25 South William Street, Dublin 2 QRE Real Estate Advisers is seeking offers in excess of €1.25m for a mixed-use, four-storey over basement Georgian property at 25 South William Street in Dublin 2. No. 25 extends to approx. 3,153 sq. ft and has a small yard at the rear. On the ground floor, which extends to approx. 1,108 sq. ft, is a vacant, partially fitted retail unit with ancillary storage at the rear. The basement comprises a vacant retail unit at the front with independent access from street level. At the rear of the basement are two large storage rooms, one of which is held under a short-term licence. The first floor is in retail use and is subject to a short-term lease. The second floor accommodates a well-proportioned one-bed apartment, subject to a tenancy. The third floor comprises a vacant one-bed apartment, which can be let at the full open market rent. The total current passing rent is €44.6k pa, although QRE suggests a full occupation reversionary rental yield of approx. 10%, which could exceed €135k pa. The Business Post, 28th July
Guinness Quarter, Dublin 8 Following a revised application, property group Ballymore has been granted planning permisson to develop a €266m scheme that forms part of Diageo’s St James’s Gate Guinness brewery lands in Dublin 8. The site contains a number of protected structures including 61-82 James’s Street, James’s Street gateway, and sits beside the Guinness building and the Guinness storehouse. The development includes two new hotels, five commercial office buildings, six residential buildings of 336 units, a market hall, food hall, community and public realm spaces. The Business Post, 29th July
Dundrum, Dublin 14 The two owners of Dundrum Town Centre – Ireland’s largest shopping centre – are in the market to refinance €600m of debt held against the asset. Pimco Prime Real Estate (formerly Allianz Real Estate) and joint venture partner Hammerson have mandated Eastdil Secured to source a new debt package for the prime Dublin retail hub. Hammerson and Pimco want to replace an existing club facility from a trio of lenders that expires later next year. Dundrum Town Centre, 1.2m sq. ft in size and with approx. 170 tenants, produced €48m in annual rent in 2022, according to Hammerson. React News, 31st July
Smithfield, Dublin 7 Ireland’s National Transport Authority (NTA) has leased 80,000 sq. ft for a new office headquarters in Dublin. In the region’s largest letting of the second quarter, NTA is relocating to Haymarket House, a development by Linders Property Group in Smithfield. NTA is bringing its staff, currently based across four locations, under one roof. It currently has an office at Iveagh Court on Harcourt Lane and also leases space from WeWork in the city. The state agency is expected to occupy the building from early 2024. React News, 1st August
Sir John Rogerson’s Quay, Dublin 2 Dublin City Council has told TikTok that its plans to close off a planned cafe to the public at its Dublin headquarters “is likely to create a precedent for similar type undesirable development”. Documents on TikTok Technology Ltd’s planning application reveal the Council told the social media giant in a pre-planning meeting that its application to close off the cafe to the public at TikTok’s Tropical Fruit Warehouse on Sir John Rogerson’s Quay due to security considerations “will not be encouraged”. TikTok Technology Ltd is seeking a change of use from the permitted cafe/restaurant to office floorspace. No objections have been lodged against the proposal and the Council is due to make a decision on the application. The Irish Independent, 28th July
Industrial Lettings, South Dublin M7 Real Estate has recently completed several light industrial lettings at Westlink Industrial Estate and Greenogue Business Park in south Dublin. Unit 4 Westlink Industrial Estate extends to 5,900 sq. ft and has been let to Lifesize Plans on a new long-term lease as part of its global franchise rollout. The unit had undergone extensive refurbishment works in recent months. At Greenogue Business Park, a total of five new leases were agreed in the scheme in the last 12-month period and, with the completion of the final letting in recent weeks, the scheme is now fully occupied. Next Level Aviation, a Florida based aircraft parts company, took Units A1, A2 and A3, extending to a total of 6,662 sq. ft. Units A5 (2,088 sq. ft) and A6 (2,104 sq. ft) have been let to Cosy Campers, a camper van conversion specialist, and Detailing HQ, which provides specialist ceramic coating for vehicles. The Business Post, 28th July
