Liberties, Dublin 8 German investor Patrizia has paid €60m for the Eight Building, a newly developed office and retail building at Newmarket Square in Dublin’s Liberties. The purchase brings the overall value of the fund’s Dublin portfolio to €830m in assets under management. Completed in 2021, the building which fronts on to Newmarket Square, has a total of 75,000 sq. ft. of grade-A office accommodation, along with several artists’ studios, and 6,500 sq. ft. of food market space. The Irish Times, 7th October
North Docklands, Dublin City Centre Ronan Group Real Estate (RGRE), UK-headquartered private equity property manager Henderson Park, and Westridge Real Estate are the three parties left in the running to acquire Citigroup’s existing European headquarters. While the offices at 1 North Wall Quay were brought to the market by Knight Frank at a guide price of €120m last March, the selection of a preferred bidder is understood to have been delayed until the global banking giant had identified and secured a location for its new headquarters. That process is now close to being concluded following Citigroup’s recent decision to acquire a site for a reported €100m at RGRE’s Waterfront South Central scheme. Citi is expected to pay up to a further €200m to the Ronan Group to build out the 300,000 sq. ft. of office space it requires for its Dublin-based workforce. No. 1 North Wall Quay currently comprises a six-storey over-basement office building of c. 230,000 sq. ft. with 139 car-parking spaces. The Irish Times, 5th October
Mespil Road, Dublin 4 Knight Frank is seeking an occupier for the offices on the third and last remaining floor at no. 45 Mespil Road in Dublin 4. Located in a prime position overlooking the Grand Canal, no. 45 is a newly developed standalone building comprising 48,000 sq. ft. of grade-A office accommodation distributed across six floors. The ground floor is occupied by global financial services provider JTC while the first and second floors are occupied respectively by Amryt Pharma Plc and higher education technology specialist Ellucian. The fourth floor is tenanted by US-headquartered private investment firm, Bain Capital, while the fifth and sixth floors are occupied by publicly listed housebuilder Cairn Homes. All floors, apart from the ground floor, are understood to have been let on a minimum term-certain lease of 10 years with no break options with rents ranging from €57.50 to €60 per sq. ft. In the case of the third and final floor, the prospective occupier will have the use of c. 8,114 sq. ft. of office space along with two basement car-parking spaces and 15 bicycle spaces. The Irish Times, 5th October
Office Market Activity, Dublin The office market in Dublin recorded 815,000 sq. ft. of take-up in the third quarter of 2022, more than double the volume achieved in the same period last year based on new data from Savills Ireland. The latest figure was also 78% higher than the 10-year third quarter average. Occupiers continued to prefer city centre stock with 80% of total space taken in the city centre. All the top five deals were transacted in Dublin 1 and Dublin 2. The remaining 20% were signed in suburban properties and no take-up recorded in the fringe market. A&L Goodbody’s prelet of 155,000 sq. ft. at 25 North Wall Quay was the largest letting of the quarter. The firm also signed up for 63,000 sq. ft. in 3 Dublin Landings for decanting of its operations while the North Wall Quay redevelopment is ongoing. Professional services firms accounted for the largest share (33%) of total take-up among all sectors for the quarter, followed by technology firms. The quarter also highlighted occupiers’ preference for energy-efficient offices and high ESG ratings. The difference between old and new city centre stock has increased from €10 per sq. ft. to €15 sq. ft. in the past year. React News, 10th October
Aungier Street, Dublin 2 Developer Paddy McKillen jnr and Matt Ryan’s Oakmount are seeking a buyer for The Lucky Duck on Dublin’s Aungier Street. The property is being offered for sale by CBRE at a guide price of €2.5m. Having paid €831k to secure ownership of the former Aungier House premises, Oakmount engaged in an extensive refurbishment of the property in advance of its opening for business in late 2018. The Lucky Duck comprises a fully refurbished Victorian bar at ground-floor level, a cocktail bar and event space at first and second-floor levels, and a fully equipped catering kitchen on the third floor. The Irish Times, 5th October
Refugee Housing, Ireland As the conflict in Ukraine enters its eighth month, so does the Irish government’s scramble to source accommodation for 40,190 of more than 54,000 Ukrainians who have arrived here. A total of 10,713 asylum seekers from other countries who are in the direct provision system have also sought accommodation from the state over the past nine months. Newly released figures show that c. one in four hotel, guesthouse and B&B rooms have been booked by the Department of Children to house displaced people. A record 15,581 rooms in tourist accommodation are being used, which equates to 23% of the c. 68,000 hotel, guesthouse and B&B rooms registered with Failte Ireland. Officials said that as well as managing the current challenge of accommodating so many people, they were also working on solutions to shelter refugees from Ukraine and applicants for international protection in the future. The Irish Refugee Council (IRC) claims that a failure by successive governments to prioritise and resource the international protection system has contributed to the “enormous strain” now being experienced. The Sunday Times, 9th October
Oranmore, Co Galway TWM has brought to market an opportunity for an anchor grocery tenant to occupy a busy shopping centre in Oranmore in Co Galway, which is known as OranTown Centre. The property, together with the supermarket business, will be sold by way of a share purchase agreement and will be offered for sale by tender. The agent is guiding in excess of €2.2m for the property. The centre comprises over 20 retail units and 15 office suites. The anchor store extends to a total of 16,465 sq. ft. GIA and benefits from the additional occupiers in the centre, including Costa Coffee, An Post, Walsh’s Pharmacy, together with 238 car parking spaces. The property is held in part under a 9,999 year lease from January 1, 2000 extending to c. 9,576 sq. ft. while the remainder is held under two occupational leases subject to a total annual rent of €150k pa and a WAULT of 7.75 years. The Business Post, 8th October
St Patricks Street, Cork Upwards of five contenders are vying to buy the former Debenhams flagship store in Cork City centre, with the preferred bidder due for selection before the weekend. Names that have been suggested in connection with a shortlist of bidders include the Fraser Group, John Cleary Developments, O’Callaghan Properties and the O’Flynn Group. Clarendon Properties, who own the adjoining Merchants Quay shopping mall, may see it as an opportunity for a natural extension, although it’s understood they consider the €20m price tag to be too high. Bank of Ireland is due to select the preferred bidder on Friday following a process involving receivers Grant Thornton, who appointed estate agents Cushman & Wakefield to oversee the sale. The iconic 151,000 sq. ft. property, once home to Roches Stores, was put on the market in August with a guide price of €20m. The Irish Examiner, 6th October
Brownsbarn Drive, Dublin 24 Located in a high-profile position at 302 Brownsbarn Drive and overlooking the N7 (Naas Road), Universal Honda’s showroom is being offered to the market with the benefit of vacant possession by Knight Frank at a guide price of €4.5m or to rent at excess €300k annually. The subject property extends to a total area of 26,666 sq. ft. and a basement extending to 12,842 sq. ft. There are 62 on-site parking spaces comprising a mix of surface spaces and spaces at basement level. The property is zoned ‘Objective EE’, which provides for enterprise and employment-related uses. The Irish Times, 5th October
Airways Industrial Estate, North Dublin Irish Life has secured €14m from the sale of three industrial units at Airways Industrial Estate in north Dublin. Units 1, 2 and 3, which were forward funded by Irish Life more than 40 years ago, were offered to the market last March at a guide price of €11m. The units have been acquired by a private Irish investor. Units 1, 2 and 3 Airways Industrial Estate are fully let with 62% of the rental income coming from State agencies. The third unit is let to FedEx. The sale provides the new owner with annual rental income of €671.2k from April 2022, along with the added benefit of upwards-only rent reviews that promise a reversionary yield of c. 8.1%. Taken together, the three units extend to 127,000 sq. ft. that could accommodate an occupier with a growing team and a WAULT of c. 2.6 years. The Irish Times, 4th October
Santry, North Dublin Industrial property specialist Harvey has secured the pre-letting of a 46,000 sq. ft. warehouse unit in the long-established Airways Industrial Estate at Santry in north Dublin. Clinigen Ireland, one of the leading manufacturers of unlicensed medicines in Ireland, has agreed to occupy unit 12 at the scheme on a new long-term lease. The subject property comprises 45,984 sq. ft. including 6,663 sq. ft. of two-storey office accommodation. The Irish Times, 5th October
Churchtown Business Park, Dublin 14 Pan-European investor and asset manager M7 Real Estate has paid just over €7m (NIY 5.2%) for Churchtown Business Park in Dublin 14. The completion of the deal brings M7′s holdings in the Republic to 27 assets, extending to c. 1,282,260 sq. ft., primarily in industrial and logistics space. M7 will have the benefit of €408k in annual rental income from a strong tenant line-up that includes Senator Windows, Tipperary Crystal, Skön, Danish Kitchen Design, Avista Medical, and Webshirts Ltd, trading as Louis Copeland. Unit 21 is currently vacant and once it is let, the total rent is expected to increase to more than €500k a year. The leases at the scheme have between three and 10 years remaining to expiry. Located in south Dublin, Churchtown Business Park extends to 41,260 sq. ft. on a site of two acres, with unit sizes of 1,400 sq. ft.-2,500 sq. ft. with one unit of 7,645 sq. ft. The Irish Times, 5th October
Enfield, Co Meath Joint agents Knight Frank and Edward Carey Property have launched to the market an industrial development site in Enfield, Co Meath at a guide price of €2.25m. Extending to c. 15 acres, the site is ideally positioned 1.3km to the east of Enfield’s town centre. The entire site is zoned E1/E3 ‘Strategic Employment Zones (High Technology Uses)/ Warehousing & Distribution’ under the Meath County Development Plan 2021-2027. The Business Post, 8th October
Steevens’ Lane, Dublin 8 Having failed to attract a buyer when it was put up for sale at a guide price of €8m at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, a 0.6-acre site in Dublin 8 with scope for c. 110 apartments is being offered to the market once more at a reduced price of €5.25m. The subject property is located on the corner of Steevens’ Lane and James Street, and adjacent to the “Guinness Quarter”. The Steevens’ Lane site for its part is Zoned Z4 “District Centre” under the Dublin City Development Plan 2016-2022, and this designation is proposed to be maintained in the upcoming plan. The Irish Times, 5th October
The build-to-rent-sector in Dublin has suffered a heavy blow as €400m worth of deals on two landmark apartment projects have unravelled in recent months. The German property behemoth Commerz Real has shelved a €200m investment in the Chartered Land Group’s 30-storey apartment building at Parkgate Street on the north side of the Liffey. Ruirside Developments, which is owned by Chartered Land Group, secured planning permission for the tower last year but construction has yet to start. Separately, Ires Reit has shied away from a potential €200m acquisition of Bain Capital’s 413 apartment scheme at Newmarket Square in Dublin 8. Bain is now expected to fund the completion of the scheme, retain it as an investment or seek a new buyer once investor sentiment recovers. The Sunday Times, 9th October
Social Housing, Dublin Estate agents and property investment funds have been advised that certain housing estates in north Dublin will not be considered for further social home leases due to the high concentration already found in the developments. Fingal County Council issued a document last year which said that 33 private estates were deemed to be “areas socially satisfied” due to the high number of state-supported tenancies in place, and so would not be considered for future social housing leases. Property investment funds spent c. €1bn buying second-hand homes in 2021, with many acquired with the intention of being leased to local authorities for use as social housing. The list of estates shared by Fingal County Council with agents in August 2021 include developments in Malahide, Portmarnock, Swords, Skerries, Santry and Kinsealy. The Business Post, 8th October
Blanchardstown, Dublin 15 Fingal County Council has given the go-ahead for a 348-unit apartment scheme as part of a mixed-use development in Blanchardstown. The scheme by the BNY Mellon-owned Blanche Retail Nominees Ltd includes six apartment blocks ranging up to 13 storeys in height on a site that is currently used for car parking beside Blanchardstown library. The scheme also includes five commercial units and community facilities, along with the extension of an existing multi-storey car park from four to six levels to facilitate the development. The original apartment scheme was made up of 44 studios, 132 one-bed apartments, 155 two-bed apartments and 21 three-bed apartments before the council ordered the omission of four units. The Irish Times, 6th October
House Prices, Ireland Irish house prices are overvalued by at least 7%, the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) has said. In its latest quarterly bulletin, the think tank warned the State’s property market was likely to experience a sharp slowdown in the coming months as wider inflationary pressures and higher interest rates weigh on demand. However, it stopped short of saying whether this would result in a house price correction or a period of falling prices, suggesting it was too early to tell. It found that prices were c. 7% above their expected trend values as of the end of last year. Unlike the pre-2008 period, when the overvaluation of property was driven by excess credit, this time around prices have been inflated by pandemic-related factors such as increased savings and curtailed supply combined with “the increasing share” of institutional investors in the market, it said. The rate of house price growth in the State fell to 13% in July, down from 14% in June, extending a pattern of deceleration seen in recent months, according to the CSO. The Irish Times, 6th October
Planning Approval, Ireland Planning approval for more than 1,400 new homes in south Dublin is set to be quashed after An Bord Pleanála conceded three court cases linked to the work of its former deputy chairman, Paul Hyde. The planning authority is no longer contesting judicial review cases that were taken against fast-track approval it gave for large apartment schemes in Killiney, Blackrock and Milltown. ABP’s move to concede the Killiney and Blackrock cases emerged in court on Monday but the planning authority had told case participants of its decisions last week. The participants in the Milltown action were also notified last week. The Killiney application was for 248 apartments and seven houses. The Blackrock application was for 493 apartments at Temple Hill, Monkstown. The Milltown application was for 671 build-to-rent apartments at Milltown Park, Sandford Road, Dublin 6. The Irish Times, 11th October
Social Housing, Dublin A Dublin City Council plan to partner with developers to build public housing on sites with unused planning permission only received one application from a developer, which council officials said was “disappointing”. Earlier this year the council sought developers who had land with planning permission to build housing and to develop sites for affordable or social housing. The council received an initial 44 expressions of interest for the scheme where the council would partner with developers or small builders, but in the end only one application was received, the council said. The Irish Times, 11th October
Grand Canal Docks, Dublin 2 Located directly underneath the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, the Grand Canal Square Car Park is being offered to the market by Colliers at a guide price of €18m. While Crownway Investments may well be interested in securing control of the facility given their existing ownership of the theatre, the combination of the car park’s forecasted net income of €900k for 2023 and Dublin City Council’s restrictions on future car parking provision in the city’s south docklands should see strong competition from a number of parties. Built in 2009 as part of Chartered Land’s wider development of the Grand Canal Dock area, it extends to c. 107,639 sq. ft. and features fully automated barriers, payment machines and floor-to-ceiling heights of 2 metres. The car park, which operates on 24/7 basis, comprises 161 marked car-parking spaces and is currently operated by Q-Park by way of a management agreement. The Irish Times, 5th October
Planning System Delays Irish Water’s “minor projects” will take twice as long to complete due to planning system delays, according to the semi-state’s chief executive, Niall Gleeson. “We’re saying five to seven years even on relatively minor projects for delivery. We should be saying two to three years,” he said. The organisation has been criticised by commercial and residential property developers for causing delays to projects due to its inability to deliver connections in a timely manner. In August, the group behind the project to develop the Glass Bottle site in Dublin, which includes Ronan Group and Lioncor, the US developer, said the delivery of thousands of homes on the site, including most of the 3,800 apartments, are at risk due to undefined timelines for water infrastructure. The Business Post, 8th October
Housing Crisis, Ireland The National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) asked if it could be used to help with the housing crisis to avoid losing the “valuable expertise and experience” it had built up during its years of operation. The State bad bank, which is in the process of being wound down, said it could play an important role in dealing with the country’s “housing problem”. Much of its “expertise and delivery know-how” was going to depart Nama over the next two or three years it warned, according to a briefing paper prepared for the Department of Finance. The paper said that Nama had experience in helping deliver the process from undeveloped land to sale of built homes in the space of 36 months. It added it had extensive know-how in resolving legal and title issues that could slow development of land, as well as getting through the planning process. Most new homes it was involved with – c. 80% – had been sold to individual buyers or to approved housing bodies and local authorities. The Irish Times, 9th October
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St Stephens Green, Dublin 2 Having served as the Dublin base of Axa subsidiary, the XL Group, since 2013, No. 8 St Stephens Green is being offered to the market with the benefit of vacant possession by Cushman & Wakefield at a guide price of €20m. The subject property comprises a substantial four-storey over-basement Georgian townhouse. The property was then sold for €7.8m to its current owners, the XL Group, in 2012 by receivers acting on behalf of the former Anglo Irish Bank. Presently the property extends to a total of 28,418 sq. ft. of lift-serviced space. No. 8 St Stephen’s Green is zoned Z5 under the Dublin City Development Plan 2016-2022, which provides for a wide range of uses subject to planning permission. The Irish Times, 28th September
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Swords Road, North Dublin Having secured a commitment from Laya Healthcare to lease all 20,000 sq. ft. of the office accommodation at the newly developed Corballis Hall on Dublin’s Swords Road, QRE Real Estate Advisers is seeking a new occupier for the property following Fingal County Council’s rejection of an application for the building to be converted into a minor injury and wellness clinic. QRE is quoting a rent of €35 per sq. ft. Completed in 2020, the subject property briefly comprises 20,000 sq. ft. of modern, sustainable grade A office accommodation. There are 32 underground car-parking spaces coupled with secure bike-parking spaces. Corballis Hall is available in its entirety or on a floor-by-floor basis. The Irish Times, 28th September
