6th January(Issue 526)
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.
PURPOSE BUILT STUDENT ACCOMMODATION
Dublin & Galway Greystar has agreed to acquire a portfolio of more than 700 student beds in Dublin and Galway, establishing it as one of the biggest operators of PBSA in Ireland. The firm announced the deal for Project Galaxy, which Cushman & Wakefield brought to market on behalf of another US investment firm, EQT, with a guide price of €115m. Greystar did not disclose a sale price, but industry sources told The Irish Times the firm paid approx. €105m for the fully occupied portfolio, making it one of the larger commercial property deals of 2025. Project Galaxy comprises 290 units at Mayor Square in Dublin’s IFSC, and 434 beds at Cúirt na Coiribe in Galway. Both properties were most recently operated under the Hubble brand and managed by student accommodation specialist Mezzino. Greystar said it will operate the schemes under its own Canvas brand and will now operate close to 1,700 student beds here. The Irish Times, 18th December
MIXED USE
St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2 Developers have lodged completely overhauled plans for a €100m scheme to replace St Stephen’s Green Shopping Centre. A previous proposal to replace the iconic centre on the corner of the green was thrown out by planners in early 2025, and now the developers have lodged new-look drawings of the proposed exterior in just the latest iteration of proposals for the landmark building. The designers have said that the scheme will make an enduring contribution to the city’s built environment, setting a new benchmark for brownfield regeneration in the heart of Dublin. The owners of the centre, property investor and operator Lanthorn, have through DTDL Ltd, lodged the revised plans with Dublin City Council (“DCC”) five months after An Coimisiún Pleanála (“ACP”) refused planning permission for their €100m revamp. Now, in a bid to address ACP’s refusal, the applicants have set back the building line at the St Stephen’s Green corner as part of the overall BKD Architects masterplan for the scheme. The Irish Independent, 19th December
Kevin Street, Dublin 8 US investors Oaktree and Ashling Capital are set to launch a joint bid worth €100m in an attempt to dislodge DCC’s deal for Camden Yard. Last week, DCC entered exclusive discussions to acquire Camden Yard, the troubled Kevin Street development that was brought to market by receivers in May for a guide price of €80m. Sources familiar with the sales process told the Business Post the local authority agreed a €90m deal to purchase the site and plans to move its head office to the site. Oaktree, a US private equity fund, and Ashling Capital, a family run property developer, are now planning a rival bid to push out DCC from the process. The Business Post understands the €100m bid would involve Bentall GreenOak, a US property investment firm that lent €75m to the project, being repaid in full. The Business Post, 20th December
HOSPITALITY
Camden Street, Dublin 2 A proposed 463-bed tourist hostel on Dublin’s Camden Street has been refused planning permission by DCC. The application was submitted by Balrath Investments ULC, a company controlled by waste tycoon Eamon Waters, founder of Panda Waste. The firm sought permission to refurbish and extend the protected structure at 1–4 Camden Street Lower, which is currently occupied by a gym and a Fresh supermarket, to create a six-storey-over-basement, 463-bed tourist hostel with a ground-floor café and retail unit. DCC concluded that the proposed development would be “overbearing” on the protected structure, and would “seriously injure the special architectural character, setting, significance, and legibility of the area.” The Business Post, 22nd December
Donnybrook, Dublin 4 Red Rock Developments, led by Keith Craddock, has won approval for a 143-bed aparthotel at the Circle K site, the latest in a long-running planning battle with residents and the planning authority. The developer won approval to demolish the existing petrol station, located across the road from Energia Park, and replace it with a seven storey aparthotel complex with a ground floor café and restaurant or retail unit. The development will feature a gross floor area of 60,000 sq. ft, a 1,500 sq. ft restaurant takeaway unit and a 1,900 sq. ft cafe or retail unit. It was ultimately approved after the council ordered a number of amendments to the original planning application, including the removal of 12 small bedrooms and taking steps to protect a neighbouring business’ privacy by removing high level windows on its southern elevation. The developer would also have to contribute €625,872 to the Planning Authority for infrastructure-related development contributions. The Business Post, 22nd December
Insolvencies According to research by PwC Ireland, 141 insolvencies in hospitality were recorded last year, down from 154 the year before. There were just 30 cases in the final quarter, which continued a downward trend throughout 2025. There had been 43 insolvencies in the first quarter, 38 in the second, and 30 in the third. However, the insolvency rate, at 68 per 10,000 businesses last year, is well above the overall average of 27. Furthermore, only six of the 141 insolvencies involved an accommodation business, which meant that food and beverage accounted for the vast majority of failures. The insolvency rate of 27 was well below the long-term year average, which is 50. A peak of 109 was recorded in 2012, following the financial crash, roughly equal to about 3,400 insolvencies in a year. The PwC report shows that the Scarp rescue process for small businesses is losing traction, with only 23 processes started last year, down from 30 in 2024 and 33 in 2023. The Irish Independent, 6th January
OFFICE
Dublin Office Market Open AI and Anthropic are looking to expand their office footprints in Dublin. Anthropic is looking to lease around 25,000 sq. ft in the city over the next three to five years, according to people familiar with the plan who asked not to be identified. The final figure could be lower, as the firms’ expansion plans are rapidly evolving. The firms currently occupy small spaces in flexible co-working offices in the city. A spokesperson for Anthropic declined to comment on its leasing plans in Dublin but said that the company was expanding rapidly and has other European offices in London, Paris, Zurich and Munich. OpenAI declined to comment on specific leasing plans but said it had about 60 employees in Ireland and would continue to add to the team in 2026. The Irish Times, 19th December