Ringsend, Dublin 4 The consortium developing the former Irish Glass Bottle site in Dublin said it had offered 86 affordable housing units to the Department of Housing in addition to 57 social units that will form part of the first phase of the project. However, just 25 of the 86 have so far been taken up. The offer was made to fulfil the developers’ commitments under the overall planning scheme for the site, which will include 570 homes. The consortium, which includes Ronan Group Real Estate, US private-equity firm Oaktree and Lioncor, a development company jointly owned by Oaktree and Dublin-based Alanis Capital, recently acquired Nama’s remaining 20% stake in the project. The largest vacant plot in the capital is expected to ultimately deliver up to 3,800 homes, 25% of which are earmarked for social and affordable housing. The partners secured planning approval from Dublin City Council in February for a further 324 homes and associated facilities. It is anticipated that works will commence on site for this phase later this year. The Irish Times, 27th July
Dundrum, Dublin 14 A south Dublin property developer is seeking to block 852 homes the Land Development Agency is planning to build on the former Central Mental Hospital site in Dundrum. Legal papers filed last week have called for a stay on the development of the project, known as Dundrum Central. The site of the Central Mental Hospital is currently being used to house asylum seekers in tented accommodation, with reports suggesting that up to 176 international protection applicants could ultimately be accommodated on the site. The Business Post, 30th July
Planning Permission Exemption Darragh O’Brien, Minister for Housing, has signed an order to allow vacant buildings to be used to house refugees for five years without planning permission. The buildings will have a planning permission exemption up until 2028, which is far longer than the original two-year exemption originally announced. The state is currently carrying out emergency refurbishment on approx. 59 vacant buildings to provide accommodation for 3,000 Ukrainian refugees for up to two years. The vacant buildings being refurbished include former hotels, hostels, convents, monasteries and army barracks. But a report for O’Brien’s department said the funding required to bring them back into use was “too great” for the properties to be used for just two years to house Ukrainian refugees. The Business Post, 31st July
Centre Park Road and Monahan Road, Cork A €350m large scale residential development planning application has been submitted to Cork City Council by Leeside Quays Ltd, a subsidiary of O’Callaghan Properties, for a 10-year planning permission for a large scheme at the Goulding’s site, Centre Park Road and Monahan Road in Cork. The proposed development consists of the demolition of the existing on-site buildings and structures and site clearance to facilitate the construction of 1,325 residential units including apartments and duplexes in 10 buildings. The Business Post, 29th July
Cherrywood, South Co Dublin Dun Laoghaire Rathdown has given a subsidiary of US private equity giant Lone Star, LSREF V Eden M1 Ltd, permission for a €52m development of 283 homes and a crèche at Laughanstown in Cherrywood, the government-designated Strategic Development Zone project in South Dublin. The planning provides for a four-storey block of 59 apartments, a four-storey block of 63 apartments, another four-storey block of 62 apartments, and a five-storey block of 55 apartments. The plans also include 28 duplexes, 16 houses, and a three-storey crèche block with 317 surface and basement car park spaces. The Business Post, 29th July
Brownsbarn, Dublin 24 Citywest Homes Development has commenced building the first 29 houses of a total of 112 dwellings on lands just south of Citywest Avenue at Brownsbarn in Dublin 24. The development comprises 90 three and four-bed houses and 22 one and two bed apartments in a four-storey apartment building. Access to the development will be via Garter Avenue. The site of 9.24 acres is bounded to the east by the N82 Citywest Road, to the north-west by Garter Avenue and to the south by lands that will be developed as a neighbourhood park. The Business Post, 29th July
2022 Census Data A huge jump in the number of older people living in rental accommodation and a significant increase in the rents tenants pay have been revealed in the latest Census 2022 data. The number of people aged 65 and over who are living in rented accommodation has increased by 83% since the last census, bringing the number to approx. 17,000 households. Meanwhile, Ireland’s average weekly rent has increased by 37% to €273 between 2016 and 2022. The amount of accommodation owned without a mortgage or loan increased by 11% to approx. 680,000, while the number owned with a mortgage or loan fell by 1%. The Irish Times, 28th July
Airbnb Listings There has been a 57% increase in Airbnb properties available to let in Dublin in the last year. Properties actively listed for short-term let in the capital grew from 2,617 in June 2022 to 4,099 in June 2023, according to figures compiled by AirDNA, a data analytics company. Nationally the number of properties on Airbnb grew 11% in the past year to 24,172. Legislation introduced in 2019 requires landlords in rent pressure zones to apply to their local authority for planning permission to change the use of the property to short-term lets. Planning authorities can take legal action if a property does not have the required permission, or when the terms of the permission have not been met. However, some leasing properties on Airbnb have largely ignored the measures and there has been little to no enforcement. The Sunday Times, 30th July