North Docklands, Dublin Ronan Group Real Estate (RGRE) has secured full ownership and control of the Waterfront South Central site in Dublin’s north docklands. The agreement between RGRE and its partner, Fortress, clears the way for the developer to commence the construction of a new European headquarters for global banking giant Citigroup on the site. According to market sources, work on Citi’s new offices is expected to get under way within the next month. While the price paid by RGRE for the 70% stake held by Fortress is not known, the figure will have been significant. Ronan acquired the Waterfront site with RGRE’s then funding partners, Colony Capital, for €180m in 2018. Fortress inherited Colony’s interest in the 4.6-acre site last year as part of its wider $2.7bn buyout of Colony’s international real estate assets. The Irish Times, 28th September
Hollyhill, Cork Cork City Council has granted permission to Apple Operations Europe Limited for the construction of a four-storey office block on lands a the Hollyhill Industrial Estate, adjacent to its existing premises. The new four-storey building could accommodate c. 1,300 extra workers. Apple has operated on the north side of Cork city since the 1980s and currently employs 6k people at offices in Hollyhill, Lavitt’s Quay and Horgan’s Quay. The proposed office building will be constructed within the existing car park and will connect to an existing office building known as ‘HH4’. The Irish Examiner, 3rd October
Rathmines, Dublin 6 Developer Paddy McKillen jnr and Matt Ryan’s Oakmount is offering the Stella Cinema in Rathmines to the market at a guide price of €9.5m (NIY 5.26%). The Stella is being sold with the benefit of Press Up Entertainment Group in place as tenant with an unexpired lease term of 20 years and an annual rent of €550k. Presently, the property comprises c. 13,954 sq. ft. of accommodation and can seat up to 216 people. The Irish Times, 28th September
Ballymahon, Co Longford Center Parcs Ireland Limited received permission for a major expansion of its existing holiday village in Ballymahon, Co Longford, which currently sits on a 395-acre site. The new development will include 198 new lodges, a treetop sauna and pool, an expansion of its restaurants, cafes and shops, and the installation of solar panels. The expansion is expected to cost €85m. The company has also reduced its share capital to create a cash pile of €142.2m. The Business Post, 1st October
Cobh, Co Cork Agent Johanna Murphy & Sons has brought to market a waterfront restaurant and bar for sale in the seaside village of Cobh in Cork with a guide of €5m. The Quays Bar and Restaurant is a well-established indoor and outdoor venue which underwent a full renovation in 2020, estimated to cost c. €1m. The restaurant extends to 1,162 sq. ft. and has an indoor seating capacity for 200 people. The Quays at 17 Westbourne Place boasts the only premises in Cork to have a private pontoon (which extends to c. 355 sq. ft.). The venue is well laid out with a bar area at the rear and a large waterfront seating/dining area at the front. Offices and ancillary laundry space and staff facilities are above, with separate access from Westbourne Place. The Business Post, 1st October
Castlemartyr Resort, Co Cork A sum of €8m has been pumped into upgrading the 5-star Castlemartyr resort by its new Singaporean owners who bought it for c. €20m little more than a year ago. Investors Dr. Stanley Quek, a graduate of Dublin’s Trinity College and current pro-chancellor, and Irish-born Peng Loh have invested heavily in refurbishing the Castlemartyr hotel’s 108 bedrooms and guest suites, as well as carrying out substantial improvements to the grounds. The Irish Examiner, 29th September
Chancery Lane, Dublin 8 The Chancery building is being offered to the market by Knight Frank at a guide price of €24.75m (NIY 5.5%). The price being sought represents an increase of €950k on the €23.8m Credit Suisse paid Hibernia Reit to secure ownership of the property in 2017. The Chancery comprises a modern six-storey over-basement office and residential development on Chancery Lane in Dublin 8. The office element of the scheme extends to 34,283 sq. ft. with secure basement car parking for 19 cars and further parking for bicycles. The apartment block is four storeys in height with one unit per floor. All four apartments are two-bedroom units and extend to 818 sq. ft. each. The offices are fully let to three tenants and are producing total rental income of c.€1.4m pa with 69% of it being generated by State tenants. The ground floor is let to Wella Studio, a hairdressing-training company. The first to fourth floors are let to the Office of Public Works and are occupied by the Chief State’s Solicitors Office (CSSO). The penthouse floor is occupied by Analytic Partners. The four apartments are fully let to private residential tenants and equates to rent of c. €99k pa. The subject property also comes with full planning permission to extend the floor area of the office accommodation by 9,838 sq. ft. The Irish Times, 28th September
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Phibsborough, Dublin 7 CBRE is guiding an overall price of €12m for a portfolio comprising two sites with residential development. The first property, on North King Street, carries a guide price of €8m, while the second property, on nearby Phibsborough Road, is guiding at €4m. The North King Street property extends to c. 0.83 acres and is occupied by tenants using the building for retail and industrial purposes. The tenancies provide c. €145k in rental income per year. The site, which is less than 1km from TUD’s Grangegorman campus, is zoned “Z5 City Centre”, allowing for varied development options. The Phibsborough Road property, meanwhile, comprises retail units, an office, storage facilities and a single residential dwelling, and produces rental income of c. €258k pa. Its current tenants include Camile Thai, Four Star Pizza, Rua Woodfire Pizza, Thunders Bakery and Avista. A vacant lot at 141-142 Phibsborough Road has potential to add to the rent roll. This land holding is currently zoned “Z4 District Centre” with a proposal for this to be amended to “Z4 Key Urban Village” under the Dublin City Draft Development Plan 2022-2028. The Irish Times, 28th September
Greenogue Business Park, Dublin Palm Capital and KKR have fired the starting pistol on a c. €110m Irish logistics sale. The two-building hub – forward funded by KKR and speculatively developed by Palm Capital – is located at Greenogue Business Park, one of Dublin’s premier logistics destinations. CBRE and Savills have been instructed to manage the sale, which is to be marketed off a NIY of c. 4.25%. The sale comes after KKR and Palm successfully leased the site to three occupiers, most recently adding a supply chain giant to the tenant roster. The firm has agreed to lease building two, a 285,000 sq. ft. warehouse. US group Tosca, a firm that specialises in packaging and pooling solutions, and another occupier leased the first warehouse. React News, 27th September
Bandon Road, Cork Off-site construction was a key measure in the delivery of Cork city’s single largest student accommodation development to date, the €53m, 554-bed Ashlin House, on Bandon Road. The scheme is managed by Nido Student with room rates quoted online at €240-€289 per week. Planning was first granted for 324 beds, and a subsequent application achieved planning for 554 beds, with work starting in May 2020, during the pandemic period. The Ashlin House complex is made up of five blocks each with shared apartments (up to eight c. 150 sq. ft. en suite bedrooms beds in some), studio rooms, and a three-bed townhouse. The Irish Examiner, 29th September
Clongriffin, Dublin 13 Ballymore has pulled out of a €45m deal to buy a 27-acre site in Clongriffin, Dublin, as developers anticipate a dramatic slowdown of the private rented sector (PRS) in Ireland. PRS, which involves the sale of large developments to institutional funds, has been the main driver of apartment construction in recent years. Ballymore was chosen as the preferred bidder in March for the land, which is owned by Gannon Properties. The site has planning permission for 1,937 apartments, the majority of which — 1,130 — are for the PRS market. Property sources say with costs up by as much as 15% and capitalisation values down, the developer could not make the transaction work. The Sunday Times, 2nd October
Dundalk, Co Louth A strategically located residential development site in Dundalk, Co Louth, is being offered for sale with a €5m guide price. Extending to 15.2 acres, the Mount Avenue site is situated 1.5km north-west of Dundalk town centre and fronts on to the N53 road which links the M1 motorway with Dundalk town centre. According to Knight Frank, the Louth County Development Plan 2021-2027 shows the majority of the site as zoned objective A2 New Residential and a small element as zoned objective H1 Open Space. The Irish Independent, 29th September
Ballyfermot, West Dublin A proposal by healthcare firm Uniphar to build a housing development at a site it owns in Dublin has sparked claims by a neighbouring business that the 16-storey development would be “completely unsuitable and unsafe”. Publicly listed Uniphar is backing a Dublin City Council plan to rezone a 4.5-acre site it owns next to the N4 between Chapelizod and Ballyfermot – a move it hopes would pave the way for a major apartment and mixed-use development. The city council previously backed away from rezoning the land following a High Court challenge. Should the latest application prove unsuccessful, Uniphar is understood to be considering using the site as a warehouse facility for its growing consumer health division. The Irish Independent, 2nd October
Social Housing, Ireland Ikea store parent, Ingka Investments, has committed €100m to fund the development of more than 250 social housing units across the Greater Dublin Area, with at least 150 of them ready for occupation over the next three years. Upon completion, the new homes will be leased on a long-term basis to the relevant local authority. In a fresh departure from the practice of other institutional investors involved in the supply of social housing, the Ingka Group says it will treat the rental payments it collects as mortgage repayments. This will allow the transfer of all 150 homes to the local authorities in question at the end of the lease term at an estimated zero additional cost. The Irish Times, 3rd October
Lower Grand Canal Street, Dublin 2 The High Court has granted a temporary injunction preventing local residents from blockading the site where an eight-story building is being constructed in central Dublin. The interim injunction was granted on an ex-parte basis in favour of RGRE Dev Co No. 5, which is currently developing the Treasury Annex Building at Lower Grand Canal Street in Dublin 2. RGRE said it was not prepared to meet the residents’ payment demand, and that the blockade amounts to an unlawful interference with its right to access the public road from the site. The injunction prevents the residents and anyone acting in conjunction with them from blockading the construction site until further order of the court. The Irish Times, 30th September
Vacant Homes Tax, Ireland An estimated 22k derelict properties will be exempt from the government’s new vacant homes tax (VHT), which was introduced in last week’s budget to help raise the supply of residential properties to buy or rent. Several exceptions to the tax have been announced by the Department of Finance that include properties that were recently sold; that are listed for sale or rent; that are vacant because of an occupier’s illness or long-term care; that are vacant because of significant refurbishment work or are derelict. In the GeoDirectory Residential Buildings Report for the second quarter of this year, prepared by EY, 21,897 addresses were classified as “derelict” last June. The report noted that the number of vacant residential properties fell by 5.9% in the year to June, with 86,708 dwellings classed as vacant nationally. Preliminary figures from the 2022 census show there are 166,752 vacant homes. A property will be considered vacant for the purposes of the tax if it is occupied for less than 30 days a year. The Sunday Times, 2nd October
Social Housing, Ireland The plan to completely phase out leasing homes for social housing is still under review, despite a commitment from Micheál Martin to end the practice by 2025. The latest report from the Dublin Housing Delivery Group, published by the Department of Housing, said “a review of the impacts of any change” from the proposed plan to phase out leasing social homes “is currently under way and will inform final policy decisions in this area”. Under Part V rules, developers of new-build housing are obliged to sell 10% of new homes to the state, at a break-even price, for use as social housing. If the council cannot afford the price set by the developer or the cost exceeds state imposed spending limits on social housing, a council can opt to lease the homes instead. Details of the review come following the creation of a new €450m state fund to lease 1,000 new-build homes, a further move by the government that has raised questions over its commitment to phasing out leasing. The review into completely phasing out leasing social homes under Part V rules, tendered for by the Housing Agency and awarded to EY Ireland, is due for completion this month. The Business Post, 28th September
East Clare An Bord Pleanála has given the green light to Coillte for contentious plans for a large scale 19 turbine wind farm in east Clare. The 110MW project on the northern western slopes of Slieve Bernagh is located on a 1,853-acre site 4km northeast of Broadford, close to Killaloe and Bodyke. The turbines on the Carrownagowan wind farm have a tip height of 555 ft. Documents lodged with the planning application state the wind farm will displace 2.8m tonnes of CO2 over its lifetime. The windfarm would produce enough electricity to power 66,500 homes per year. The Irish Times, 30th September
MetroLink, Dublin A planning application for Dublin’s MetroLink, which has an estimated cost of €9.5bn, has been lodged by State transport provider Transport Infrastructure Ireland. MetroLink is to be the State’s first mostly underground railway running between the Swords area and Charlemont in south central Dublin. The route will serve Dublin Airport and residential communities in Swords, Ballymun and Glasnevin, the city centre, as well as linking major employment and education facilities. The route is 18.8km, and it is proposed to have 15 stations on opening with more later. Should Bord Pleanála give the project the green light construction is earmarked to get under way in 2025, and the line would be operational in the early 2030s. The Government has acknowledged a wide variation in estimates for the project. At the lower end the target cost is €7.16bn, with the central estimate at €9.5bn and an upper estimate allowing for high inflation and contingencies at €12.25bn. The Irish Times, 30th September
Maynooth University has “terminated” construction of a new student centre project due to rising costs, the third level institution has announced. The decision has been criticised by students and their union, as the project was being funded through a €150 annual student levy since 2015. Construction on the 39,826 sq. ft. building was due to be completed by July 2023, but it was terminated on Monday following a decision by Maynooth University (MU)’s governing authority. In a statement, the university said the project has been “adversely impacted by rapidly escalating costs, linked to technical construction issues as well as hyperinflation”. The Irish Times, 28th September
Savills Report Assumptions that underpin the Government’s National Planning Framework (NPF) about how population growth will be spread out across the country are “unrealistic” and will mean “we are structurally under-provisioning housing supply in the Dublin region for the next 20 years”, Savills has said. According to Savills, the NPF’s focus on increasing residential density within urban areas to prevent urban sprawl means that less land has been made available in county development plans for the Greater Dublin Area than in previous times. This amounts to “a large reduction” in zoned residential land, which they estimate would have had the capacity to accommodate more than 100k units in Dublin, Meath, Kildare and Wicklow, the equivalent of around a decade’s worth of supply. Residential Land Supply Study 2022, Savills, 4th October
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North Docklands, Dublin 1 The South Korean owners of No. 2 Dublin Landings have instructed joint selling agents CBRE and Savills to hit the pause button on the proposed sale of their investment. Having paid €106.5m to acquire the north docklands building in November 2018, the owners had been preparing to bring the property to the market shortly at a guide of €140m. One of five office blocks built by Ballymore in partnership with Oxley at their wider 1m sq. ft. mixed-use development, No. 2 Dublin Landings extends to 100,000 sq. ft. and is fully let to WeWork. While the global flexible workspace provider has been paying a rent of €4.87m annually since 2018, this figure is set to increase to €5.38m in year five of its lease agreement. The Irish Times, 21st September
Clonskeagh, Dublin 14 Boole House at Beech Hill Office Park in Clonskeagh has been sold to Eagle Street Partners Group for €10.5m. The 42,000 sq. ft. office building was previously owned by Meath-based businessman Eamon Waters who paid the Layden Group c. €9m to secure ownership of the Dublin 14 office block. According to market sources, Eagle Street has secured the HSE as tenants for Boole House on a 12-month temporary lease and is in the process of formulating a plan for the property and its adjacent development site. Boole House itself comprises efficient floor plates of 14,000 sq. ft. that could be further subdivided, if required. There are also 89 car parking spaces available with the building. The Irish Times, 21st September
Fenian Street, Dublin 2 Hibernia Real Estate Group (formerly Hibernia Reit) has achieved full occupancy at 2 Cumberland Place following the agreement of two final leases at the building. In the first instance, Experian plc, an American — Irish multinational credit reporting company, has signed a 10-year lease for the entire second floor extending to c. 8,785 sq. ft. The first floor meanwhile has now been let to Castlelake Aviation Holdings (Ireland) Limited, who are an aircraft leasing and financing company. They have taken c. 8,697 sq. ft. on a 15-year term. Castlelake and Experian join a strong line-up of existing occupiers in the building including Electroroute, BGC, 3M and Invesco. The Irish Times, 21st September
6 Northbrook Road, Dublin 6 is being offered to the market with the benefit of full vacant possession by joint agents MSP Consulting and Savills at a guide price of €5.85m. The Victorian redbrick has been refurbished to provide 9,431 sq. ft. of office accommodation over four floors. 6 Northbrook Road offers the benefit of modern open-plan and cellular office accommodation, and the building has 11 car-parking spaces and bike storage. The Irish Times, 21st September
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Leopardstown, Dublin 18 Maple House in South County Business Park in Leopardstown is being offered to the market by Cushman & Wakefield at a guide price of €7.5m. The subject site extends to 1.512 acres and comprises a two-storey office block which extends to 14,735 sq. ft. with 65 surface car parking spaces. The building is let on a multi-tenancy basis via a number of licence agreements, with all tenants executing deeds of renunciation. The income from the property is c. €200k pa net, and as the property is only 65% occupied, this can be significantly increased in the short term with further licence agreements. In terms of its future potential, the site is zoned “Residential” under the terms of the Sandyford Urban Framework Plan 2022-2028. The Irish Times, 21st September
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Harcourt Road, Dublin 2 The final phase of the Clancourt Group’s Park Place office scheme is nearing completion, with the topping-out ceremony for the property’s 10th floor held on Monday last week. With One, Two and Three Park Place complete and occupied by a range of corporates including Gartner, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Slack, Aviva, KPMG and IDA Ireland, joint letting agents JLL and Knight Frank are now seeking tenants for the two interconnecting headquarter office buildings at Four and Five Park Place. Due for practical completion in May 2023, this final element of the campus overlooking Adelaide Road and Harcourt Road will extend across a total area of 198,000 sq. ft. distributed across two blocks measuring 124,000 sq. ft. and 74,000 sq. ft. respectively. The office accommodation will be complemented by 48 car parking spaces, 38 clubhouse-standard showers and 274 bicycle parking spaces. The office space is available to let in its entirety or as two independent blocks. The Irish Times, 21st September