O’Connell Street, Dublin 2 The Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) is closing in on a deal for a new headquarters at the Clerys Quarter development. Having based its operations on nearby D’Olier Street since its establishment in 2004, the RTB is set to take 18,000 sq. ft of office space at the scheme and is expected to pay a rent of approx. €50 psf. The agreement with the RTB will bring the consortium behind the Clerys Quarter a step closer to its objective of securing full occupancy for the scheme’s office element in advance of its plan to sell its remaining interests there. The OPM consortium, which comprises Luxembourg-based asset manager Europa Capital, Derek McGrath’s Core Capital, and Paddy McKillen jnr’s Oakmount, already sold about a third of the mixed-use development’s office space in November 2023 when the HSE acquired the 30,700 sq. ft Earl Building on North Earl Street for use as a new outpatient facility for the Rotunda Hospital. Developed on the site of the former Clerys department store, the Clerys Quarter scheme also includes 60,000 sq. ft of retail accommodation, most of which is occupied by Swedish fashion giant H&M and French sports retailer Decathlon, and a new 229-bedroom Premier Inn hotel which is under construction. The hotel is currently being offered to the market on behalf of Premier Inn’s owner, the Whitbread Group, on a forward-funding basis for €66.6m. The Irish Times, 17th December
Capel Street, Dublin 1 & Green Street, Dublin 7 Moran Living Limited has completed the purchase of 89-94 Capel Street and 16-22 Green Street for approx. €12m. The buildings total approx. 55,000 sq. ft, generates €1.33m pa and are leased to the OPW, Autoaddress, Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission and St Michael’s House. 89-94 Capel Street extends to approx. 25,500 sq. ft across 6 storeys and is approx. 85% occupied by the OPW, who contribute €600k of the €710k annual rental income. The OPW has a break option in January 2027. 16-22 Green Street is set on a prominent corner site which extends to approx. 30,000 sq. ft. Earliest tenant break on the Green Street property is not until May 2030. Moran Press Release, 5th January
North Wall Quay, Dublin 1 A RGRE group company has scaled back a rejected 17 storey office scheme for Dublin’s Docklands to 12 storeys, in a bid to secure planning permission. In August, ACP upheld DCC’s rejection of a planned 17 storey redevelopment of Citigroup’s current European headquarters at 1 North Wall Quay. In new plans lodged by NWQ Devco Limited, planning consultant John Spain wrote that the previous reasons for refusals by ACP have been fully addressed through the redesign of the development which has been reduced from 17 storeys to 12 storeys. The current six storey Citigroup building is 371,000 sq. ft. The proposal will retain 265,000 sq. ft of the existing floor area which will be incorporated in the development, and the revised plans will provide 579,000 sq. ft of high-quality office space across 12 floors. The 64-page planning report notes that the development comprises four blocks ranging in heights of 7-11 storeys, 12 storeys, 10 storeys and seven storeys which represents a maximum height increase of six storeys above the existing building. The Irish Times, 5th January
RESIDENTIAL/DEVELOPMENT
Donnybrook, Dublin 4 DCC has given the green light to Cairn Homes for its revised €295m apartment scheme on former RTÉ lands at Montrose. In giving the 510-apartment scheme the go-ahead, the council planner’s report said “the proposed changes to this development have resulted in a higher quality residential amenity for future occupiers of the development”. Cairn Homes Montrose Ltd previously secured planning permission from ACP for 608 units at the site in July 2023. The new scheme omits all ‘build to rent’ apartments that had featured in that scheme. The newly approved proposal comprises 326 two-bed apartments, 125 one-bed apartments, 51 three-bed apartments and eight studios across eight apartment blocks. Three of those blocks will rise to 10 storeys in height. DCC has ordered Cairn to pay €5.43m towards the provision of public infrastructure. The grant of permission comes more than eight years after Cairn Homes agreed a €107.5m deal with RTÉ in June 2017 to purchase just under nine acres of lands at the broadcaster’s Donnybrook headquarters. The Irish Times, 19th December
Dunsink, Dublin 15 Fingal County Council is to push forward by several years residential plans for Dunsink, the largest bank of undeveloped land within the M50, in response to a Government edict earlier this year to dramatically increase housing targets. Dunsink, which is at the southernmost end of Fingal close to the boundary with DCC, had been designated a “long-term strategic reserve lands”. In 2023 the council undertook a feasibility study of the vast 1,075-acre Dunsink land bank, which is west of Finglas and north of Ashtown, to examine its future suitability for housing. Just under 500 acres, largely in the east and south of the area, was identified as having the capacity for residential development with the potential for 7,000 homes. FCC has decided to remove the “long-term strategic reserve” designation from the Dunsink lands to allow for the “early release” of sufficient lands for the first phase of this development, to accommodate 2,500 homes. The Irish Times, 23rd December
Clondalkin, Dublin 22 Ardstone has acquired a zoned site in Dublin capable of delivering 1,400 homes as the group closes in on Ires Reit as the largest private residential landlord. The company, backed mainly by large European pension and insurance groups, has paid about €25m for the almost 20-acre site in Clondalkin. Ardstone is also eyeing the development of a community centre and town plaza on the site, with the aim of beginning construction in 2027, subject to planning permission. The company was set up in 2005 by former Friends First property heads Donal Mulcahy, Ciarán Burns and Donal O’Neill and initially focused on European real estate markets. Since 2021 it has rolled out a long-term residential investment strategy, focused on the mid-level Irish rental market, and it now manages more than 3,000 residential units here valued at about €1.4bn. The Irish Times, 23rd December
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