Housing Completions The number of housing units completed in the State increased by approx. 5.4% in the first six months of the year, the CSO has said. The second-quarter slowdown was particularly apparent in the apartment sector. A total of 7,353 new dwellings of all types were completed in the second quarter of the year. Added to the 6,716 units completed in the first quarter of 2023, it brings to 14,069 the total number of units finished in the year so far. However, the number of completions in the three months to the end of June was down 3.5% on the same period last year, driven by a steep decline in apartment completions. Approx. 1,897 apartments were brought to completion over the period, down 18.7% on the second quarter of 2022. Dwellings completed as part of a scheme development, meanwhile, increased by 2% to 4,017 representing more than half (54.6%) of the total. Single dwelling completions were also up by 7.2% in the quarter to 1,439. There is broad consensus that the number of housing units completed this year will fall short of last year’s total of 29,000 and well below the Government’s original Housing for All Target of 33,000. The Irish Times, 26th July
Banking and Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) Report The number of mortgages drawn down in the second quarter of 2023 slumped approx. a fifth, the first time there has been a contraction since the onset of the Covid-19 crisis, new data shows. A report from BPFI shows a total of 9,896 new mortgages to the value of €2.8bn were drawn down by borrowers during the second quarter of 2023. That was a decrease of 17.4% in volume and 11.9% in value on the corresponding second quarter of 2022. A comparison with the previous quarter shows a decrease of 5.7% in volume and 3.6% in value. First-time buyers remained the single largest segment by volume (60.3%) and by value (61.5%). Re-mortgage and switching volumes and values fell by 63.8% and 63.1% YoY respectively. The Irish Times, 26th July
Sandymount, Dublin 4 Lansdowne Football Club – the Dublin-based rugby union – has completed its reported €7m purchase of the YMCA Cricket Club grounds off Claremont Road in Sandymount, Dublin 4. This follows formal approval for the deal from the Charities Regulator and will allow Lansdowne to roll out additional rugby facilities for club members. The lands, which cover 6.6 acres, are accessed from Claremont Road and comprise a large surface car park with parking for approx. 40 cars. The Business Post, 31st July
Clonmelsh Quarry, Co Carlow Carlow-based concrete and quarrying giant Dan Morrissey Ireland Ltd (DMIL) is to have its main asset put up for sale. QRE Real Estate Advisers has been instructed by receivers Grant Thornton to find a buyer for Clonmelsh Quarry, a 332-acre facility located 6km from Carlow Town. The quarry, which is fully operational, is being offered to the market along with three adjacent parcels of land distributed across 109 acres, at a guide price of €7.4m. The quarry is currently licensed to Plazamount Ltd, trading as Dan Morrissey & Co under a rolling licence agreement from April 2018 at an annual licence fee of €270k. The most significant of the three other land parcels comprises a prime agricultural holding of 95 acres. The two smaller holdings, known as the Powerstown and Ballybar lands, extend to 12 acres and two acres respectively. The portfolio is being offered for sale in one or more lots. The Irish Times, 26th July
BNP Paribas Real Estate (BNPPRE) Report Commercial property investment almost halved between the first and second quarters of 2023, with market turnover between April and June at its weakest in six years, according to new research. Investment dropped 47% in the three months to June and was down 73% on the same period in 2022, as the Irish market suffered the third sharpest slowdown in Europe. €333.4m was invested in commercial property in Q2, according to new data compiled by BNPPRE. This is down from €625m in Q1, with interest among foreign investors plunging. The slowdown has been attributed to little distress in the market that would force property owners to sell-up and the slow adjustment of asking prices to the small size of the Dublin market. Market performance for the remainder of the year will hinge on monetary policy and price discovery, according to the report. BNPPRE is predicting activity to remain down for the remainder of the year, but is hopeful the market will rebound in 2024. The Business Post, 31st July
AIB Impairment Charge AIB has booked an impairment charge of €91m in the first half of the year due to falling commercial property values. Announcing half year results, the lender said it had taken a net credit impairment charge of €91m to “address the potential adverse impacts from higher interest rates and lower valuations” in the commercial property sector. Market analysts are projecting that commercial property values across retail, industrial, logistics, office and residential units will fall between 10 and 20% this year in response to the changing economic environment. The Business Post, 28th July