Fibonacci Square, Dublin 4 Amancio Ortega, the Spanish billionaire founder of Inditex, the retail group behind the fashion chain Zara, is preparing to enter the Irish property market with the purchase of Johnny Ronan’s Fibonacci Square. Pontegadea, a family office that invests on behalf of Ortega, is in advanced discussions to buy the asset for €550m (NIY 4%). Meta has agreed to lease Fibonacci Square for an initial annual rent of €22m. While it paused its fit-out of the office blocks over the summer, the social media giant is not thought to be looking to sublet them. The US investor Blackstone was lined up to acquire the buildings but pulled out to focus on its purchase of Salesforce Tower Dublin, also developed by Ronan. Pontegadea invested c. €2.06bn in property last year. The Sunday Times, 25th September
South Docklands, Dublin Mapletree Investments, the real estate arm of Singapore’s state investment fund, is considering the sale of its prime €250m+ Dublin office holding. The Temasek-backed investor is reviewing a potential disposal of the Sorting Office, a 210,000 sq. ft. office block that is leased to TikTok. Mapletree forward-purchased the eight-storey block, located in the heart of Dublin’s Silicon Docklands, in the middle of June 2019. It was bought for €240m, with vacant possession. In September 2020, in the midst of the pandemic, US tech giant Google walked away from a 200,000 sq. ft.+ office letting deal at the site. However, TikTok signed a deal at the end of November 2021 to rent the entire building on the basis of a 15-year lease with 10 years’ term certain and a rent-free period of c. 18 months. React News, 27th September
Oranmore, Co Galway The four-star Maldron Hotel in Oranmore, Co Galway is being offered to the market by Savills at a guide price of €13m (NIY 6.3%). The hotel, which opened for business in 1998, comprises 113 bedrooms along with extensive conference facilities, a full leisure club and swimming pool. The investment comes for sale subject to the existing occupational lease with Caruso Limited, guaranteed by Dalata (with more than 11 years remaining) and operated by Dalata Ireland under the four-star Maldron brand. The Maldron Hotel’s current upward-only annual rent is €900k with the next rent review due in January 2023. The Irish Times, 21st September
Little Britain Street, Dublin 7 Kula, the British hotel group, will open its first location in Ireland after reaching an agreement to manage a new site in Dublin city centre acquired by Gold Tree Group, an international real estate investment firm. Kula has said its new Dublin hotel, on the corner of Little Britain Street and Little Green Street in Dublin 7, will open in 2024. The Dublin site will be managed by Kula, but is owned by Gold Tree Group, which bought the disused warehouse from Sam Dennigan & Company, the food wholesaler and distributor. The site on Little Britain Street is currently occupied by a two-storey warehouse building. Several applications to build a hotel on the site have already been granted planning permission by Dublin City Council. Gold Tree Group has lodged new plans with Dublin City Council to significantly alter the plans already approved for the site. The new application by Gold Tree Group said it intended to build a hotel with 132 rooms. The Business Post, 24th September
O’Connell Bridge, Dublin City Centre The Bachelor Inn pub, less than 50 metres from O’Connell Bridge, Dublin, is being sold with planning permission to convert it into a 26-bedroom hotel. Joint selling agents Savills and John P Younge are guiding €2.75m for The Bachelor Inn along with an adjoining premises which together extend to 4,355 sq. ft. That price is less than half the estimated €7m which the current owner reportedly paid for it in 2008. The property has in place planning permission for a three-storey building. Adjoining the pub at 3 Bachelors Way is the former Smallmans Plumbing Centre and it extends the total site to 0.1 acres with frontage to three sides including Lott’s Lane. The Irish Independent, 22nd September
Newbridge, Co Kildare The Athgarvan Inn near Newbridge will be auctioned on September 29th with a €2.5m guide price. The subject property comes with seven bedrooms which have a separate entrance and it sits on a 2.09-acre site. The vendors have also secured planning permission for a village centre with five commercial units and three apartments along with 12 houses. The existing premises includes a 1,273 sq. ft. lounge bar, a 509 sq. ft. public bar, an 1,161 sq. ft. function lounge and a 313 sq. ft. smoking room as well as catering kitchen, stores and other facilities. The Irish Independent, 22nd September
Donnybrook, Dublin 4 Acquired by developer Sean Dunne for €17m at the height of the last boom, the Donnybrook Mall is being offered to the market by Lisney at a guide price of €6.8m. The mall last changed hands in 2014, with its current owner, a private Irish investor, paying €6.6m to secure ownership of the 15,590 sq. ft. property. The sale of Donnybrook Mall offers the prospective purchaser the opportunity to secure immediate rental income of €450.3k pa (NIY 6%) from a strong tenant line-up which includes Tesco, Lloyds Pharmacy, dry cleaners Lyknu, Abrakebabra, and the long-established bridalwear boutique Marian Gale. The Irish Times, 21st September
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South William Street, Dublin 2 HWBC is marketing a new restaurant leasing opportunity at One Coppinger Row and 57 South William Street on behalf of the landlord, Aviva Life and Pensions Ireland DAC (Aviva). The restaurant comprises the ground floor of One Coppinger Row which interconnects with the lower ground floor of 57 South William Street. The property, which is currently being reconfigured and refurbished by Aviva, will offer 1,356 sq. ft. of restaurant/kitchen space on the ground floor. The lower ground floor will provide 1,173 sq. ft. of additional restaurant seating area, ancillary storage and staff accommodation. The agent is guiding a rent of €140k pa. The Business Post, 23rd September
Dundalk, Co Louth Knight Frank is guiding a price of €5m for a 15.2-acre (€329k per acre) residential development site in Dundalk, Co. Louth. The subject site falls under the Louth County Development Plan 2021 – 2027 with the majority zoned objective ‘A2 New Residential’ and a small element zoned objective ‘H1 Open Space’. The Irish Times, 21st September
Rathgar, Dublin 6 Cushman & Wakefield are guiding a price of €1.5m for a 0.28-acre site (€5.3m an acre) on Maxwell Road in Rathgar, Dublin 6. The subject site in this instance comes with full planning permission for the construction of four high-end three-bedroom semi-detached houses, ranging in size from 1,292 sq. ft. to 1,421 sq. ft. The site comprises a garage, an office, 15 lock-up units and three residential units, which include two two-bedroom apartments and a three-bedroom apartment. While the site is being sold with full vacant possession, a number of the units were in occupation up until recently and could provide an estimated rental value of c. €145k pa if re-let. There is also an opportunity to refurbish these units and increase the short-term income potential to in excess of €200k pa. The Irish Times, 21st September
Montenotte, Co Cork Ennismore House and grounds in Montenotte, 3.5km northeast of Cork city, is being offered to the market by Avison Young on behalf of the Dominican Fathers at a guide price of €3.25m. The order bought the property in 1952 and have used it as a retreat and conference centre. The house is a Georgian property extending to 26,024 sq. ft. with 39 bedrooms and on-site parking. There are also walled gardens, coach houses and a gate lodge on the 24.7-acre site. The gate lodge of 595 sq. ft. is at the entrance to the property and the coach houses, consisting of 10 buildings extending to 4,982 sq. ft., are positioned on the northeastern corner of the site. Montenotte has long been acknowledged as one of the most sought-after residential areas of Cork. The Irish Times, 21st September
Ringsend, Dublin 4 Dublin City Council has refused planning permission for a contentious seven-storey senior living build-to-rent scheme in Ringsend, Dublin 4. More than 65 objections were lodged against the 30-unit plan lodged by Glencarra Ringsend Ltd. A planning statement lodged by the applicant’s planning consultants, Tom Phillips & Associates, stated that the scheme would provide accommodation for 30 professionally managed social homes for senior citizens on Dublin City Council’s housing list. The site currently accommodates the two-storey Cambridge House. The Irish Times, 22nd September
Dalkey, South Co Dublin Clós Nua Ltd has lodged an objection with Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council, claiming a proposed three-storey, eight-unit apartment scheme next door on Dalkey’s Castle Street will “devalue” the company’s Tramyard site. Clós Nua bought the Tramyard site for a reported €3m to allow the regeneration plans to be lodged. A decision is due on the application next week. The Irish Times, 23rd September
Terenure, Dublin 6W An Bord Pleanála has given the green light to fast-track plans for a €106m apartment scheme in Terenure. Over 75 objections were lodged against the Strategic Housing Development (SHD) scheme by Lioncor Developments subsidiary 1 Terenure Land Ltd for the 208-unit apartment scheme. Dublin City Council planners also found the scheme to be acceptable. The scheme is made up of 104 one-bed apartments and 104 two-bed apartments and the developers have put an indicative price tag of €10.66m on 21 apartments to be sold to Dublin City Council for social housing. The Irish Times, 26th September
Pepper Finance, the mortgage service provider, is imposing a 1.25% point increase on thousands of standard variable rate (SVR) mortgage holders from the end of next month. The rise will bring the average rate on SVR loans serviced by Pepper to c. 5.45% and is a further sign of the recent interest rate rises starting to hit home for Irish mortgage holders. Pepper services a total of 60k mortgages, owned by investment funds such as Carval, Goldman Sachs and Pimco. The mortgages were acquired from deleveraging Irish banks and exiting overseas institutions such as Lloyds and Danske Bank over the past decade. Non-bank lenders Dilosk, Finance Ireland and Avant Money moved to raise their fixed-rate offerings earlier this month, citing the higher cost of funds. The Sunday Times, 25th September
Social Housing, Ireland Fingal County Council signed a deal to lease two dozen homes from the pension fund of a British weapons dealer last year, despite state guidelines banning deals with arms makers. The local authority directly negotiated agreements to lease 13 homes from BAE Systems pension fund, which is linked to the British arms maker, to use as social housing in October 2021. When the agreements to lease the 13 homes were signed, Fingal County Council already had 11 homes owned by BAE Systems in its social housing stock. Based on when Fingal County Council entered lease agreements with BAE Systems, the council paid the company more than €260k in rent for the 24 homes. According to market sources, the 24 properties the council had leased from the pension fund were subsequently sold to a fund controlled by Davy called the Davy Platform ICAV in April 2022. BAE Systems spent €14.4m acquiring the entire portfolio of 43 second-hand properties in 2021 and sold on the properties in April 2022 for €16.8m. The Business Post, 24th September
Non-Household Residential Investment 2021, Ireland Property investors spent c. €1bn buying second-hand homes in Ireland last year. The sales details were outlined in a memo prepared for Paschal Donohoe, the Minister for Finance, as part of the government’s efforts to determine how significant the activity of private investors is in the second-hand housing market. The analysis was based on CSO data that showed 43,950 second-hand homes were sold last year. It found that the state, local authorities, approved housing bodies and public institutions bought 879, or 2%, of every existing units sold including new-builds. The CSO data showed charitable organisations were connected to 495 purchases on existing homes. The data showed 10% of the second-hand homes sold in 2021 were acquired by the rest of the non-household purchasers, which includes real estate firms and the finance and insurance sector. In total, purchases by non-households were €1.2bn in 2021. Last year, non-household entities spent a total of €3.5bn to acquire 11,600 new and existing homes, which represented 20% of total homes purchased – down from 22% in 2020 and 2019. The state spent €807m on new-build homes and €217m on existing stock. The Business Post, 24th September
Askeaton, Co Limerick The Aughinish Alumina refinery has secured a €2m government grant to carry out environmental protection work on its “red mud” waste dump. The Limerick-based company imports c. 4.6m tons of bauxite ore per year and uses it to create 2m tons of alumina, which is shipped to smelting plants in Europe to make aluminium. According to the European Commission’s register of state aid, it received a €2.1m grant from IDA Ireland this year. Aughinish Alumina recently secured planning permission from An Bord Pleanála to expand its red mud waste dump despite the opposition of local farmers and environmental groups. It is going to be allowed to raise the height of the dump by 12 metres so that it can put another 1m cubic metres of red mud waste there annually until 2039. The Business Post, 24th September
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South Leinster Street, Dublin City Centre Trinity Point in Dublin City Centre is being offered to the market by Cushman & Wakefield at a guide price of €57m (NIY 4.14%). The subject property comprises a six-storey over-basement office building extending to 43,696 sq. ft. along with 20 secure basement car-parking spaces. Located at 10/11 South Leinster Street, the property overlooks Trinity College Dublin and sits adjacent to the National Gallery of Ireland. The subject property is majority let to the Office of Public Works (OPW) on two FRI leases expiring in March 2032. With the OPW paying rents of between €55 per sq. ft. and €59 per sq. ft., the investment offers significant reversionary potential with recent deals in the area achieving in excess of €65 per sq. ft. The Irish Times, 14th September
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Eastpoint Business Park, Dublin 3 Iroko Zen has made its third investment in the Irish property market, paying €12.2m (NIY 8.98%) for Block P1 at Dublin’s Eastpoint Business Park. Iroko ZEN’s latest purchase at Eastpoint Business Park, meanwhile, comprises a modern office block comprising 41,979 sq. ft. of space distributed across three storeys, along with 61 car-parking spaces. Developed in 1999, the building is 77% let to three tenants. The tenant line-up currently includes Tedcastles Oil Products, cloud computing and virtualisation technology company Citrix Systems International, and IQVIA, a global provider of advanced analytics and human data science technology. Iroko Zen will also benefit from a two-year rental guarantee for an area of 9,461 sq. ft. which is currently being marketed for rental. The Irish Times, 14th September
Herbert Street, Dublin 2 Knight Frank is guiding a price of €6.8m for Mount Herbert Court. Located on the corner of Upper Mount Street and Herbert Street, Mount Herbert Court briefly comprises two interconnecting period buildings extending to a total of 9,272 sq. ft. along with 20 secure car parking spaces. The buildings — 34/35 Upper Mount Street — are available for sale in one or two lots. No. 34 Upper Mount Street, the larger of the two buildings extends to a NIA of 5,500 sq. ft. No. 35 Upper Mount Street interconnects with no. 34 at basement and third-floor levels and extends to a NIA of 3,722 sq. ft. The properties are being sold with the benefit of vacant possession and Knight Frank is guiding €6.8m exclusive of VAT for the entire. The Irish Times, 14th September
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North Dock, Dublin City Centre Developer TIO (Targeted Investment Opportunities) has secured its latest occupier for its North Dock office scheme in Dublin’s north docklands, with financial services company Virtu Financial committing to a long-term lease for 13,300 sq. ft. at North Dock One. Virtu is understood to have agreed to pay a rent of c. €52 per sq. ft. for its new offices. The completion of the deal comes just three months after Interactive Brokers and HEAnet signed for offices at the development. Other tenants include Gilead Sciences and Blueface. North Dock extends to 202,000 sq. ft. in total, distributed between North Dock One (95,000 sq. ft.) and North Dock Two (107,000 sq. ft.). The Irish Times, 14th September
Dawson Street, Dublin 2 Goodbody Stockbrokers is currently undertaking the fit-out on its new 60,000 sq. ft. of offices at 12 Dawson St, Dublin 2, which has been redeveloped by Oakmount, the property development company headed by Paddy McKillen Jnr. Another McKillen company, the Press-Up hospitality group, is to open a 10,000 sq. ft. restaurant to be known as Hendersons occupying the building’s ground floor and basement next year. Knight Frank is believed to have secured a rent of c. €60 per sq. ft. for the offices. The Irish Independent, 15th September
The Temple Bar Lane, Dublin The owners of the Dublin city pub, The Temple Bar, have expanded their already-extensive interests with the purchase of the adjacent Temple Bar Lane hotel. Temple Inns Ltd, the company headed up by publicans Tom and Jackie Cleary, is understood to have paid slightly more than the €11m price MM Capital had been seeking when they offered the property for sale through JLL last February. Having acquired the then 171-bed Barnacles Hostel from the MHL Hotel Collection for €8m 2018, MM Capital went on to refurbish and reposition it as a 36-key boutique hotel. The property offers its new owners further development potential within its existing envelope, with immediate scope for the addition of eight guest rooms. The sale also included a ground-floor cafe unit on Cecilia Street. The Irish Times, 14th September
Kildare Street, Dublin City Centre Buswells Hotel is being offered to the market by Savills on behalf of the liquidators of the IBRC, KPMG, at a guide price of €22m. The 67-bedroom hotel comes for sale free from both its management agreement and brand, giving the prospective purchaser the opportunity to invest, reposition and extend the property (subject to planning permission). The Irish Times, 14th September
Howth, Co Dublin Fingal County Council has raised “significant concerns” over plans to construct a new road to serve a proposed 142-bedroom ‘destination’ hotel for Howth in north Dublin. In July, the owners of Citywest Hotel, Tetrarch Capital, lodged plans for the new hotel on the site of the former Deer Park hotel in Howth. Under Tetrarch’s plan, the existing Deer Park building is to be demolished and replaced by the new four-storey hotel. However, a Fingal County Council planner’s report has said the scale and need of the new access road for the hotel “appears excessive”. The proposed road is also the focus of objections from the local Church of Ireland, residents and the Social Democrat TD Cian O’Callaghan. The Irish Times, 16th September
Henry Street, Dubin 1 Fitzwilliam Real Estate is to lodge plans for a nine-storey, 245-bedroom hotel at Arnotts in the coming days. The hotel scheme will involve the demolition and decommissioning of the top three open air levels of Arnotts’ multi-storey car park resulting in the removal of 145 car spaces. The lodging of the plans comes 10 months after the firm sought permission for a 12-storey, 159-unit build to rent scheme on the same site at Arnotts. That involved the construction of a 12-storey over-basement element fronting Williams’ Lane; a five-storey element over Arnotts’ multi-storey car park; and a two-storey element over Arnotts’ store. That proposal also involved the removal of the top three floor levels of Arnotts’ car park. The Irish Times, 19th September
Douglas Village, Cork City Having been closed for more than a year during the Covid-19 pandemic after a fire caused an estimated €30m in damage to its car park, the newly-refurbished Douglas Village Shopping Centre is being offered to the market at a guide price of €21m (NIY 10.42%). Located in Douglas village and just 3.5km south of Cork city centre, the scheme, which extends to 230,000 sq. ft. on a 6.1-acre site, is Ireland’s second-oldest shopping centre after Stillorgan Shopping Centre, having first opened for business in 1971. Presently, Douglas Village Shopping Centre is being anchored by Tesco and Marks & Spencer. The total current rental income is €2.4m pa and the WAULT is seven years to break options and 11 years to expiry. Mark & Spencer, TK Maxx, Bank of Ireland, Eurogiant and Cork City Council contribute to 54% of the total income. The letting of the remainder of the centre’s vacant units has the potential to add between €300k and €500k pa to the scheme’s overall income. The Irish Times, 14th September
