the original 2035 target. The Business Post, 24^th July

Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin The restoration of Dun Leary House and the construction of almost 90 apartments in its grounds has been approved by ACP. Dun Leary House sits on an elevated corner site overlooking Dún Laoghaire harbour close to the West Pier. The house dates from the 1870s. In 2003 permission was granted for a mixed-use scheme in the Tedcastles Coal Yard, which included the demolition of Dun Leary House. However, the scheme never went ahead. In November 2021 Ted Living Ltd applied for a strategic housing development (SHD) of 146 build-to-rent apartments surrounding, and on top of, Dun Leary House. The plans involved the removal of the roof of the house and the construction of three additional storeys of apartments. The board had a statutory mandate to issue decisions within 16 weeks. In the end it took 138 weeks for it to refuse permission, making it the longest-running SHD case ever determined by the board. The new scheme, granted permission in recent days, permits the construction of 87 apartments in two blocks up to eight storeys high, and the refurbishment of Dun Leary House as a four-bedroom home. The Irish Times, 24^th July

Bray, Co. Wicklow ACP has rejected an application by Cosgrave Property Group for permission to construct 241 houses and 409 apartments, plus a creche, on a 190 acre site off Berryfield Lane in the Fassaroe area. Among the reasons given were the uncertainty over public transport services and concerns that the development would result in urban sprawl. The plans also provided for a neighbourhood centre, a new 2.4-kilometre road connecting the N11 to Ballyman Road, a new pedestrian and cycle route including bridge between the N11 and Dargle Road Upper as well as 15.3 hectares of a district park and open spaces. The Irish Independent, 24^th July

Terenure, Dublin 6 ACP has granted planning permission for a 284 residential-unit scheme on lands at Terenure College. In granting planning permission to Lioncor subsidiary, 1 Cellbridge West Land Ltd, the planning commission has overturned the decision to refuse permission by DCC issued earlier this year. The scheme comprises 265 apartments and 19 four-bed houses with the apartments located across four blocks with one block rising to six storeys. In the one reason for refusal linked to transport issues, the council found that the proposed car parking provision was considered inadequate to serve the needs of future residents of the development. The 11.5 acre proposed development site is located on the northwest corner of the grounds of Terenure College Senior school and the main part of the site is an open field that was formerly used as playing pitches associated with the now closed junior school. The current scheme is ‘build to sell’ compared to the ‘build to rent’ 364-unit scheme and 21 houses that were refused planning permission two years ago by An Bord Pleanála. The council received 86 third-party submissions with the bulk of submissions from local residents opposed to the scheme. The Irish Times, 24^th July

OTHER

Dublin Airport ACP has refused planning permission to DAA to demolish the spiral parking ramps on “an extremely valuable site” at the airport. The decision upholds a planning refusal issued by Fingal Co Council earlier this year. ACP found that, notwithstanding the fact that the spirals were not a protected structure, they are of technical and architectural merit. A DAA spokesman said: “We are surprised and disappointed by ACP’s decision as the spiral ramps were not identified as significant heritage assets in previous architectural reviews or national surveys. The spiral ramps have not been in use for many years and their structural condition has deteriorated over time. Removing them was part of our plan to enhance the airport’s infrastructure and ensure the highest standards of safety and efficiency for all our passengers and employees” The Irish Independent, 24^th July

Budget Submission Property Industry Ireland’s pre-budget submission has called for a 0% VAT rate for developers building private apartments. The body’s pre-budget submission highlighted that 36.3% of apartment delivery costs were linked to taxes and a reduction of Vat to 0% on new apartment building would help stimulate construction. Its pre-budget submission forecasts apartment completions in 2025 were expected to be “at best, the same as the prior year, whereas the objective should be for a three-fold increase in output”. Last year, the number of new apartments built fell 24.1% to 8,763 and JLL Ireland believes apartment completions will be down a further 24.8% this year. The body said if Vat was maintained at 13.5%, 3,750 apartments would be built for the private market up to 2030 and deliver a total tax take of €701m while if Vat was reduced to 0%, the number of private apartments built would rise to 14,750 with a total tax take of more than €1.7bn. The Business Post, 25^th July

Portmarnock, Co. Dublin Lakeside Memorial Park, a new multi-denominational cemetery in north county Dublin, has secured €6.8m in funding from clients of investment firm Cantor Fitzgerald. The investment will support the ongoing development of a 24-acre site in Portmarnock, which was previously the site of a harness racing track and golf range and is now set to become the final resting place of thousands of north Dublin residents. Lakeside has already begun the pre-sale of plots. With planning permission for 11,500 interment spaces approved in 2021, the project includes approximately 3,500 traditional burial plots and 8,000 ash interment options, including large in-ground ash plots and columbarium wall niches. Burial options include traditional plots starting at €7,500 and columbarium wall niches, suitable for two ash urns, ranging from €3,500 to €8,000. Most burial plots will be larger than those found in other cemeteries, with uniform flat headstones designed to create a greater sense of space and order. Excavation of the central lake and the reopening of a river through the site are under way, and over 120,000 tonnes of soil have been brought on-site to raise ground levels. The Irish Independent, 24^th July

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Origin Capital funds senior debt transactions in the CRE investment sector, typically in excess of €3m, and has lent over €400m to clients since April 2015.

22nd July (Issue 506)