If you have an article which you would like to have considered for inclusion in our next weekly report, please contact us at info@origincapital.ie
Davy Real Estate A fund controlled by property investor Davy Real Estate has completed two deals totalling €103.5m to acquire seven of Ireland’s regional shopping centres. The fund has snapped up Kennedy Wilson’s Marshes Shopping Centre in Dundalk for €29.5m. The investor has also just clinched a collection of six regional shopping centres from Pat Doherty’s Harcourt Developments for €75m. Dubbed the Hexagon portfolio, the deal comprises Donaghmede Shopping Centre in Dublin; Letterkenny Shopping Centre in Donegal; Laois Shopping Centre in Portlaoise; Galway Shopping Centre; Parkway Shopping Centre in Limerick and the Longwalk Centre in Dundalk, Co Louth. The price Davy paid for the properties represent a 26% discount on the €100m guiding price set by JLL, under the instructions of receivers KPMG. React News, 24th July
Dundrum, Dublin 14 Dunnes Stores is to open a new store at Dundrum Town Centre in Dublin later this year. Hammerson, the real estate developer that operates the shopping centre, said the retailer will take up 200,000 sq. ft of space at Dundrum Town Centre to mark its debut at the shopping centre in October. Hammerson said that Superdrug will also change 8,000 sq. ft of retail space into a new cosmetics store, while Western Union, the financial services company, also plans to open a new workspace there. The Business Post, 25th July
Limerick and Navan Realty Income Corporation, a US investment giant, has entered the Irish market with the purchase of two retail parks. It has paid €45.9m for CityEast retail park in Limerick and Blackwater retail park in Navan, Co Meath. Eden Capital was the vendor of both properties. It purchased the retail parks in 2020 and 2021. Retailers at CityEast include B&Q and Harvey Norman, while Blackwater has Woodie’s and Currys among its tenants. The Sunday Times, 22nd July
Retail Sector Bricks and mortar retail has seen a rebound in Dublin city centre with increased occupancy levels on the two high streets and this is reflected in increased rents. Mary St, College Green, Duke St and South Anne St have also seen new letting deals in the last six months. That’s according to the latest CBRE survey of the retail property market. At the end of June, the vacancy rate in Grafton St was 13.2% with 12 units vacant. Henry St vacancy was 11.9% with five units vacant. According to CBRE, prime rents have risen on both streets with prime Zone A rents on Grafton St up 8% to €515 per sq. ft. This renewed confidence in retail was also seen in Q2 investment deals with €128m worth of deals accounting for 40% of the total investment which was the highest proportion of spend for the first time since Q4 2016. The Irish Independent, 20th July
George’s Quay, Dublin 2 Corum Asset Management, the active Paris-based investor, has concluded two Dublin office purchases totalling over €110m. Henderson Park has sold a portion of its huge George’s Quay office complex to Corum. The French group is understood to have paid approx. €80m (NIY approx. 6%). Last week, Corum paid Spear Street Capital €33.4m (NIY 6.15%) for a 69,000 sq. ft building on the Cherrywood campus in south Dublin. Henderson Park attempted to sell George’s Quay, the largest single asset picked up by Nick Weber’s firm in the Green REIT portfolio it acquired in 2019 for €1.34bn, in September 2020 when it was launched to market with a €400m price tag. The complex – George’s Quay Plaza, George’s Quay House and George’s Court – totals close to 350,000 sq. ft. React News, 25th July
Dundalk, Co Louth The Tifco Hotel Group has secured approx. €11m from the sale of the Crowne Plaza Dundalk to East Coast Catering Ireland Ltd. The Crowne Plaza Dundalk briefly comprises 129 guest bedrooms and suites along with nine meeting rooms, conference facilities, a gym, a rooftop restaurant on its 13th floor, a bar/restaurant and coffee bar at ground-floor level, and a 160-space surface car park. The Crowne Plaza is East Coast Catering’s second hotel acquisition in Dundalk in recent years. Following its sale of the Crowne Plaza Dundalk, Tifco’s Irish portfolio now comprises 11 Travelodge hotels, the Crowne Plaza Dublin Airport, Crowne Plaza Blanchardstown, Hard Rock Dublin, the Holiday Inn Express Hotel at Dublin Airport, and the private label hotel Arthaus Hotel Dublin. The Irish Times, 19th July