Carlow, Co Carlow Carlow’s Fairgreen Shopping Centre is on the market at a price of €22.85m. The scheme extends to 248,829 sq. ft. of retail space (including three owner-occupier anchor tenants – Tesco, Heatons and an IMC cinema) and is producing a current net rent roll of €2.36m pa (NIY 9.4%). Fairgreen Shopping Centre comprises 50 retail units including retailers such as New Look, Costa, Eurogiant, Carraig Donn, Elverys, River Island and JD Sports. The centre has 762 surface car-parking spaces offering three-hour free parking. Apart from the existing retail space, the current owners secured planning permission in 2019 for a new two-storey standalone retail unit of more than 40,000 sq. ft. with a view to securing an additional large anchor tenant in place of unit 27. The Irish Times, 14th September
Plassey, Limerick Johnson & Johnson Vision Care is to invest €100m in the expansion of its facility in Plassey, Limerick. The US multinational said that the investment will allow the company to expand the facility’s manufacturing capacity, with the installation of fully automated flexible manufacturing lines. The site in Limerick is one of the largest contact lens manufacturers facilities in the world. Construction is already underway at the site, with production expected to commence in 2024. The Business Post, 16th September
Boyne Mill, Co Louth Silveroak/Greenhills has been granted planning permission by Louth County Council to build a 236,806 sq. ft. mixed-use scheme. The project consists of a four-storey building with a digital innovation hub, co-working space, and a large two-storey restaurant; a two-storey building with five retail units and offices; a two-storey over basement building with a cultural facility and a two-storey car park; a two-storey building with another two-storey restaurant; and two five-storey buildings incorporating 64 apartment units. These are broken down into 27 one-bed units, 27 two-beds and 10 three-bed units. The renovation and adaption of the former Boyne Mill Yarn store to provide a five-storey 120-bedroom hotel with an ancillary restaurant will complete the complex. The Business Post, 17th September
Drumcondra, Dublin 3 Charthouse Business Centre off Richmond Road in Drumcondra, Dublin 3, will be auctioned on BidX1 on 29th September with a €2.5m guide price (NIY 8.19%). The subject property includes warehouse, office and retail units, but it’s better known tenants include Troubadour Rehearsal Studios, which accounts for more than 14% of the total rent. Charthouse comprises 30 units with combined floor areas of only 17,825 sq. ft. 27 units account for annual rents of €225.24k with the other three units being vacant. The Business Post, 16th September
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Drumalee, Co Cavan TWM has launched the sale of Loughtee Business Park in Drumalee, Co Cavan, which is anchored by a HSE primary healthcare centre and a Centra supermarket. The agent is guiding €5.5m for the entirety. Cavan Primary Care Centre represents c. 57% of the business park’s total revenue. The entire property extends to c. 70,568 sq. ft. on a site of c. 3.75 acres. The campus is divided into three blocks. The business park currently produces a passing income of c. €565.1k (with contracted rent of c. €636.6k) representing a NIY of 9.34% increasing to 10.53%. The WAULT on the HSE and Centra income only is 15.5 years to expiry and 13.85 years to break. The Business Post, 16th September
Midleton, Co Cork Dawn Meats’ plans to build at the Water Rock site near Midleton were approved by Cork County Council. Despite the approval, the decision can still be appealed to An Bord Pleánala and is subject to 115 conditions. The meat processor first applied for planning permission to build the mixed-use development last December. According to the application, the residential element of the plan includes a total of 434 residential units. These included apartments/duplex units in eight blocks ranging in height from three to seven storeys. The plans also included terraced and semi-detached houses ranging from two-bed to five-bed. Plans also showed Dawn Meats wants to build a three-storey research and development office and a five-storey neighbourhood centre that includes retail uses. It was also looking to develop a 90-bed nursing home and a childcare facility. The Irish Independent, 18th September
Ennis, Co Clare Glenveagh Homes has submitted an application to build 289 residential units and a crèche in Ennis, Co Clare. The development consists of 265 houses and 24 apartments. The total floor area of the proposed development is 314,284 sq. ft., and the estimated cost €55m. The Business Post, 17th September
Balbriggan, Co Dublin Kinvara Properties has submitted an application for the construction of 127 residential units consisting of 65 houses and 62 apartments at Flemington Lane in Balbriggan, Co Dublin. A crèche is included in the plan. The overall floor area of the development will measure 149,284 sq. ft. The estimated cost is €29m. The Business Post, 17th September
Sandyford, Dublin 18 Developer Zolbury is seeking planning permission to build a new scheme of 360 residential units in Blackglen, Sandyford, Dublin 18. It is planning 123 one-bed, 224 two-bed and 13 three-bed units and a crèche. The overall development would have a combined floor area of 363,206 sq. ft. at an estimated cost of €70m. The Business Post, 17th September
Navan, Co Meath Glenveagh Homes has been granted planning permission to build a €27m residential development in Navan, Co Meath. The development, on lands north of Clonmagaddan Road, will comprise a mix of detached, semi-detached and terraced units, including 24 two-bed, 73 three-bed, three four-bed houses and six one-bed, 16 two-bed and 16 three-bed apartments. A large, landscaped public open space is provided in the proposed development, including a play area for children. The scheme includes 248 car parking spaces and 108 bicycle parking spaces. The Business Post, 17th September
Sandyford, Dublin 18 Developer Atlas GP is seeking permission for a €60m development that will consist of 334 build-to-rent residential apartment units in four apartment blocks at the junction of Carmanhall Road and Blackthorn Road in Sandyford, Dublin 18. The development includes 254 one-bed and 80 two-bed units. The Business Post, 17th September
Parkside, Dublin 13 Cairn Homes has begun construction on a new €131m strategic housing development at Parkside in Dublin 13. The first building will consist of eight single storey units with own-door access beneath eight duplexes accessed via external stepped access routes. The Business Post, 17th September
Vacant Home Revamp Grant, Ireland The €50k grant for the refurbishment of vacant homes is to be extended to help tackle the housing crisis. There are at least 92k vacant buildings around the country according to Geodirectory, a company owned by An Post, but the current vacant property grant is currently only available for properties located in 500 towns and villages which have a population of over 400 people. There is €50m available for the vacant property grant, which aims to bring 2k homes back into use by 2025. Houses must be vacant for two years or more and built before 1993 to qualify. The grant is only available to people who are going to live in the home, not investors or landlords. The standard refurbishment grant will be up to €30k, but this can rise to €50k on structurally unsound and dangerous derelict houses. There is a clawback mechanism if people sell their homes, with the full €50k grant having to be repaid if there is a sale within five years, and three-quarters having to be repaid if there is a sale between five and ten years. After that, there is no clawback charge. The Business Post, 17th September
Blackrock, Co Dublin Glenveagh Homes has sold a forthcoming development in Blackrock, Co Dublin to German investment fund Union Investment. The forward purchase deal for Newtown Gardens, a 140-unit apartment scheme near the wealthy suburb’s village centre, is due to complete in Q3 2024. The type of deal means the one and two-bed apartments will not come onto the open market for owner-occupiers to buy and will instead be rented out by Union. The Irish Independent, 19th September
Douglas Street, Cork Patricks Unity Ltd has lodged plans with Cork City Council proposing the conversion of the site at 18/19 Douglas Street – formerly An Cruiscín Lán pub – into three apartments. The works involve the construction of an open courtyard within the existing building footprint and a new access gate as part of the protected stone archway to the former St John’s Market. In 2020, the council granted permission to Michael Kennefick to transform the pub into a ground-floor cafe/restaurant. Although plans for the restaurant were given the green light, they never came to fruition. The Irish Examiner, 14th September
Glanmire, Co Cork A housing body received more than 900 applications for 32 affordable-rental homes in Co Cork in a period of just two days this week. Respond housing said the “huge volume” of interest in the homes, which will be available at a rate 25% below market rents, underlines the “level of need and demand” for affordable housing. The housing body said it expected the first tenants would move into the homes, located southeast of Glanmire, by November. Applications opened last Wednesday and will close next Wednesday. The Glanmire homes, comprised of eight three-bedroom houses, eight two-bedroom houses, eight two-bedroom duplex apartments and eight one-bedroom apartments, are likely to be priced at between €840 and €1,085 per month. The tenancies will be secure as long as the tenancy agreements are upheld. Property website Daft.ie had just two properties available to rent in Glanmire, both four-bed homes seeking €2.2k and €2.8k pm respectively. The Irish Times, 16th September
Residential Portfolio, Ireland The pension fund of a British weapons dealer has sold its Irish residential portfolio to a Davy investment fund for a 15% profit less than a year after purchasing the homes. BAE Systems spent €14.4m acquiring 43 second-hand properties in Ireland in 2021 through its pension fund. According to market sources, the British weapons manufacturer sold the properties in April for €16.8m to an investment fund controlled by Davy, making a profit of €2.4m. BAE Systems made an average of €50k profit on each unit. An examination of homes purchased by the firm’s pension fund has shown that at least 33 of the 43 were acquired individually on the open market, not as part of a bundle. In many cases, the arms manufacturer paid significantly more than the going rate to secure the homes. BAE Systems originally sought to acquire the properties in order to lease them to Dublin City Council and Fingal County Council for use as social housing. It secured a preliminary agreement to lease some homes to Dublin City Council, but the deal was abandoned after the local authority said “it would not be appropriate to proceed”. The Business Post, 17th September
Goatstown, Dublin 14 Lisney is seeking offers of more than €3m (NIY 6.77%) for the Circle K filling station on Taney Road in Goatstown, Dublin 14. The investment is situated on a 0.4-acre plot and is let to Circle K from 2014. Circle K recently extended its lease to a 12-year unexpired term with no break options. The passing rent is €200k pa. The property also benefits from a roof mast that is leased on a five-year licence from 2021, providing a further €23.4k pa. This brings the overall income to €223.4k pa. The Irish Times, 14th September
Boherbue Wastewater Plant, Co Cork Galway wastewater company Glan Agua is expected to start construction imminently on the €1.5m upgrade at Boherbue Wastewater Plant in Co Cork. The project will allow for village expansion, the supply of water to 1,200 people and the construction of 20 additional housing units in the Laharan West Area. It is expected to be completed in 2024. The Business Post, 17th September
Dundalk, Co Louth Kilcawley Construction has completed the works on the new €6.8m IDA Technology Building in the Dundalk Science & Technology Park at Mullagharlin in Dundalk, Co Louth. The building extends to 34,896 sq. ft. and took c. 24 months to complete. The Business Post, 17th September
Population Projections, Ireland While supply chain and wage inflation are putting significant upward pressure on the cost of housing delivery, the zoning policies being adopted by many councils are contributing to high land values, rising house prices and spiralling rents. This is according to an opinion piece by Michael McElligott, CEO of Tetrarch Homes in the Irish Times. Every development plan in Ireland is informed by the population growth targets in the National Planning Framework (NPF) and a Housing Need and Demand Assessment prepared with guidance from the Department of Housing. According to Mr. McElligott, there is a major flaw in the data used, given that projections informing the current series of development plans are based on the 2016 census, when Ireland had a population of 4.75m people, rather than the evidence from this year’s census with the population now standing at a much larger 5.12m. Immigration in the 12 months to April 2022 was at its highest annual level in 15 years. While 60k people left the State in that period, twice that number came to Ireland. Add to that the 75k+ Ukrainian refugees that are projected to come this year and up to a further 25k refugees from elsewhere. Next year it is quite possible that the population will reach 5.3m people, a growth rate c. 80% more than that assumed under the NPF. Despite the facts on the ground, which the Department of Housing and the Office of the Planning Regulator are fully aware of, they continue with a housing policy that assumes the housing requirement will average 33k new build units for the foreseeable future. The Irish Times, 19th September
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Swords, Co Dublin The Swords Business Campus scheme, which sits on a site of 19 acres, is being offered to the market by TWM at a guide price of €50m. The office buildings on the campus extend to a gross area of 297,000 sq. ft. and the scheme is home to numerous companies and public bodies including CityJet, the CSO, the HSE and Convergys. The offices at Swords Business Campus currently produce total passing income of €3.2m, representing a NIY of 5.81% with a future reversionary yield of 8.3% based on leasing vacant units only. 42% of the current rental income is accounted for by State bodies (the CSO and HSE), while 21% of the income is derived from the healthcare and life sciences sectors. There are 804 surface car-parking spaces with planning permission for an additional 48 spaces. The Irish Times, 7th September
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Barrow Street, Dublin 4 Flexible workspace provider Glandore has selected the Bottleworks on Dublin’s Barrow Street as its latest location in the capital. Located on the site of a former glass factory in the Silicon Docks area, the property comprises 26,199 sq. ft. of fully serviced working spaces and meeting rooms arranged across five floors, a large bike storage room, showers, a wellness suite, leisure space, a cafe and external courtyards. Glandore has agreed a 20-year lease on the property. The Irish Times, 7th September
Prime Office Rents, Dublin Technology companies’ demand for Dublin offices is waning, but a new report shows finance and professional services are poised to plug any gaps that emerge. Rents for prime city centre space in the capital climbed 9% to “as high as €62.50 per sq. ft.” in the first six months of the year, according to HWBC’s Dublin Office Review for the first half of 2022. By the end of June, businesses had agreed to rent 945,000 sq. ft. of space in the capital, with a further 1,000,000 sq. ft. reserved and in various stages of “deal completion”. Despite growing future demand, the overall vacancy rate ticked up slightly to 10.6% as employers got to grips with “hybrid working”. The Irish Times, 7th September
Drogheda, Co Louth Hallscotch Ventures is offering Scotch Hall to the market through Colliers at a guide price of €21m (NIY 10.41%). The sale itself comprises 170,000 sq. ft. of retail space together with the adjoining multi-storey car parks which provide 631 car-parking spaces. The sale also comprises an incomplete block with an expired planning consent and a former distillery building. Scotch Hall Shopping Centre is anchored by an owner occupied Dunnes Stores. The centre is currently producing €2.29m in annual rental income with a WAULT of just over five years and has current average weekly footfall of 42k. The sale also includes potential development opportunities on the 3.3-acre site adjacent to the shopping centre. This land has planning permission for 275 apartments, together with additional retail accommodation and a creche. Separately, an office block located along Marsh Road has the benefit of full planning permission for 21 apartments. The Irish Times, 7th September
Bank of Ireland Branch Portfolio, Ireland French Investor Iroko ZEN has made its second investment in Ireland, paying €8.49m for a portfolio of five buildings let and occupied as branch premises by BOI. The properties are located in Enniscorthy, Longford, Mallow, Roscrea and Loughrea respectively and are generating total annual rental income of €798k. The purchase price provides Iroko ZEN with a NIY of 8.5%. The sale of the portfolio was brokered by BNP Paribas Real Estate Ireland on behalf of joint vendors Signal Capital Partners and Ardú Capital. The portfolio included six assets in total let to The Governor & Company of the BOI and fully occupied on 25-year FRI leases expiring in 2032. Iroko ZEN acquired five of the assets while a private Irish investor purchased a single investment comprising the BOI branch building at Emily Square in Athy, Co Kildare. The Irish Times, 7th September
Grafton Street, Dublin 2 The British fashion retailer Mulberry is opening a standalone store off Grafton Street in Dublin. The company, which is best known for its pricey handbags and accessories, has signed a lease on 24 Duke Street in the capital. The three-storey building has been let to Dr Martens since 2017 but the footwear company is relocating to 83 Grafton Street. It will be Mulberry’s first standalone shop in the capital, though it has a concession at Brown Thomas and a unit at Kildare Village. The Sunday Times, 11th September
Tralee, Co Kerry Agent McQuinn Consulting is selling the Phoenix Building, two-thirds occupied, with c. €100k pa in income from two tenants, Coffee Start on a 15-year lease from 2022 at €38k pa, and CEX on a 10-year lease from 2014 paying €60k pa. There is also a three-storey unit, the largest of the trio, vacated by Elverys, totalling 4,500 sq. ft. and with 1,290 sq. ft. at ground. It is available currently to let, quoting €60k pa. Totalling over 7,000 sq. ft., the property is set on The Mall in the town centre. The Irish Examiner, 8th September
Temple Bar, Dublin 2 The owners of the seafood restaurant Fish Shack have acquired the Bad Ass Cafe in Dublin’s Temple Bar Dublin 2. Situated on the corner of Temple Bar Square and Crown Alley, the property’s leasehold interest was offered for sale by CBRE last December at a guide price of €1.3m on behalf of Benqueues Limited. According to market sources, the cafe’s new owners are understood to have paid c. €2m to secure ownership of the premises. The Irish Times, 7th September
Merrion Hotel, Dublin The five-star Merrion Hotel reported a €649.7k loss in 2021, according to accounts filed with the CRO. Revenues fell to €9.9m in the period, which ended October 31, 2021 – a significant drop on the €17.5m in 2020. The firm earned revenues of €25.6m in 2019 and €44m in 2018. The dramatic decline in turnover was partly explained by the fact that in 2020, Hotel Merrion made €6.3m in apartment sales at the city centre site. Revenues from accommodation fell further in 2021, with accounts showing it has plummeted from €15.8m in 2019 to €4.5m last year. The company made €4.4m in food and beverage sales, with the remainder of its turnover coming from rental income and its leisure centre. At the end of the year, Hotel Merrion was left with accumulated losses of €10.7m, a slightly worse position than at the end of 2020. The business was sitting on a cash pile of €2.2m, a fall on the €2.6m cash reserves it held the previous year. The Business Post, 9th September