St Stephens Green, Dublin 2 Eamon Waters’s Sretaw Hotel Group is seeking to build a 61-bedroom hotel opposite its existing Grafton Hotel close to St Stephen’s Green in Dublin. In the planning application, the group said it was not “speculative” and pointed to the need for more hotel rooms in the capital and the benefits this could bring to the housing market by freeing up Airbnb rentals. The proposed hotel would rise to eight storeys on a site known as Textile House on Johnson’s Place and Clarendon Market. It would represent an extension to the Grafton Hotel’s 127 bedrooms. Mr. Waters bought Textile House last year after it was put on the market for €6.5m. The Irish Times, 19th July
Cushman & Wakefield Report Hotel operators across the UK and Ireland consider Dublin city and Cork city to be attractive locations. Dublin was ranked the third most attractive location of the 20 UK and Irish markets surveyed as part of the report, with only London and Edinburgh ahead of Dublin. Cork was ranked joint 12th alongside Liverpool. The survey was conducted by Cushman & Wakefield among 33 international and regional hotel operators either currently operating in the UK and Irish markets or looking to move into these markets. The Irish Independent, 20th July
Tralee, Co Kerry Locals have objected to plans by Michael Healy-Rae, the Kerry TD, to add 15 bedrooms to a guest house he owns in Tralee that is accommodating Ukrainian refugees. A decision on Mr. Healy-Rae’s planning application, which would also add extra kitchen and dining space to Rosemont on Oakpark Road, Tralee, has been postponed by Kerry County Council, which is seeking additional information on the politician’s plans before making its decision. The proposed development would add five additional guest bedrooms on the ground floor, eight additional guest bedrooms on the first floor, and two additional guest bedrooms within the attic structure. The Irish Times, 23rd July
Ballycoolin, Dublin 15 Harvey has been instructed as the sole letting agent of Unit 200 Northwest Business Park in Ballycoolin, Dublin 15. The facility consists of two separate warehouse and office buildings, totalling 70,266 sq. ft on a site measuring 5.34 acres. Building 1 has a total size of approx. 58,340 sq. ft with an extensive profile to Mitchelstown Road. Building 2 makes up the remainder of the total area (approx. 12,000 sq. ft). The property is being offered to let in a single lot only, on a new medium to long-term lease. Harvey is quoting rent of €800k pa. The Business Post, 22nd July
Clondalkin, Dublin 22 Harvey has completed a sale and leaseback deal for €8.75m for Unit AF40 in the Cloverhill Industrial Estate, Clondalkin, Dublin 22 to French investor Iroko Zen who was represented by Colliers. The detached industrial and office facility, extending to 85,939 sq. ft on a site of 5.6 acres, was sold with the benefit of a 15-year lease to Alucraft Limited, with a guarantee from the Clarison Group. The lease incorporates a tenant-only break option at the end of year ten, and stepped rents over the term of the lease to include fixed uplifts and CPI-linked cap and collar reviews. The Business Post, 22nd July
House Prices The rise in the average price paid for a house has slowed for a 14th consecutive month, with house prices increasing by 2.4% nationally in the year to May. This is down from an increase of 3.4% nationwide recorded for April 2023, according to the most recent Residential Property Price Index (RPPI), with some housing experts suggesting the figures point to a stabilisation of prices in the property market. The cost of a home outside the capital increased by 4.5% in the 12 months to May, with the west of the country seeing the largest increase in prices at 5.7%. Meanwhile, prices in Dublin decreased by 0.2%. The Business Post, 18th July
Apartment Sales Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said local authorities should be empowered to block the sale of apartment complexes to investment funds. In 2021, following controversy over the sale of a several housing estates in the Greater Dublin Area to investment funds, local authorities were granted powers to ring fence houses and duplexes in new housing estates for individual purchasers. The new laws, which do not currently cover apartments, mean that councils can essentially forbid the sale of homes in an estate to property investors and funds. Earlier this month, Darragh O’Brien, the Minister for Housing, told the cabinet that the measures introduced in May 2021 have ring fenced more than 31,000 houses and duplexes for individual buyers over the past two years. The Business Post, 22nd July
Housing Starts A fall in new housing starts this year is indicated by a new report despite recent Government figures on increased commencements. The new report, Construction Industry Forecast 2023-2025, expects the overall value of residential project starts to fall 5% this year to €3.96bn, after declining by 15% last year to €4.27bn. On the plus side, the value of residential project starts is expected to increase by 15% next year to approx. €4.55bn and rise a further 10% the following year to over €5bn. In contrast only last month the Government reported that 12,987 new homes commenced in the first five months of this year, a 7.4% increase on the similar period last year and the highest level in eight years. The €3.96bn investment in residential this year will account for more than half of all the €7.7bn invested in overall construction industry starts. The strongest growth this year is expected to be in the construction of industrial and logistics buildings with 15% growth to approx. €1.4bn. The Irish Independent, 19th July
Residential Construction Commencements Developers started construction on more than 15,000 homes in the first half of the year, new data from the Department of Housing has shown. Compared the first six months of 2022, the rate of new home commencements was up 10% this year. The Department of Housing said this rate of homebuilding in the first half of the year was a record when compared to similar periods since it started to collect the data in 2015. Last month, 2,574 units were commenced in Ireland by developers and people building one-off homes, up 25% on the same month last year. The Business Post, 20th July
Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) Only 50 properties in 16 areas were available to rent under the discretionary rate of the HAP Scheme if local authorities provided the maximum level of support, a report by a housing charity has found. The Simon Communities of Ireland’s quarterly Locked Out of the Market report, shows 50 properties were available to rent within a discretionary rate of the HAP Scheme over three dates in June. The report found 934 properties were available to rent at any price within the 16 areas over the three dates surveyed last month. This represents a 39% (262 properties) increase from the 672 properties that were available in the March 2023 Locked Out report. 74% of properties available to rent were located within the three Dublin areas studied. Just 5.4% of all properties available to rent in the study were available within the HAP rate. The Irish Times, 23rd July
The Land Development Agency, the State body charged with delivering affordable homes and social housing on public land, is to begin a programme of purchasing privately owned sites that can be utilised for quick delivery of public housing. The programme of land acquisitions will be open to all landowners, but will focus initially on large sites, with existing planning permission for 200-plus homes, near the five main cities of Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford. It is expected to be of particular interest to developers sitting on large sites, either in anticipation of increasing value, or because they lack the finance or capacity to build them out. The agency has planning permission for more than 3,500 homes on State-owned lands with many projects already under construction. The Irish Times, 21st July
Blackrock, Co Dublin Having offered Rockbrook, the 91-unit high-end scheme Seabren Developments is developing in the south Dublin suburb of Blackrock to the market at a guide price of €59m last February, joint agents Cushman & Wakefield and Sherry FitzGerald are understood to have received several offers in and around the €54m mark for the portfolio. Seabren Developments is said to be weighing up its options in advance of the development’s practical completion in the final quarter of this year. Seabren acquired the 1.23-acre Rockpoint site for its part from Marlet Property Group in 2020 for approx. €7.5m. At the time of that sale the former Europa Garage lands had planning permission in place for a smaller development of 42 apartments and nine houses. Seabren went on to secure planning permission for the present scheme from An Bord Pleanála in 2021 in the face of objections from a number of parties. Aimed towards the upper end of the private rented sector market, the development will, upon completion, consist of a mix of one-bedroom apartments, two-bedroom apartments and three-bedroom units distributed across two blocks, along with 71 underground car-parking spaces. The Irish Times, 20th July
House Prices Dublin has seen the largest increase in house prices of any county in the Republic in the last 12 years, as the average price of a home in the capital has increased by 80%. A study conducted by self-storage company Storage World Self Storage has analysed data from the Property Services Regulatory Authority (PRSA) to track changes in average house prices between 2010 and 2022. The latest Residential Property Price Index released by the CSO earlier this week noted that property prices have increased by 2.4% in the 12 months to May 2023, although there was a small contraction of the Dublin market where house prices fell by 0.2% over the same period. The Irish Times, 19th July
VAT Reduction Government officials are weighing a VAT cut for home-building in a move that could boost supply and cut house prices, according to a new report. Builders have frequently called on Government to cut VAT on new home-building to 9% from 13.5% currently, arguing that this would reduce costs and spark an increase in residential construction. The Government’s Tax Strategy Group is considering the reduction and calculates that it could cost the State €400m a year, a report from the group published by the Department of Finance shows. However, officials question whether builders would pass on the reduction to home-buyers as tax law does not oblige them to do so. “There is a reasonable possibility that it would be used by contractors to improve their cash flow,” says the report. The Irish Times, 19th July