Howth, Co Dublin The local Church of Ireland in Howth, Co Dublin, is one of a number of parties to lodge objections against plans for a new 142-bedroom “destination” hotel for the area. In July, Tetrarch Capital lodged plans for the new hotel on the site of the former Deer Park hotel in Howth. Tetrarch already owns the Citywest Hotel in Dublin. The hotel plan includes a rooftop restaurant, bar and terrace, a spa, fitness centre and swimming pool. The existing Deer Park building would be demolished and replaced by the new four-storey hotel. The Irish Times, 7th September
Cobh, Co Cork A bar and restaurant in Cobh is up for sale with a guide price of €5m. The recently extended, newly-refurbished The Quays has the unique advantage of a private commercial pontoon and outdoor seating, built out over the harbour, following an ambitious extension and refurbishment project in 2019, which the owner said cost c. €1m. The property, at 17 Westbourne Place, includes a bar and indoor restaurant, an adjoining canopied seating area with retractable roof and walls, an outdoor seating area and BBQ facilities right over the harbour. The entire property is across 0.02 acres, while the indoor restaurant/bar extends to 1,162 sq. ft. The property was initially bought for €800k 18 years ago. The Irish Examiner, 8th September
Emergency Homeless Acommodation, Ireland Dublin city council has paid one hotel group more than €34m in four years for emergency homeless accommodation. Dalata Hotel Group, Ireland’s largest hotel operator, which owns the Clayton and Maldron hotels, was paid c. €34.5m between 2018 to last year, peaking in 2019 at €12.9m. Homeless accommodation cost the government €270.9m in 2020. Dublin city council said that commercial hotels were “a last resort” and were used only to address shortages in emergency accommodation. Emergency accommodation has been required to meet housing needs partly due to the slow pace of social housing construction. In 2020, 6,387 new social homes were either built or acquired — 34% short of the 8,536 target set by the Department of Housing. The overall target for 2020 was to provide 27,517 “social housing solutions”. Instead, 24,625 were provided, 11% shy of the target. The Sunday Times, 11th September
Swords, Co Dublin M7 Real Estate has purchased Swords Enterprise Park in north Dublin. According to market sources, the price paid is understood to have been slightly less than the €11.5m which had been sought for the scheme when it was offered to the market in November last year by Harvey. M7′s Irish subsidiary M7 Ireland has secured ownership of the 79,000 sq. ft. scheme comprising 61 industrial/office units arranged over eight blocks. At the time of being offered to the market, the occupancy level at Swords Enterprise Park stood at 93% with rents coming in below market levels. Rental income from the asset was sitting at c. €916.5k pa (NIY 8.13%) when it went sale agreed in February. The Irish Times, 7th September
Mountpark Baldonnel Scheme, Dublin 22 Industrial and logistics property development specialists Mountpark has begun construction on the final phase of its Mountpark Baldonnel scheme. The development will provide an additional 169,576 sq. ft. of warehouse and logistics accommodation to the Dublin market. Scheduled for completion in April 2023, units F and G will extend to 72,646 sq. ft. and 96,930 sq. ft. respectively. The development of the units represents a further €47m investment by Mountpark and brings its overall investment in Baldonnel to more than €300m. The Dublin 22 scheme will extend to 1,386,189 sq. ft. across seven units once units F and G are delivered. The largest of these measures 654,000 sq. ft. and was pre-let prior to its construction to online retail giant Amazon for use as its new e-fulfilment centre. The Irish Times, 7th September
Quantum Logistics Park, North Dublin Irish property group IPUT Real Estate has secured a significant coup with global logistics operator Maersk by signing for a total of 252,000 sq. ft. of space at its latest logistics scheme in Dublin. The completion of this deal brings all 549,524 sq. ft. at the north Dublin scheme to full occupancy in advance of its ultimate completion in the second quarter of 2023. In the case of Maersk’s facility in unit 4, IPUT is set to deliver Ireland’s first net-zero carbon logistics building. The Irish Times, 12th September
Greenhills Road, South Dublin Joint agents Colliers and Cushman & Wakefield are guiding a price of €7.5m for the showroom facility of one of Dublin’s main Fiat car dealerships. Located on a corner site on Greenhills Road in Tallaght, the Agnelli Motor Park premises and its site offer the purchaser an opportunity to secure a ready-to-go showroom facility with future potential for redevelopment. The site is zoned “Regen” under the South Dublin County Development Plan which should allow for a residential development in principle. The Greenhills Road property comprises three buildings extending to a total area of 47,143 sq. ft. on a 2.25-acre site. The main car showroom area measures 27,674 sq. ft. There are two separate vacant warehouse areas on the northern elevation of the property. Warehouse one extends to 4,504 sq. ft., while warehouse two extends to 15,227 sq. ft. The Irish Times, 7th September
Cork Street, Dublin 8 Owen Reilly has brought a prime investment opportunity to market for sale in the guise of Saoirse House, a block of five brand new apartments and a ground floor commercial unit on 82/83 Cork Street in Dublin 8. The agent is guiding €2.2m for the entire. However, there is an option to buy the apartments only. The A3-rated scheme comprises two one-bedroom apartments at just under 645 sq. ft. each, a two-bedroom duplex of 780 sq. ft., a three-bedroom apartment offering 1,104 sq. ft., and a two-bedroom penthouse spanning 946 sq. ft. The gross internal floor area of the apartments is 4,122 sq. ft. The agent believes the scheme could generate a rent of €136.2k pa. The commercial unit, which extends to 1,033 sq. ft., has been let on a new 15-year lease at €20k pa. The Business Post, 9th September
Cairn Homes Half-Year Performance Cairn Homes has reported an operating profit of €36m for the first six months of this year, its strongest ever half-year performance. The company reported revenues of €240.4m, up 84% YoY, according to its interim results published last week. During the six-month period to the end of June, Cairn said it closed the sale of 547 new homes. Cairn said it achieved a 21.5% gross margin in the first half of this year, and it expects to maintain that level for the full year having absorbed expected total build cost inflation for this financial year of 7 – 8% (€17.5k – €20k per unit) across infrastructure, labour and building materials. Despite the sharp rise in build-cost inflation, the company said it has maintained its average starter home sales price at €330k, up slightly from €327k in the first half of 2021. The Business Post, 8th September
Naas, Co Kildare The developer DRES Properties is close to signing a €70m deal to buy the landmark Mercedes-Benz site on Naas Road in Dublin, which is owned by the O’Flaherty family. Property sources say if the deal for the 15-acre site goes ahead, c. 2,000 homes could be built in an €800m development. It is thought that Sisk Group, the largest construction company in Ireland, is also involved in the purchase of the land. While the property does not have planning permission for residential homes, a submission on behalf of Motor Distributors to Dublin City Council earlier this year asked the local authority to relax height restrictions on the site. The Sunday Times, 11th September
BNP Paribas Report, Ireland According to the latest BNP Paribas report, c. 28,000 new homes are expected to be built in the Republic this year. This would be the highest level of housing output seen in Ireland since before the financial crash and more than a third up on last year’s total of 20,433 units. The latest BNP Paribas Real Estate Ireland Construction PMI, however, warned that the positive trend in housing output needed to continue to cover “the sharp re-acceleration in population growth”. The bank’s latest barometer indicated that activity in the Irish housing sector declined for a third straight month in August as new orders fell sharply and inflationary pressures remained pronounced. Still, the decline in overall activity “was less marked than in July” with the seasonally adjusted total activity index rising to 46.9 from 41.8 previous month. A reading below 50 signals a contraction in activity. The Irish Times, 12th September
Blackrock, Co Dublin Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council has recommended that contentious plans for a new €50m build-to-rent ‘senior living’ apartment scheme for Blackrock, Co Dublin be refused planning permission. In July, Tetrarch Residential — part of the group that owns the Citywest Hotel — lodged fast-track plans with An Bord Pleanála for a new 108-unit build-to-rent seven-storey apartment scheme on lands overlooking Blackrock RFC on Stradbrook Road in south Dublin. The site was sold by the club last year. However, the appeals board has received 80 third-party submissions on the scheme, with the vast bulk of these objections from locals to the scheme. The Irish Times, 9th September
Property Service Providers, Ireland The number of complaints made against property service providers increased by more than a third last year, according to a new report. On Friday, the Property Services Regulatory Authority, which supervises and regulates auctioneers, estate agents, letting agents and management agents, published its 2021 annual report. According to the report, 255 complaints were received by the authority last year, an increase of 36.36% on the 187 lodged in 2020. The Irish Times, 9th September
Planning Permission Statistics, Ireland Planning permission was granted for 11,374 new homes in the second quarter of this year, 2% up on the same period last year, suggesting the pick-up in residential construction is continuing despite the price squeeze. Of the total, 39.8% (4,532) were for houses and 60.2% (6,842) were for apartments. The number of houses granted planning permission grew by c. 17% on an annual basis to 4,532 units, while in contrast, there was a decline of c. 6% in apartment approvals to 6,842 units. Dublin accounted for the majority of apartment planning permission approvals with 69.5% of the total. During the same period, the Border region (Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, Monaghan and Cavan) recorded the lowest number of apartments granted planning permission at 26. The figures show there was an annual rise of more than 28% in the number of multi-development houses receiving planning permission, compared with a 3% increase in one-off houses. The Irish Times, 9th September
Killarney, Co Kerry Plans for a major housing development in Killarney, Co Kerry have been blocked. An Bord Pleanála has turned down proposals to build 228 residential units (76 houses and 152 apartments) on lands at the Port Road and St Margaret’s Road in Killarney. Portal Asset Holdings Limited had lodged the plans directly to the board under the fast-track planning process. The Irish Examiner, 7th September
Housebuilding Rate, Ireland The Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI) said in a pre-budget submission that new housing supply will need to increase by 8% every year until 2030 if the Government’s previously announced ‘Housing for All’ targets are to be met. That would see the number of houses built each year rise from the estimated 24,500 that will be built this year to 45,000 units pa by the end of the decade. The ‘Housing for All’ target was 33,000 units a year. The survey found that the key reasons landlords were exiting the market were that rental legislation was too complex and restrictive. The emergence of landlords from negative equity and low net rental returns were also pushing them to sell up. It is estimated that 20,000 landlords have exited the market since 2016. This could mean 40,000 rental properties taken off the market. By contrast, research by the Residential Tenancies Board indicated that large landlords with more than 100 tenancies were planning to expand their portfolios. The Irish Independent, 11th September
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Sandyford, Dublin 18 Having only recently secured Cubic Telecom as tenant for c. 40% of the office space at the Hive in Sandyford, Dublin, US investor Colony Capital has placed the property on the market with agent HWBC at a guide price of €34.4m. Located 500m from the Luas Green line stop at Sandyford, the subject property briefly comprises 70,000 sq. ft. of office accommodation distributed across four floors. The Hive’s tenant base currently includes Cubic Telecom who have agreed to occupy 30,000 sq. ft. and NTR Plc which has agreed to occupy 10,000 sq. ft. for use as its new headquarters. Additional space at the Hive is currently under offer to an as-yet unidentified party for use as their respective headquarters. The Irish Times, 31st August
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Citywest Campus, Dublin Having developed and let c. 220,000 sq. ft. of offices at the Waterside in Dublin’s Citywest Business Campus between 2009 and 2016, Iput and Davy Real Estate have decided to cash in on their respective interests in the scheme. The portfolio, which is guiding at a price of €71.5m through Savills, offers the prospective purchaser a NIY of 7.3% along with the opportunity to develop a further 180,100 sq. ft. of grade A office space. The Waterside scheme currently comprises a total of 219,281 sq. ft. of offices arranged across five blocks, with 973 car parking spaces at basement and surface level. The portfolio is currently 92% occupied and has a WAULT to break and expiry of four years and 10 years respectively. The tenant mix, which includes SAP, Fidelity, Glanbia and Astellas Pharma, is producing a rent roll of c. €5.75m pa, with 82% of this annual income coming from SAP and Fidelity. The Irish Times, 31st August
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Dublin City Centre Citigroup is poised to finalise a €100m deal for its new European headquarters in Dublin. The US banking giant has been searching for a 300,000 sq. ft. office in the Dublin Docklands in the past few months, tapping Knight Frank to lead the hunt. Citi has selected a site jointly owned by Ronan Group and Fortress Investment Group for the new headquarters. The bank has the right of first refusal on an additional 130,000 sq. ft. on the same site, should it want to expand. The new site is larger by c. 33% than Citi’s current 230,000 sq. ft. Dublin office at 1 North Wall Quay, which is now on the market for €120m. React News, 6th September
Chancery Lane, Dublin City Centre A prime Dublin city centre office block bought in 2017 for €23.8m from Hibernia Reit has seen its value cut to €22.2m by its current owners. The purchaser – a fund controlled by Credit Suisse – also incurred c. €1m in fees buying the building at 3-10 Chancery Lane in the capital. The acquisition was backed with a €15.4m loan from AIB (2.45% fixed interest rate) which matures in December this year. It features 35,000 sq. ft. of offices and four two-bedroom apartments. The purchase in 2017 reflected a blended initial yield of 5.9% and a capital value of €645 per sq. ft., according to Hibernia Reit at the time. The building’s commercial occupiers include the Office of the Attorney General, tech firm Analytic Partners and others. Accounts published in Luxembourg for the company that bought the building in 2017 show that at the end of 2021, the property was 100% rented and the offices were generating total annual income of €1.4m last year. The apartments are generating rents of just under €72k a year, compared with just over €90k in 2020. The Irish Independent, 6th September
Grafton Street, Dublin City Centre Ecco is to set up shop in the former premises of Carphone Warehouse. The deal will see the retailer occupy the ground floor and basement of No. 30 Grafton Street by way of a sub-lease for the remainder of Carphone Warehouse’s lease agreement which expires in 2028. According to market sources, Ecco has agreed to pay a rent of c. €260k pa for the 1,600 sq. ft. space. The upper floors of No. 30 have been sub-let separately. Although Ecco’s new rent is c. €50k more than the €210k it had been paying for its original Grafton Street shop, its new premises are larger. The payment agreed for No. 30 is also less than the sum Ecco claimed Irish Life had been seeking as part of the rent review for its former premises in 2020. The Irish Times, 31st August
O’Connell Street, Dublin 1 Savills has been instructed to sell a retail/healthcare investment located next door to the Clerys Quarter on O’Connell Street in Dublin 1 for €3.5m. The entire property is leased to Xenon Dental Services trading as Smiles Dental. It is held on a 35-year FRI lease from April 26th, 2006 subject to an upward only passing rent of €160k pa exclusive and no break clause. The entire property extends to 4,666 sq. ft. and comprises a mid-terrace five-storey over basement Edwardian building providing dental service accommodation at ground level with offices and ancillary accommodation overhead and at basement level. The Business Post, 2nd September
Henry Street, Dublin 1 Holland & Barrett, one of Europe’s largest health and wellness retailers, has invested €5m over the past 12 months on new store openings, relocations and refits across Ireland. The retailer is preparing to open a new flagship store on Henry Street. The new Henry Street flagship store will offer a range of health foods, vitamins and supplements, sports nutrition and natural beauty products. The Irish Independent, 4th September
St Patrick Street, Cork The new 5,000 sq. ft. Eason store is due to open next week at 35-36 St Patrick Street. With The North Face and Dune secured, Eason almost ready to go, and building facades restored, an entire block of St Patrick Street — where No. 37 is occupied by jewellery store Pandora — now looks to have a much more secure future, with all the ground-floor units filled or with a commitment to be filled. The North Face deal signed just this week will see retail on the ground and first floors of No. 39, with storage and offices on the second floor, while the third floor will be unused in the short term. Annual rent is at a level less than the €275k pa originally quoted. Meanwhile fashion retailer Flannel, part of the UK-based Fraser Group, is set to move into the old Eason store, a 22,000 sq. ft. property bought in 2020 by Sports Direct International/House of Fraser owner Mike Ashley, for a reported €6.5m. The Irish Examiner, 1st September
Howth, Co Dublin After four generations of being owned and operated by the Tobin family, the landmark Abbey Tavern in the seaside village of Howth, Co Dublin, is being offered to the market at a guide price of €1.75m by Bagnall Doyle MacMahon. The subject property is part two-storey/part three-storey interconnecting traditional stone-clad buildings, extends to a total area of 8,374 sq. ft., and comprises a traditional bar, restaurant and entertainment venue. The Irish Times, 31st August
Dalata, Ireland Dalata has “no interest” in buying older hotels as it continues its expansion plans, the company has said. The firm’s portfolio, which operates under the Maldron and Clayton brands, currently comprises 49 hotels with 10,650 rooms and a pipeline of over 1,400 bedrooms. Announcing interim results last week, the group reported profit before tax of €52m for the first half of 2022, up from €37.8m from the corresponding period in 2019, before the company’s performance was badly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Revenue for the first six months to 30th June 2022 was €220.2m, up from €201.9m in the same period in 2019. The company said it was operating at 69.8% occupancy for the first half of this year. The group’s average room rate was €126.90 for the period. The Business Post, 3rd September
O’Connell Street, Dublin 1 Whitbread plc, the owner of the Premier Inn chain of hotels, has purchased the hotel site at the back of Clerys on O’Connell Street in Dublin for €20m. The off-market deal is thought to be one of the most expensive hotel site sales in the capital since before the pandemic. The plot, which is owned by Europa Capital, Derek McGrath’s Core Capital and Paddy McKillen Jr’s Oakmount, has been given planning permission for a 213-bedroom, seven-storey hotel. The Sunday Times, 4th September
Ring of Kerry The Singaporean owners of five-star hotel Sheen Falls Lodge in Co Kerry, Dr. Stanley Quek and Peng Loh, have acquired the Ring of Kerry Golf Club. According to the owners, the price paid was in the single digits, and less than €5m. The course was not placed on the open market, and it is understood it was offered for sale to the Sheen Falls owners, who last year acquired Castlemartyr Resort in Cork for €20m. Located above Kenmare Bay, the Ring of Kerry Golf Club is set in 121.5 acres. The Irish Independent, 4th September
Mervue Business and Technology Park, Galway French investor Corum Asset Management has purchased units 20-29 at Mervue Business & Technology Park in Galway for €19.4m. The Galway property acquired by Corum extends across a total area of 160,000 sq. ft. on a site of 7.09 acres and comprises one manufacturing unit leased to HID Global Ireland Teoranta and one office unit, leased to Avaya International Sales Limited. The HID premises underwent an extensive modification/rebuild programme in 2020/2021, while the Avaya premises saw recent capital expenditure of $1.7m. HID, whose lease commenced in November 2019, took possession of the property in the final quarter of 2021, following practical completion of the first phases of the works. It signed up to a 25-year-lease, with a tenant-break option in 2034, equating to a conservative €8.00 per sq. ft. Avaya’s lease, meanwhile, is set to run for a further four years and four months, with a rent review in December this year. This is expected to see a strong reversionary rent being realised, given the building’s current level of just €11.57 per sq. ft. The Irish Times, 31st August
Newbridge, Co Kildare Jordan Auctioneers has brought to the letting market a large, detached distribution/warehouse facility extending to 25,112 sq. ft. on an exclusive site extending to 2.17 acres on the Athgarvan Road in Newbridge, Co Kildare. The property, formerly Cox’s Cash & Carry unit, occupies a high-profile location adjoining Newbridge town centre. Internally, the property mainly provides open plan warehouse space. A tarmac surfaced yard at the front and rear of the building provides for 50 car parking spaces. The property is to let with Jordan’s, quoting €200k pa. The Business Post, 2nd September
Student Accommodation Supply, Ireland The supply of new student accommodation is slowing down just as an increased number of students wait for college offers this year, according to Cushman & Wakefield. Just 600 bed spaces will be built this year, the estate agents say. That’s less than half the 1,350 built last year and just over a quarter of the rooms made available in 2018 and 2019. The total stock of purpose-built student accommodation in Dublin as of June this year was 18,700 bed spaces. That is expected to rise just 3% this year, 1% next year and 4% in 2024. This compares with increases of 14-20% between 2017 and 2019 the estate agents said. While there are c. 10,000 bed spaces in the pipeline, just 6,700 units have planning permission granted. The Irish Times, 4th September
Ringsend, Dublin 4 A school principal of a primary girls’ school in Ringsend, Dublin 4 has raised child protection concerns over a seven-storey build-to-rent scheme for seniors adjacent to the school. A statement lodged by the applicant’s planning consultants, Tom Phillips & Associates, said that the Glencarra Ringsend Ltd scheme would provide accommodation for 30 professionally managed social homes for senior citizens on Dublin City Council’s housing list. The Irish Times, 1st September
Portlaoise, Co Laois Jordan Auctioneers has just released to the market development land on the Dublin Road in Portlaoise, Co Laois, which is zoned ‘New Residential’ and is likely to draw strong interest from local developers and investors. The plot of land extends to c. 13.25 acres. The auctioneer is quoting a figure of c. €2.85m (€215k per acre). A pre-connection response from Irish Water (June 2021) indicates capacity for the development of the lands. The property is zoned ‘Residential 2’ – New Proposed Residential in the Portlaoise Local Area Plan 2018-2024. Tenders are to be submitted Friday, October 14th. The Business Post, 2nd September
Raheny, Dublin 5 German investor DWS has exchanged contracts to buy a residential scheme in Dublin from Earlsfort Group for one of its institutional real estate funds. The development, dubbed Station Road, is near Raheny Dart Station and Dublin city centre. It will create 105 modern and affordable homes with a total lettable area of c. 75,300 sq. ft., including 51 one-bed flats and 54 two-bed flats, all of which will have balconies. There will also be 55 partially electrified underground parking spaces, which can be fully converted later. Station Road is scheduled to complete by the end of 2024. React News, 1st September
Raheny, Dublin 5 Pat Crean’s Marlet Group is looking to build 580 houses and a nursing home in Raheny, North Dublin. The plans envisage 580 apartments and a 100-bed nursing home on a 16.5-acre site to the east of St Paul’s College at Sybil Hill in Raheny, Dublin 5. The project consists of 272 one-bed units, 15 two-bed, three-person units, 233 two-bed, four-person units and 60 three-bed units. It will also include 520 car-parking spaces and 1,574 bicycle spaces. The 100-bed nursing home will be a four-storey building set against a courtyard, with a further 7.16 acres set aside as open space. Last year the high court rejected Marlet’s plans for 657 homes on the site. The latest proposal would come under the new Large Scale Residential Development (LSRD) scheme. React News, 6th September
Sewage Plant, Greater Dublin Area An Bord Pleanála’s decision on a €500m regional sewage plant, described by Irish Water as “vital” to the development of Dublin, will be delayed into next year, two years after the High Court ordered the board to issue a new ruling on the facility. The board has effectively reopened the case despite being told by the courts that it was due to its planning error, and no fault of Irish Water, that the original planning permission had to be quashed. The board has asked Irish Water to resubmit significant parts of its application for the Clonshaugh wastewater treatment plant by the end of February 2023 due to “the passage of time” since the original application was submitted. The plant, at a site east of Dublin Airport, has been designed to treat the waste of 500k people across the Greater Dublin Area. The Irish Times, 3rd September
Abbotstown, North Co Dublin Sport Ireland is to make the National Indoor Athletics Training Centre at Abbotstown in north Co Dublin available for use as emergency housing for refugees. The Athletics Training Centre, part of the National Indoor Arena, is State-owned and contains permanent shower and recreational facilities. Sport Ireland said the Blanchardstown training centre would be used for six weeks, during which time there would be some disruption to sporting bodies scheduled to use the facility. The decision to hand over the centre came after a request from the Government. The Irish Times, 2nd September
Newbridge and Rathangan, Co Kildare Local residents have raised concerns about plans for two sets of modular homes in Co Kildare for Ukrainians fleeing the war. Locations in Dublin, Cork, Kildare and Cavan were selected in July for an initial tranche of modular homes for housing refugees. A total of 60 emergency housing units have been proposed for Newbridge and Rathangan. Many of the c. 50k arrivals from Ukraine have been housed in hotels or emergency facilities identified by local authorities, and a priority now is to deliver longer-term solutions such as modular homes. 5k beds in student accommodation are due to be returned when third-level institutions need them back. Under existing plans, it is envisaged that up to 200 units will be delivered over November and December this year, with 300 more by the end of February 2023. The Irish Times, 1st September
Tullamore, Co Offaly A project to upgrade the centre of an Irish town is set to go over budget by at least €1.4m. The public enhancement works in Tullamore in Co Offaly included a new 17m long pedestrian footbridge over the Tullamore River, street paving and the undergrounding of telephone and electrical cables. It was due to cost €3.2m but it is now going to cost at least €1.4m more, bringing the final cost to an estimated €4.6m. The work started in November 2019 and was completed in July 2020. The extra costs were caused by an increase in the scope of the project and the cost of dealing with “unforeseen conditions and requirements”, according to a new report by the local government audit service. The Business Post, 3rd September
Forward Funding Model, Ireland In Ireland, investment funds have typically entered “forward purchase” agreements with developers to buy residential developments upon completion. New data from Sherry FitzGerald has shown a different “forward funding” model has become more prevalent, which involves institutional funds bankrolling the construction of housing. In 2021, large property funds invested more than €1.7bn in Ireland’s residential sector, according to Sherry FitzGerald. Of this c. €1.3bn was invested through forward funding agreements to pay for the development of residential schemes. Last year, a memo compiled by Department of Finance officials, said that if institutional investors were “forward funding” residential development, they could avoid stamp duty charges on residential blocks because the property never technically changes hands. To discourage institutional funds from bulk purchasing houses, a new stamp duty rate of 10% was introduced for any fund that bought more than ten houses in a 12-month period. The document added that under a different “forward purchase” agreement, whereby an institutional landlord commits to buying a development but doesn’t fund its construction, stamp duty is charged on that sale. The Business Post, 3rd September
Midleton, Cork The company behind Jameson and Powers has announced a €250m investment in a new distillery on a 55-acre site adjacent to its Midleton, Co Cork, facility. Once fully operational in 2025, the site will distil pot still and grain whiskey with grain intake, incorporating brewing, fermentation, and distillation facilities. The Pernod Ricard-owned drinks-maker said it will submit a planning application to Cork County Council by the end of the year with construction due to start in 2023 subject to approval. The Irish Times, 5th September
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Spencer Place, Dublin Docklands Blackstone has completed the purchase of Saleforce’s new Dublin headquarters for over €500m in what is one of the biggest European office sales this year. On behalf of its core-plus perpetual capital vehicles, Blackstone has closed the acquisition of Spencer Place, a newly built 431,000 sq. ft. trophy office campus. The deal, understood to have a NIY of c. 4.25% attached to it, is the largest office deal to complete in Europe over the past few months, and comes as a welcome boost for the market. The campus consists of three grade-A office buildings fully leased to Salesforce for 15 years as their European headquarters and one hotel leased to Ireland’s largest hotel operator, Dalata Hotel Group. Spencer Place was sold by Fortress and Ronan Group Real Estate. React News, 24th August
Stripe, Dublin The tech giant Stripe has put its hunt for Irish offices on hold as the company weighs up its needs in a post-pandemic business environment. The payments technology company had put a requirement out to the market last year for up to 400,000 sq. ft. of office space, and said it was open to renting or buying. However, it is believed that in recent weeks CBRE, the agent acting for Stripe, has been informed that the search has been halted. Property sources believe that when the company returns to the market it will look to search for a smaller footprint of c. 200,000 sq. ft. It already has offices at No. 1 Lower Grand Canal Street in Dublin’s south docks. The Sunday Times, 28th August
Dublin Central Logistics Park, North Dublin Just over four months on from the €50m sale of the 118.40-acre Killamonan Business Park to Iput Real Estate, Bovale Developments is seeking a buyer for another of its large logistics landbanks next to Dublin’s M50 motorway. Extending across an area of 91.4 acres and zoned for employment use, Dublin Central Logistics Park is being offered to the market on behalf of Bovale and Nama by joint agents Savills and Cushman & Wakefield at a guide price of €34m (c. €361.3k per acre). The lands are predominantly in agricultural use at present and include a large two-storey vacant residence and four light industrial units on c. 2.40 acres accessed directly off the R122 Road. The Irish Times, 24th August
Fota Retail Business Park, Cork McGuirks Golf is preparing to open a flagship store at Fota Retail Business Park, outside Cork City. The 16,000 sq. ft. outlet will be the sports retailer’s 19th shop nationwide and brings to three the number opened by McGuirks this year alone. The retailer has taken a 10-year lease on Unit A1 at the Carrigtwohill Business Park. The new Carrigtwohill store will devote the ground floor (11,000 sq. ft.) to golfing equipment and will be the first McGuirks’ outlet to have two custom fitting bays (a process that matches clubs with golf swing). A ladies’ section will occupy a separate 2,500 sq. ft. mezzanine level, and a second mezzanine will be tennis specific. The Irish Examiner, 25th August
Rathmines, Dublin 6 The owners of the Swan Shopping Centre in Rathmines, Dublin 6, have applied for planning permission to build a new 111-bedroom hotel at the site. Sawbridge, which is run by the Anderson family, owns the centre as well as the Omniplex cinema chain and other property interests. It has lodged an application with Dublin City Council for the new hotel on Rathmines Road Lower and Castlewood Avenue, extending to Castlewood Terrace. The company said the new structure would increase the overall height of the building to five storeys in one part and six storeys in another. The Swan Centre has dozens of retail and restaurant units over two floors and more than 156,000 sq. ft. of space. Its primary retail frontage is to Lower Rathmines Road and there is also a substantial underground car park. The total area of the proposed development is 38,255 sq. ft. The Irish Times, 27th August
Retail Sector Outlook, Ireland The pandemic, followed by price inflation and interest rate rises, has significantly changed the Irish retail landscape over the past two years. The retail sector employs more than 300k people nationwide generating sales of over €30bn annually (c. 12% of Ireland’s GDP) and it delivers €7bn in tax revenue to the state. In the years before Covid-19, households saved c. €350m per month, but in the last two and a half years have saved nearly three times the amount, averaging €1bn per month. That said, consumers have been cautious and there has not been a spending boom post-pandemic as evidenced from retail sales figures, which were flat in the 12 months to the end of May 2022. Consumer sentiment, as measured by the KBC index, continued to weaken into Q2, a trend that began in February when the Russian invasion of Ukraine began. While the Grafton Street area remains below pre-pandemic levels, the Henry Street area has witnessed significant gains and had 20% more footfall in mid-June 2022 compared to the same period of 2019. In spite of this, retail vacancy levels on the prime shopping streets remain high, with 16 unoccupied units on Grafton Street and 11 on Henry Street/Mary Street in Dublin. The Business Post, 26th August
City Arts Centre, Dublin City Centre Ventaway is seeking planning permission to develop Dublin’s tallest building on the site of the former City Arts Centre at City Quay. Should it be approved, the 24-storey structure would rise to 108m, making it just under 10m higher than the 30-storey (98.4m) residential tower Ruirside Developments intends to build on Parkgate Street. While the proposed City Arts Centre scheme is office-led with 243,124 sq. ft. of office space over 23 of its floors, the site’s history will be recognised with 15,113 sq. ft. of artist studios/workshops and exhibition/performance space distributed across the front of the building at its lower-ground, ground and first-floor levels. The application also provides for a 2,626 sq. ft. gym at ground-floor level along with 11 car-parking spaces and 424 bicycle spaces. React News, 25th August
Mahon, Cork Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) has lodged an appeal against planning permission for a new 10-storey hotel outside Cork city. TII said the plans for the 165-bed hotel at Jacob’s Island in Mahon, alongside separate plans for c. 500 homes on an adjacent site, represent an “intensification of development which will create a further unacceptable impact on the operation, capacity and safety of the N40” ring road around Cork. Hibernia Star Ltd first applied to Cork City Council for permission for the hotel back in January. The development would also include a 114,442 sq. ft. office building over seven storeys. Separately, the same company lodged a Strategic Housing Development consultation late last year for 498 apartments in the same area. The case is due to be decided by An Bord Pleanála by 3rd January, 2023. The Irish Examiner, 26th August
Malahide Road, Dublin 17 Walls Construction has lodged fast-track plans with An Bord Pleanála to demolish its three-storey Rosemount House headquarters at Northern Cross, Malahide Road in Dublin 17. In its place, Walls Construction is seeking to build a €77m nine-storey mixed-use scheme comprised of 176 apartments. The proposed development consists of 72 one-bed apartment units, 57 two-bed apartments units and 47 three-bed units. The scheme would also include 11,302 sq. ft. of office accommodation on the ground floor, which would house a new headquarters for the building company. The scheme would feature a cafe unit and resident amenity and support services at ground-floor level. As part of its obligations to provide social housing under such plans, the company has put an indicative price tag of €15.84m on the sale of 36 apartments to Dublin City Council. This would include 28 one-bed units and eight two-bed units, with an indicative average price of €440.1k on each apartment. The Irish Times, 25th August
Social Housing, Ireland The government increased its social housing leasing target by c. 1,000 units due to warnings from the Department of Housing over the pressure the state was under in accommodating Ukrainian refugees, new documents show. In July, an extra €450m fund was launched by the state to lease 1,000 new-build homes for social housing. The move came despite the fact that Taoiseach Micheál Martin has committed to phasing out the practice of leasing homes from private developers for this purpose. The new social housing leasing tender document, issued in July by the Housing Agency, also asked property developers and investors to submit “a minimum of 20 properties and a maximum of 150 properties in any one proposal” for lease. The agency added that it was predominantly looking to lease new-build homes in Dublin but would review proposals outside the capital. The Business Post, 27th August
Help To Buy Scheme, Ireland The government must extend its €600m Help to Buy scheme for another three years to help both builders and first-time buyers with soaring costs, the country’s construction lobby group has said. The Construction Industry Federation (CIF) also warned that low levels of projected government spending on infrastructure projects under the €165bn National Development Plan do not “augur well for the pipeline of construction projects”. And it called for a lower rate of tax for small-scale landlords to address what it called their “exodus” from the housing market – a trend which it argued is “impacting the supply of affordable rented accommodation in many locations where there is an absence of the large scale ‘Build to Rent’ accommodation”. The Business Post, 25th August
Residential Property Market Sentiment, Ireland The rise in the cost of living is having a “major effect” on the home-buying, renovations and rental markets, according to the latest report from MyHome.ie. Demand is proving to be a critical factor that shows no sign of slowing, according to the report. In July, brochure views rose by more than 40% on MyHome.ie compared to the same month in the previous years. More than two-thirds of respondents said they had the finances in place to buy a home in the coming year. According to the report, 54% of those who are ready to buy property believe they will be able to do so in the next year. Sentiment among renters was described as particularly negative, with 63% reporting that the increase in costs had affected their ability to rent a property. The cost-of-living crunch has also slowed down home improvements, with 45% reporting that the spiralling costs have affected their ability to renovate or do other building works to their home. The Irish Independent, 29th August