Terenure, Dublin 6W Planning delays have set back Lioncor’s plans for a 208 residential unit worth more than €100m for Terenure in Dublin by more than two years, the Dublin construction company has said. Lioncor welcomed An Bord Pleanála’s grant of permission for the 208-unit five block scheme rising up to six storeys on the ‘Carlisle’ site located to the north and east of the Ben Dunne Gym, at Kimmage Road West, Terenure in Dublin 6w. The LRD application – made up of 104 one-bed units and 104 two-bed units – by 1 Terenure Land Ltd was Lioncor’s second attempt to secure planning permission for the site. Lioncor secured planning permission for the scheme in 2022, which also contained 208 units for the same site, under An Bord Pleanála’s so-called fast-track process. However, that permission was challenged in the High Court by way of Judicial Review by the Kimmage Dublin Residents Alliance CLG. The Irish Times, 24th July
Newtownmountkennedy, Co Wicklow An Bord Pleanála has conceded in a challenge to its grant of permission for the construction of 179 homes in Co Wicklow. The High Court was informed that the board will not contest the application brought by two residents, seeking to quash the approval given to Dublin building firm Dwyer Nolan for 121 houses and 58 apartments at Newtownmountkennedy. The board accepted it referred to a local area plan that had expired by the time the planning permission was granted, the court heard. The Irish Times, 24th July
Holiday Homes for Refugees A Government scheme to encourage people to offer their holiday homes to Ukrainian refugees has fallen well short of its target. It had set a target of 20,000 holiday homes, or otherwise unoccupied houses and apartments, being pledged by individuals. The scheme was launched in November 2022 by Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien and Minister for Children and Integration Roderic O’Gorman and backed up by an extensive media campaign. The Department said that as of the beginning of this week, 1,263 properties had been allocated, providing accommodation for approx. 4,000 Ukrainians who are beneficiaries of temporary protection in Ireland. In the run-up to the launch of the scheme an internal briefing document said there were more than 65,000 holiday homes in Ireland but most were being run commercially. The Irish Times, 20th July
Dundrum, South Dublin More than 200 Dundrum residents have attended a community meeting opposing Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council’s redevelopment plans for the village and surrounding areas. The proposed changes in the Local Area Plan (LAP), will “kill off the village”, according to a group of local business owners. The plans will see restrictions on car access to the village, the introduction of new one-way systems and the extension of existing one-way routes, and a reduction in the number of access points to the Main Street. The Irish Times, 21st July
If you have an article which you would like to have considered for inclusion in our next weekly report, please contact us at info@origincapital.ie
Carlow, Co Carlow Just under five years on from its acquisition by Friends First for €16.75m, Carlow Retail Park has been sold in an off-market transaction to a private Irish investor for €15.4m (NIY 7.5%). Aviva had assumed ownership of the development on foot of its acquisition of Friends First in 2018. Located on Hanover Road and approx. 500 metres from Carlow town centre, Carlow Retail Park comprises nine warehouse units with a combined footprint of 100,000 sq. ft along with 600 car-parking spaces. Developed originally in 2003, the scheme is anchored by DIY giant Woodie’s along with seven other tenants, namely Harry Corry, Halfords, Homestore, Pet Mania, Electro City, Right Price Tiles and KFC. The letting of the ninth and final unit – unit 6 (7,642 sq. ft) is understood to be the subject of advanced negotiations with a prospective occupier at present. The anchor tenant, Woodie’s, pays a rent of €577.5k for a store extending to 37,000 sq. ft and a garden centre with a further 22,000 sq. ft. The scheme is understood to be generating a total annual rental income of €1.25m. The Irish Times, 12th July
Vantage Business Park, Dublin 11 A consortium of South African private investors has paid approx. €13m (NIY 5%) for Unit 2 at Vantage Business Park in Dublin. The property comprises a 67,146 sq. ft detached industrial/warehouse and office building. The property, built in 2020, includes 10,092 sq. ft of office accommodation over two storeys together with 68 car-parking spaces. Unit 2 Vantage Business Park will provide its new owners with an immediate income stream of €720k pa based on a new 20-year FRI lease to NPP, incorporating five-yearly rent reviews. The tenant has the benefit of a 10-year break option. The Irish Times, 12th July