Clonburris, Dublin 24 Cairn Homes has been granted planning permission to build 569 new homes in Clonburris, Dublin 24. The builds are part of the first phase of its new housing scheme as part of the Clonburris Strategic Development Zone. Cairn will commence construction and expects to deliver new homes in the first phase of its 5,500 mixed-tenure scheme in Clonburris by the middle of next year. This first phase of Clonburris will see the construction of the 569 new family homes, incorporating 173 houses, 148 duplexes and 248 apartments. The Government recently approved a multi-annual funding package of over €200m to assist the early delivery of the significant infrastructure needed to create the new town. Cairn said it will make a €40m investment in matched funding to this infrastructure cost in addition to increasing the delivery of social and affordable housing to 20%. The Irish Times, 29th August
Kilbarry, North Cork Plans by the Cork GAA County Board for a €75m, 319-unit housing scheme for Cork city are facing local opposition. Earlier this year the county board lodged fast-track plans with An Bord Pleanála for the Strategic Housing Development (SHD) scheme on a site it owns at Old Whitechurch Road, Kilbarry, on the northern fringes of Cork city. The profits it would earn from the €75m scheme were earmarked to pay down the Páirc Uí Chaoimh stadium debt which stood at €29.74m at the end of last September. The scheme is made up of 85 semi-detached homes, 118 terraced units, 53 duplex units and 63 apartments. The Irish Times, 26th August
Mortgage Activity, Ireland The number and value of mortgages approved in July fell when compared with the previous month. Figures from the Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) show a total of 5,255 mortgages were approved last month with first-time buyers accounting for 45% of this number. The total was down c. 12% on the previous month but was up 4.4% on the same period last year. In value terms, the mortgages approved in July were worth €1.4bn, down c. 13% on the previous month. Much of the activity in July was driven by non-purchase mortgage activity, which includes switching and top-ups. This category grew by 95.8% in volume terms YoY to 1,741, and by 147.6% YoY in value to €441m. The BPFI figures came as the rate of increase in property prices nationally slowed in May to 14.4%, extending a pattern of deceleration recorded in recent months. The Irish Times, 26th August
Blackrock, Cork Members of a support group for the Bessborough mother and baby home are “outraged” at plans to construct 420 apartments on the Bessborough estate in Cork. Earlier this year, Estuary View Enterprises (EVE) lodged combined Strategic Housing Development (SHD) plans with An Bord Pleanála to construct 420 apartments plus a cafe and creche on the site in Blackrock in Cork city. EVE is the largest landowner in the Bessborough estate, with its block spanning just over 40 acres. The combined new SHD schemes from EVE comprise seven blocks of varying height, with a mixture of buy-to-rent and buy-to sell units planned. The tallest block would be 10 storeys. The Irish Times, 25th August
Killarney, Co Kerry A large-scale housing development in Killarney town has been refused permission because of the potential impact on lesser horseshoe bats flying to their roosts in the nearby Killarney National Park. Artificial lighting including during the construction phase would disturb the bats that “commute” along the Deenagh river in the Killarney National Park alongside the proposal for 228 units, Kerry’s first Strategic Housing Development, according to An Bord Pleanála. The 15-acre infill site off the N71 Port Road, opposite the Killarney National Park, would have included houses, duplexes, town houses and 152 apartments in three and four storeys, a childcare facility, and a large green area along with roads. The application had the strong approval of the council planners, amid a shortage of housing supply in Killarney and its potential to facilitate pedestrians and cyclists. The Irish Times, 25th August
Finglas, Dublin 11 An Bord Pleanála has given permission for a contentious 314-unit build-to-rent apartment scheme at a former factory site at Jamestown Road in north Dublin. The appeals board approved the Jamestown Village Ltd plan despite local opposition and a recommendation by Dublin City Council to refuse planning permission. The scheme — originally 321 units comprised of 211 two-bed units and 110 one-bed units across five blocks rising to six storeys — is located 850m north of Finglas village. The appeals board ordered the omission of seven units from the initial 321 units proposed. The Irish Times, 24th August
Terenure, Dublin 6W Developers behind plans to construct a seven-storey, 364-unit build to rent apartment scheme on land at Terenure College are contesting the decision by Dublin City Council to refuse planning permission. A subsidiary of developer Lioncor has lodged an appeal with An Bord Pleanála against the decision earlier this month to refuse planning. The Carmelite order — which runs Terenure College and owns a substantial land bank at the school — had stated that the development would help secure the future viability of the college. The plan by Lioncor — which also includes 21 houses — for the scheme at Fortfield Road, Terenure, comprises four apartment blocks rising to seven storeys that is made up of 15 studios, 166 one-bed apartments, 174 two-bed apartments and nine three-bed units. Some will be sold with the others rented. The Irish Times, 24th August
South Circular Road, Dublin 8 Fresh plans for the Bailey Gibson site on the South Circular Road in Dublin, which would mean the height of the proposed development is more than halved, will be presented to city councillors on Wednesday. US developer Hines has submitted a Strategic Housing Development (SHD) application to An Bord Pleanála for 345 homes in blocks ranging in height from two to seven storeys. In September 2020 the board granted Hines permission for 416 homes with a 16-storey apartment block on the same site. However, local residents took judicial review proceedings seeking to have the board’s decision quashed. The Irish Times, 24th August
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Sir John Rogerson’s Quay, Dublin 2 TikTok has inked a deal for the Tropical Fruit Warehouse. The agreement will see the Chinese-owned social media platform take all 85,000 sq. ft. of office accommodation at the six-storey riverfront building. According to market sources, the company has committed to a long-term lease at a rental level of €60 per sq. ft. with the scheme’s developer and landlord, Iput Real Estate. When taken together with the 202,000 sq. ft. the company is set to occupy at the Sorting Office on Cardiff Lane, TikTok’s Irish operations now have an overall footprint of 287,000 sq. ft. Located at 30-32 Sir John Rogerson’s Quay, the Tropical Fruit Warehouse briefly comprises a six-storey office block developed within the structure of the last remaining original warehouse on the city’s quays. The Irish Times, 22nd August
O’Connell Street, Dublin 1 An investment property next door to the Clerys Quarter at 28 O’Connell Street, Dublin 1, is being offered for sale with a €3.5m guide price. The entire property is currently leased to Xenon Dental Services, trading as Smiles Dental, which is part of the British United Provident Association (BUPA) global health care group, at an annual rent of €160k. While this equates to a gross yield of 4.57%, its attractions as an investment include upward-only rent reviews, no break clauses on a lease with 19 years to run, as well as the financial strength of its tenant. With highly ornate ground-floor ceilings, the five-storey over basement Edwardian building extends to 4,666 sq. ft. It was originally designed as a bank. The Irish Independent, 18th August
Aerodrome Business Park, South-West Dublin Iron Mountain has inked an agreement with Irish property firm Iput Real Estate for the long-term lease of Unit Q at its Aerodrome Business Park in Dublin, Ireland. The US enterprise information management firm is set to occupy the newly built 162,000 sq. ft. facility, joining Life Style Sports, who has taken the 120,000 sq. ft. Unit G in 2021. Completed in July, Unit Q sits on a 7.8 acre site in the access-controlled park, and comprises a total of 13,265 sq. ft. of office space on three levels, along with 147,454 sq. ft. allocated for warehouse space. React News, 22nd August
Healthcare Portfolio, Ireland Developer Richard Barrett has sold a portfolio of four care homes to listed Belgian property group, Aedifica, in a €161m deal. The four properties – two Dublin nursing homes, Ireland’s largest step-down unit for patients leaving hospital and another nursing home currently in development – were owned by Bartra Healthcare. Loughshinny nursing home in Skerries, which opened in 2019, accommodates 125 people. Northwood nursing home in Santry, which has 121 beds and the Beaumont Lodge Health Service Executive transitional care unit in Artane, with 221 spaces, both opened in 2020. Clondalkin Lodge nursing home, which is currently under development, will offer 150 beds when it opens in the third quarter of next year. Bartra will continue to run the homes under long-term leases which, Aedifica says, will yield an initial net yield of c. 5%. It will also operate another Aedifica site in Crumlin. The Irish Times, 19th August
Stillorgan, South Dublin Kennedy Wilson has secured a €77m “green loan” from AIB to help fund the development of a large mixed-used development on the site of the former Stillorgan Leisureplex in south Dublin. The debt will be used to finance the development of 234 apartments, c. 19,913 sq. ft. of retail, restaurant and cafe space as well as resident amenities and a landscaped plaza at the Cornerstone scheme in Stillorgan on the site of the former Leisureplex. Kennedy Wilson bought the 2.5-acre site for €15m in 2016, a substantial reduction on the €65m which Johnny Ronan and Richard Barrett’s Treasury Holdings paid to acquire it in 2006. The Irish Times, 17th August
Donnybrook, Dublin 4 Plans for a 10-storey build-to-rent apartment scheme in Donnybrook has been given the green light by An Bord Pleanála. The development is earmarked for the site currently occupied by a Circle K filling station, opposite Donnybrook Stadium. The decision follows a revision by the developers, Red Rock Donnybrook Ltd, at the appeal stage to reduce the height of the development by two floors. The Irish Times, 17th August
The Crescent Building, Dublin 12 The cost of remediating fire-safety defects at a large Celtic Tiger-era apartment complex in west Dublin have tripled, rising from €5m to more than €15m. The Crescent Building in Dublin 12 comprises 10 blocks of 257 apartments and was built by a third-party contractor in 2003 as part of the larger Park West campus developed by Harcourt Developments. In June 2021, managing agent Keenan Property Management (KPM) – acting on behalf of the owners’ management company (OMC) – informed residents of the result of a fire-safety survey which found non-compliance with the fire-safety certificate in various parts of the building. The cost of remediating these issues was then believed to be c. €5m. However, residents were told recently that the cost had now risen to €15.9m, with the cost per apartment estimated at €68.5k. This cost includes a 30% contingency fund in the case of inflationary surge. The Irish Times, 19th August
Blackglen Road, South Dublin The environment and wildlife of south Dublin’s greenbelt is under threat from large-scale “urban-style” apartment developments, local residents and councillors say, following the upgrade of a rural road at the foot of the Dublin mountains. An application has already been submitted to An Bord Pleanála for a Strategic Housing Development (SHD) of just over 100 apartments and houses on the road, with a neighbouring SHD scheme of 400 apartments due to the submitted to the board this month. Heronbrook Properties has sought permission for 32 houses and 69 apartments in blocks up to four storeys tall on a site south of Blackglen Road, with An Bord Pleanála expected to issue a planning decision in the coming weeks. The Irish Times, 19th August
Newbridge, Co Kildare Applications will open on Monday afternoon for the latest cost-rental scheme, which will see housing association Tuath offer homes for rent in Co Kildare at up to 40% below market values. The 50 homes in Newbridge will be advertised on property website Daft.ie with rents of €1.13k for a two-bed and €1.3k for a three-bed home. Under the cost-rental system, rents are based on the cost of building, managing and maintaining the homes, and not market rates. Tenants also have long-term security, with leases running to several years available. The scheme is aimed at workers who earn too much to qualify for social housing supports but who cannot afford to buy or rent on the open market. It is open to households with a net income of up to €53k a year. The Irish Times, 22nd August
Howth Castle, Dublin 13 Plans for a retirement community and affordable housing on protected lands in the Dublin suburb of Howth have been set back following a council move to block rezoning. However, Tetrarch, the property investor that purchased 470 acres of land around Howth Castle in 2019, has commissioned market research on local demand for housing which it is now using in an attempt to win over local councillors. The company, which also plans to refurbish the castle and replace an existing hotel, is proposing 150 affordable homes — priced under €300k — for local residents via a housing agency alongside a retirement community across a total of 16.5 acres. The Irish Times, 20th August
Newtownmountkennedy, Co Wicklow An Bord Pleanála has granted planning permission to Dwyer Nolan for 179 new homes at Newtownmountkennedy in Co Wicklow. The appeals board has granted permission to the Dublin building firm for the 121 houses and 58 apartments despite Wicklow County Council recommending that the scheme be refused on a number of grounds. The developers are to sell 18 units to the council for social housing to comply with their Part V social housing obligations. The Irish Times, 22nd August
Affordable Housing, Ireland Clúid Housing, one of the biggest annual providers of affordable homes in the state, has warned top civil servants that its rate of housing delivery could grind to a halt by 2024. In a letter to the Housing for All investment workgroup, Brian O’Gorman, chief executive of Clúid, said many approved housing bodies (AHBs) “will have to reduce their delivery output to ensure financial stability and compliance” in the coming years. He added the manner in which AHBs fund the expansion of their portfolios of social and affordable housing, through 100% debt, poses a big risk to the government’s Housing for All’s plan that targets to reach 30,000 new homes a year by 2030. Clúid, a not-for-profit charity, has a portfolio of 9,000 affordable homes in Ireland. Last year, it delivered more than 960 new homes, which helped house 3,300 residents. Clúid derives most of its funding to deliver housing from the capital advance leasing facility (CALF) process. It is a simple interest 2% loan, which is paid back at the end of a 30-year period. The Business Post, 20th August
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State’s Office Rental Public money could be saved if the State built or bought buildings instead of renting them, an internal Government study has found. In one example, a modern office building used by public sector workers with a floor space covering 170,070 sq. ft. will cost the exchequer €374m to rent over its estimated 40-year lifespan. A new-build office would cost €299m, while buying an existing building the same size would cost €288m. This suggests that the savings from building or buying for that one block alone would be up to €86m. Over the five buildings analysed, the State could save €216m by buying or building rather than leasing. The sample of five buildings chosen are a small fraction of the State’s 2,500-strong property portfolio, valued at €3.3bn. 61% of the State’s property portfolio is currently owned, while 39% is leased/rented, together catering for c. 40,000 civil service and State agency staff. The study, prepared for the Government, has also suggested significant savings for the public purse could be made by moving civil servants out of the costliest rental office space in central Dublin to more suburban sites. Currently, more than half (53%) of all Civil Service staff is based in 215 buildings in Dublin, 56% of which are State-owned and 44% are leased. The capital accounts for 80% of the State’s total rental costs. 63% of State rental costs in Dublin are for office space in Dublin 1 and Dublin 2. The Irish Times, 19th August
An Bord Pleanála There is growing evidence that the recent turmoil in An Bord Pleanála (ABP) has slowed down its decision-making, with cases in the first half of this year taking an average of 24.1 weeks to finish, up from 17.5 weeks in the first half of last year. Planning appeals are supposed to be decided within a statutory period of 18 weeks, but the number of cases meeting this deadline dropped to 45% in the first half of this year, down from 59% in the same period in 2021. The delays in finalising cases could be exacerbated by a new requirement introduced by the housing minister that the board must provide him with monthly reports on corporate governance reforms. ABP took in 1,583 new cases during the first half of the year and disposed of 1,357. At present the board is adjudicating on a number of prominent appeals, several of which are already overdue. The Irish Times, 17th August
Property Fund Tax, Ireland A dramatic decline in taxes paid by large investment property funds has prompted a review by the Revenue Commissioners. New data released by Revenue has shown that the effective tax rate has fallen to 5.9% after IREFs paid €36.8m tax on a taxable amount of €621m in 2021, having paid €65.7m on €369m in 2020. In Ireland, large property groups and institutional investors use vehicles called Irish real estate funds (IREFs) to house more than €20bn worth of property assets. The Business Post, 20th August
Naas, Co Kildare 15 appeals have been lodged with An Bord Pleanála by parties seeking to block plans for a solar farm on 277 acres in Co Kildare. The development by Strategic Power Projects Limited for a site 2.5km south of Naas in the rural townlands of Swordlestown North and South is being opposed by the owners of stud farms in the county. The applicant originally sought planning permission for a solar farm across 319 acres comprising 230,688 PV panels and this has been reduced to an area of 277 acres involving the erection of 197,010 PV panels after revised plans were lodged in response to a request by Kildare County Council for further information. A decision is due to be made by An Bord Pleanála in December. The Irish Times, 19th August
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Ringsend, Dublin 2 Blackstone has secured a €90m+ sale of an office in Dublin that is home to Google and Pfizer. French investor Corum Asset Management has agreed a deal to buy the Watermarque, a fully leased 107,500 sq. ft. office block in the South Docks. CBRE had been instructed to sell the Watermarque building by Blackstone, which is 80% leased to Google and Pfizer but also home to Unipol and News UK, off a circa €100m guide price. Blackstone, after acquiring the property through the purchase of Starwood’s €535m Cedar portfolio, invested significant capex to upgrade the asset. The asset provides a WAULT of c. seven years to breaks and a little less than 10 years to expiry. Pfizer didn’t exercise a recent break option, committing to another 10 years. The average passing rent of the building is €47 per sq. ft. React News, 16th August
Sandyford, Dublin 18 Cubic Telecom has taken out a long-term lease for c. 30,000 sq. ft. of Sandyford office building The Hive, in what is the second-largest office letting in the Dublin suburbs this year. The letting, by HWBC to the Irish software company, includes an option to expand. The former Ballymoss House was redeveloped into The Hive by developer U+I and partners Colony Capital, with the project completed in 2019. 26,000 sq. ft. of office space remains available in the building. The Irish Times, 15th August
Debenhams Stores, Cork and Dublin Two buildings in Dublin and Cork previously occupied by British retail giant Debenhams are now on the market for a combined €75m. Receivers Grant Thornton were appointed by Bank of Ireland earlier this year to oversee the sale of the properties, and property group Cushman & Wakefield has now been appointed as agent for the sales. Both properties have remained empty since Debenhams shut the stores in May 2020. The Henry Street building comprises four-storeys over a basement directly opposite the Arnotts department store. It encompasses c. 210,000 sq. ft. with 60m of frontage on to Henry Street. The property occupies a site area of c. one acre and is guiding €55m. As part of this sale, there is an existing licence with Zara which has traded on the site since 2003. It currently occupies c. 20,000 sq. ft. at ground and second floor level with additional storage on the third floor.
The building in Cork extends to c. 153,000 sq. ft., primarily comprising retail, ancillary stores, staff accommodation and plant rooms. The overall site extends to c. 1.2 acres. It is guiding €20m on the property. The Irish Times, 10th August
Grafton Street, Dublin 2 Paul Sheeran Jewellers has agreed a deal with investment group Hines to lease the entire ground floor of a new Chatham & King development off Grafton Street, where he plans to sell watches from some of the biggest luxury watch brands. This will involve a €4m investment by Sheeran and the watch manufacturers for units covering more than 7,000 sq. ft. on 10-year leases. The Chatham & King portfolio comprises more than 106,000 sq. ft. of prime retail and offices space as well as six residential units. It is owned and managed by the Hines European Core Fund (HECF). Tenants include global data analytics management firm Qualtrics, and retailers Zara and H&M. The Irish Times, 12th August
Staycity Aparthotel, Dublin City Centre Bain Capital, an American private equity fund, has sold a 340-unit Staycity aparthotel in Dublin city centre to Song Capital Partners, a UK and European investment firm, for €100m. The deal is one of the largest stand-alone real estate sales in the hospitality sector since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. The aparthotel, on Little Mary Street in the markets area of Dublin’s north inner city, is due to start trading on September 5 and will be operated on a 25-year lease by Staycity. The acquisition is London-based Song Capital’s first purchase in the Irish market. The Sunday Times, 14th August
Oliver Plunkett Street, Cork A planning application has been lodged by a Cork hospitality group to transform the former Brennan’s Cookshop on Oliver Plunkett Street into a new wine bar. Phoenix Street Social Ltd, which is directed by Cork publican Benny McCabe, lodged an application with Cork City Council this week seeking permission to make changes to the building. According to the application, the group wishes to open a wine bar and art gallery at the 7 Oliver Plunkett St premises. If permission is granted for the new Oliver Plunkett St plan, it would bring the number of the group’s developments in Cork City to nearly 20. The proposal is in pre-validation with the council, with a decision expected by early October. The Irish Examiner, 12th August
Waterville, Co Kerry Press Up group has acquired the Butler Arms Hotel in Waterville, Co Kerry, for an undisclosed amount. Located on the seafront in the picturesque village on the Ring of Kerry coastline, the 60-bedroom hotel has been in operation for more than 100 years under four generations of the Huggard family, who recently made the decision to sell the property. The Business Post, 13th August
Clonshaugh Business and Technology Park, Dublin 17 Dublin City Council has approved an application made by Amazon through Colliers Properties for permission to construct two new data centres on a 9.27-acre site in Clonshaugh Business and Technology Park. The new data centres will be housed in two new two-storey buildings which will have a gross floor area respectively of 138,585 sq. ft. and 15,554 sq. ft. on a site of the former Ricoh building which is earmarked for demolition. The larger building will have two additional mezzanine levels. Amazon has estimated that between 15 and 58 staff will work at the data centres over a 24-hour period, while up to 400 staff will be employed during the construction phase of the project. Through the use of an innovative cooling solution, Amazon said the two new data centres would use as little as 264,000 litres of water for cooling annually. The Irish Independent, 14th August
Merrion Road, Dublin 4 Ires Reit has taken delivery of 69 apartments at the Tara View scheme in Merrion Road, Dublin 4, for €47.1m. Ires Reit announced that it has completed the purchase of the residential units delivered by a subsidiary of Dalata Hotels Group as part of its redevelopment of the old Tara Towers Hotel site. First announced in 2018, Ires Reit said on Monday that the deal for Tara View — which includes 69 apartments, town houses and car park spaces — closed at the original price settled upon when the forward purchase agreement was signed four years ago. It is expected to generate a gross yield on cost of 5.6%. The Irish Times, 15th August
Kinsale Road, Cork A High Court challenge has been brought against An Bord Pleanála’s decision to grant planning permission for over 600 new residential units in Cork. The challenge relates to the board’s decision of June 16th last to grant permission for the construction of over 560 apartments and 48 town house apartments, a creche and associated works at the former CMP Dairy Site, known as Creamfields, near Kinsale Road and Tramore Road in Cork. The proposed development consists of c. 12 buildings with one 15 storeys in height, with two others being nine storeys tall. The matter was briefly mentioned before Ms Justice Leonie Reynolds at the High Court. The judge adjourned the action to a date in October, when the new legal term commences. The Irish Times, 10th August
Terenure, Dublin 6W Dublin City Council has refused planning permission for a seven-storey, 364-unit, build-to-rent apartment scheme on former playing pitches at Terenure College in Dublin. The Carmelite Order – which runs Terenure College and owns the substantial landbank at the college – had said the development would help secure the future viability of the college. The plan by Lioncor – which also includes 21 houses which would be sold – comprises four apartment blocks rising to seven storeys in height and are made up of 15 studios, 166 one-bed apartments, 174 two-bed apartments and nine three-bed units. However, the council has refused planning permission to the Large Scale Residential Development (LRD) application after 240 objections were lodged. The Irish Times, 15th August
Ballycullen, South Dublin A Celtic Tiger-era apartment development in south Dublin is facing possible enforcement procedures from Dublin Fire Brigade. The 200-unit Hunterswood complex in Ballycullen, south Dublin, is a large development consisting of houses, apartment blocks and duplexes, with c. 655-units in total, and c. 2,000 residents. An independent consultant examined a number of the apartment blocks, known as Hunters Hall, and the duplex apartments, in November 2020 and concluded that there were several shortcomings which related to regulations around the means of escape and the internal fire spread, as set out in the main fire safety regulation. The development was in the news in 2018 when it emerged that the balconies on some of the apartments had decayed and become unsafe to stand on, requiring them to be replaced. According to market sources, the cost of fixing the balconies is estimated at c. €2m, but that most have not been completed, due to a lack of funds. The cost of remedying the fire safety breaches could be between €6m and €8m. The Business Post, 13th August
BNP ROI Construction PMI Activity in Ireland’s construction sector fell for a second month in a row in July amid sharply rising costs and a drop-off in demand. The company’s July purchasing managers’ index (PMI) indicates that overall activity across the residential, civil engineering and commercial construction sub-sectors declined last month. The decline in activity was most notable in the residential sector. Housing activity declined “substantially” in July following an only marginal fall in June, according to John McCartney, Director & Head of Research at BNP Paribas Real Estate Ireland. Commercial projects saw the slowest fall in activity but the rate of contraction was still “marked overall” and accelerated from June to July. New orders decreased across the board for the fourth month in a row. Builders also sought to rein spending against a backdrop of sharply rising input prices, reducing their purchasing in July. On a more positive note, the rate of inflation fell to a 15-month low in July. Employment levels within the construction sector also remained relatively stable in July, Mr. McCartney said. BNP ROI Construction PMI, 15th August
Vacant Sites, Ireland New records show local authorities told the Department of Housing that loopholes in the vacant site levy rules have allowed owners to avoid c. €40m worth of levies since 2018. The levy commenced as a 3% penalty on the value of the land, due at the beginning of each year, and rose to 7% in January 2020. In total, €54.6m in levies have been issued to landowners since 2018, however, following successful appeals against the fines, only €43.9m worth of these levies are still valid. The documents show that local authorities have collected €4m worth of levies and that €39.9m of valid levies are still outstanding. When the vacant site levy rules were first introduced, local authorities identified more than €167.4m worth of unused property in 2018. The value of vacant property being tracked in Ireland reached a high of €292.5m at the beginning of 2021. The most recent records show there is now €175.4m worth of vacant property being monitored. The Business Post, 13th August
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Grand Canal Street, Dublin 2 Joint agents Bagnall Doyle MacMahon and CBRE have sold Becky Morgan’s pub on Grand Canal Street in Dublin 2 after a protracted closing period. It is understood the property sold for over its €1.3m guide price after a competitive bidding process. The property was eventually acquired by a consortium of business people headed up by publican John McCormack, who plans a major revamp in the coming weeks before re-opening. Becky Morgan’s, located in the heart of Googleland, is a long-established licensed premises which occupies a prominent trading position at the intersection of Grand Canal Street and Macken Street. The well-appointed, three-storey over basement property extends to c. 2,443 sq. ft. and comprises a ground floor lounge bar, a first floor bar/function room and a second floor catering kitchen. The Business Post, 5th August
Kinsale, Co Cork Admore Group is expected to start works soon building a new €8m distillery, brewery, bar and visitor centre for the family behind Blacks Brewery and Distillery in Kinsale, Co Cork. The complex is being built on a brown field site which was home to a T-shirt factory and before that a factory that made high-end sports cars, and previous to that a factory that made boats. Works are expected to take c. 18 months to complete. The Business Post, 5th August
Camden Quay, Cork Conack Construction in Limerick has commenced works on the development of a new €17.9m 3-star Moxy Hotel & Residence Inn at Camden Quay in Cork City. The 84,572 sq. ft. project will have a total of 194 bedrooms. The Business Post, 5th August
Stephens Green, Dublin 2 Average room rates at the five-star Shelbourne Hotel increased marginally between April and June, as the Dublin economy continued to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic. The average daily rate at the hotel increased 2.7% to €356.43 during the second quarter of the year, according to the latest earnings from investment firm Kennedy Wilson, which owns the hotel. As much as 80% of hotel rooms in the city for June had been booked in advance by the end of May, according to industry group the Irish Hotels Federation. That is well up on the 65% of rooms booked at the same point in 2019. The Irish Times, 4th August
South Docks, Cork Cork City Council has granted conditional planning permission for an office and residential project costing at least €350m. O’Callaghan Properties originally revealed details of the project in November 2021, when the total cost of the investment was put at €350m, and although no current figures are available from the company, it is expected to now be higher due to construction inflation in the last six months. The project involves the construction of four new buildings, ranging in height from nine to 12 storeys, and will provide a total of more than 990,280 sq. ft. of development space which will include office, residential, retail and a 130-bed private hospital run by French group Orpea. According to market sources, the development will include c. 452,084 sq. ft. of office space and c. 161,460 sq. ft. of residential space, while the hospital will occupy c. 150,695 sq. ft. in a triangular-shaped, specially-designed building. The Irish Times, 2nd August
Abbey Street Upper, Dublin 1 Dublin City Council has given the green light for an 11-storey high hotel building on Dublin’s Abbey Street Upper. The 252-bedroom hotel is part of a mixed-use scheme by applicants Abbey Street DevCo Ltd that also includes a 10-storey, 222-bedroom apart-hotel fronting on to Great Stand Street. The scheme also includes two retail units at ground-floor level. The grant of planning permission for the mixed-use scheme follows An Bord Pleanála refusing planning permission for a build-to-rent apartment scheme comprising 227 apartments at the site in December 2021. Underlining the scale of the scheme, the city council has ordered the firm to pay planning contributions totalling €3.48m towards public infrastructure and the Luas C1 line scheme. The Irish Times, 2nd August
Housing Construction Delays The delivery of thousands of homes in central Dublin, including most of the 3,800 apartments being developed on the former Glass Bottle site by a Johnny Ronan-led consortium, is at risk due to water and electricity shortages. The group behind the project to develop the Glass Bottle site has issued a series of warnings to senior state officials through A&L Goodbody, the legal firm, that more than 2,000 homes in the project will be delayed for an undefined period due to matters outside their control. Memos sent to the Department of Housing and Dublin City Council said a required water pumping station will not be constructed by Irish Water for at least six years, which will stall the development of 2,293 homes. In the memos, the developers detailed other issues beyond Irish Water which they claim will also delay many homes. They said phase two of the Glass Bottle development will be delayed because of energy capacity constraints, and that it remains unclear when ESB can build the required infrastructure to supply power to the new homes. Several other developers, who are collectively overseeing the delivery of thousands of new homes in central Dublin, believe that the lack of certainty around timelines for electricity and water connections to their sites was putting completion dates at risk. The Business Post, 7th August
Parkwest, Dublin 12 Marblegate Limited has completed works on the €3m material alterations and change of use to the existing office Blocks 70 and 72 in Parkwest, Dublin 12. Works include an additional floor to both blocks and change of use to 84 open-plan residential apartments with a shared car park basement level, storage and plant areas. The Business Post, 5th August
Raheny, Dublin 5 Earlsfort Homes has begun works on site on the construction of the €23.1m seven-storey residential development (comprising four adjoining multi-storey cores) over a common single basement level and associated ESB substation at Station Road, Raheny, Dublin 5. The project breakdown provides for 51 one-bedroom apartments and 54 two-bedroom apartments. The Business Post, 5th August
Lehenaghmore, Cork Cork City Council has submitted a Part 8 Planning application for the construction of 45 houses at Lehenaghmore, a proposed €8.7m development in the city. It comprises the construction of a residential development of 14 three-bedroom, semi-detached houses, 21 three-bedroom townhouses and 10 two-bedroom townhouses. The development is situated on a 4.42-acre site in the townland of Lehenaghmore to the south of Cork city centre. A decision is expected to be made on the application by October. The Business Post, 5th August
Glanmire, Co Cork Cork City Council has submitted a Part 8 Planning application to build 78 apartments and two houses in Glanmire. The planned €12.8m development comprises building four three-storey blocks containing seven three-bedroom duplex apartments, three two-bedroom ground floor apartments, eight two-bedroom duplex apartment and 12 one-bedroom ground floor apartments. Two four-storey apartment blocks contain 16 three-bedroom apartments, 16 two-bedroom apartments and 16 one-bedroom apartments. The subdivision of the former three-storey Coach House will provide two two-bedroom units over two floors, with storage/bike parking at lower ground floor level. The Business Post, 5th August
Harold’s Cross, Dublin 6W The Adroit Company has submitted a planning application for a €30m Strategic Housing Development at Harold’s Bridge, Harold’s Cross Road, Dublin 6W. The proposed development provides for 194 dwellings comprised of studio, one, two and three-bed apartment four blocks of between two and nine storeys. The development also includes a commercial/retail unit at ground floor level of Block A, a creche at ground floor level of Block C and 22 artist work studios and exhibition space at ground and first floor level of Block D, all on a site area of 2.5 acres with a decision expected in November 2022. The Business Post, 5th August
Saggart, West Dublin Developer Tetrarch Capital has been granted approval for a residential development at Saggart, West Dublin. An Bord Pleanála gave the permission despite the Department of Defence’s objection due to concerns that the project could “negatively impact flight operations in the vicinity of Casement Aerodrome”. The development will provide 51 homes, 38 duplexes and 177 apartments and a creche at Mill Road, near Citywest Hotel. In granting approval, the board set 30 conditions, which include reducing the apartment block by two storeys. Tetrach originally proposed to build 275 homes and the total number has now been reduced. The Irish Times, 5th August
Rental Market The number of termination notices received by the Residential Tenancies Board rose by 58% in the first six months of 2022 compared to the previous six months. There were 2,913 eviction notices served so far in 2022 compared to 1,845 in the last six months of 2021. A ban on evictions during the lockdown periods of the Covid-19 pandemic last year lowered the number of termination notices. However, the eviction moratorium was lifted in April 2021, and numbers have been rising significantly since then. The figures were released by the Residential Tenancies Board. The Irish Times, 8th August
Walkinstown, Dublin 12 An Bord Pleanála has refused planning permission for a 12-storey, 633 unit build-to-rent scheme beside Brennan’s bakery in Walkinstown. Steeplefield Ltd had sought permission for four apartment blocks ‘at the former Chadwicks builder’s yard that forms part of the Greenhill industrial estate in Walksintown, Dublin 12. The scheme is made up of 292 one-bedroom apartments, 255 two-bedroom four person units, 25 two-bedroom three person units and 61 three bedroom units. An Bord Pleanála refused planning permission on several grounds. In its decision to refuse, the appeals board stated that the proposed development in its current form “would be contrary to the REGEN zoning objective for the site”. The Irish Times, 2nd August
Banagher, Co Offaly It is understood that the €40m abattoir extension to Banagher Chilling Abattoir in Co Offaly has been escalated to the High Court following the approval of the scheme in June 2022 by An Bord Pleanála. The project includes a 92,333 sq. ft. extension to the abattoir and the construction of a food processing factory of 53,012 sq. ft. with a partial first floor of 24,746 sq. ft. That includes processing rooms, cold store, loading bay, chill rooms, plant rooms, staff changing rooms, staff canteen and administration offices. The Business Post, 5th August
Arklow, Co Wicklow An Bord Pleanála has approved planning permission for the development of the €28m Arklow Flood Relief Scheme in Co Wicklow. The scheme has been designed to withstand a one in 100-year flood event from the Avoca River (fluvial) as well as a one in 200-year tidal flood event. The Business Post, 5th August
Kent Station, Cork Iarnród Éireann has applied to Cork City Council seeking permission for extensions and alterations to the existing Kent Station, across c. 147,735 sq. ft. The proposed development works, taking place within the curtilage of the protected structure, are designed to facilitate the through-running of commuter services. They include a double-sided, 220m long, and 6m extension to the existing platform 5, which will increase the existing platform and result in the creation of a new platform 6. The reinstatement of a disused platform and the removal of a redundant signal cabin are also proposed. Planners at Cork City Council will assess the plans over the coming weeks, with a decision due by September 21st. The Irish Examiner, 4th August
Local Authority Home Loan Scheme More than half the applications made under the Government’s Local Authority Home Loan scheme so far this year have been rejected. The scheme, which provides State-backed mortgages to first-time buyers and fresh-start applicants who have been refused a mortgage or offered insufficient finance from traditional lenders, is one of several Government initiatives to help people get on the property ladder. It provides mortgages for up to 90% of the market value of the property. The Housing Agency assesses the applications but the relevant local authorities have the final say. Figures obtained from the Department of Housing show that of the 1,310 applications received and assessed between January and the end of June this year, 586 were recommended for approval while 724 (55% of the total) were recommended for rejection. Cork County Council received the most applications (144) followed by Dublin City Council (117), South Dublin (88); Louth (85) and Fingal (84). The Irish Times, 8th August
Unoccupied Properties, Ireland The majority of 108 unoccupied properties and sites in the Office of Public Works (OPW) portfolio have been vacant since at least 2013, while a small number have lain unused for almost half a century. The Minister of State for the OPW, Patrick O’Donovan, has disclosed there are 70 vacant buildings in the OPW portfolio and 38 unused sites. 47 of the vacant properties are Garda stations and residences, closed in 2012 and 2013 as part of the austerity programme of the Fine Gael and Labour coalition. After a decade of lying idle, most of the former Garda stations were now being considered for transfer to local authorities or for sale. A total of 20 are described as being prepared for disposal by auction or sale during 2022 or 2023. The Irish Times, 7th August
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