Docklands, Dublin Staff at Google will have to wait at least another year before moving into the company’s landmark triplet towers in the Dublin docklands. According to market sources, the company will not move to its €300m Bolands Mills development until mid to late 2024. The company bought the development from Nama in 2018 for a reported €170m. The scheme comprises three striking towers and various restored listed buildings. It will have approx. 301,390 sq. ft of offices, 46 apartments, and retail and restaurant units. There were delays in the construction process when remediation works had to be carried out on the buildings in 2019. The development was originally intended to house up to 2,500 workers, but in 2020 Google applied for planning permission to reduce the amount of office space and to increase the amount of restaurant and retail space. The Sunday Times, 16th July
Merrion Road, Dublin 4 Pan-European investor and asset manager M7 Real Estate has achieved 100% occupancy at the Nutley Building in the Merrion Centre on Merrion Road, Dublin 4. St Vincent’s Hospital has signed a new 10-year lease on 4,160 sq. ft of space. The fund portfolio is now 97% let while its WAULT has been extended to over four years. The rental income across M7′s suburban Dublin office portfolio, meanwhile, has been increased by approx. 12%. The Irish Times, 12th July
Dublin Airport Logistics Park, Dublin Holland & Barrett has sublet Unit 5 Dublin Airport Logistics Park to DHL Global Forwarding (Ireland) Limited. Savills brokered the deal which will see DHL take a sub-lease from June 2023 until January 2032 at an annual rent equating to €10.75 per sq. ft incorporating a three-month rent-free period. With a gross external floor area of 65,369 sq. ft, including 8,654 sq. ft of offices, the detached logistics facility was built by Rohan Holdings in 2017. According to a report at the time, Holland was paying €9.44 per sq. ft pa for the premises that year. That indicates a 13.9% increase since 2017 levels. The Irish Independent, 13th July
Ballycoolin, Dublin 15 Harvey is quoting a rent of €800k pa for Unit 200 at Northwest Business Park in Ballycoolin, Dublin 15. The subject property comprises two separate warehouse and office buildings extending to a total area of 70,267 sq. ft on a 5.34-acre site, representing a site density of just 30% within a prime distribution location. Building 1 extends to 58,329 sq. ft and has extensive profile to Mitchelstown Road. Building 2 makes up the remainder of the total size. The Irish Times, 12th July
CBRE Report In Q2 2023, the take-up of industrial and logistics space in Dublin was 652,852 sq. ft, representing a nearly 30% decline from the previous quarter and 25% below the 10-year quarterly average. The total take-up for H1 2023 reached 1,572,962 sq. ft, similar to the same period in 2022. The vacancy rate at the top 36 industrial and logistics parks in Dublin was 1.4% at the end of Q2. Prime rents rose by over 4% to €12.50 per sq. ft. The investment activity amounted to just under €50m, accounting for 15% of the overall Irish investment spend. The South West (N7) Dublin road corridor accounted for 43% of the total take-up in Q2. Build-to-suit and pre-let agreements comprised 32% of the deals. New buildings reached practical completion, and approx. 1,237,849 sq. ft of new stock were under construction. Prime Dublin rents increased by 11% over the past 12 months. The investment yields remained unchanged at 4.75% for prime assets and 6.00% for secondary assets in Q2. In summary, the Q2 2023 figures for Dublin’s industrial and logistics market show a decline in take-up, low vacancy rates, rising prime rents, and steady investment activity. CBRE Dublin Industrial & Logistics Q2 2023, 17th July
Kenmare, Co Kerry Hoteliers Francis Brennan and John Brennan are this week considering offers for their two Kenmare Co Kerry hotels in the €25.3m ‘Project Halo’ sale, via agents CBRE. The duo put the 46-bed Park Hotel Kenmare and the 28-bed Lansdowne Hotel on the market in May with a combined €20.5m price guide. Interest has been shown in the two together, and in lots, it’s understood: The Park being the more valuable at €17m, and the more recently acquired Lansdowne was guided at €3.5m, bought out of receivership in 2020. The Irish Examiner, 13th July
Irish Hotel Market Report The Irish hotel sector is undergoing a strong recovery following the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The outlook for the sector is positive due to several factors. The Irish economy is growing rapidly, with low unemployment and solid wage growth, providing support for domestic leisure spending. Households in Ireland have accumulated over €150bn in savings, which accounts for approx. 30% of Irish GDP, further bolstering consumer spending and leisure demand. Inbound traveller numbers are approaching pre-pandemic levels, and forecasts indicate an average annual growth of 11% in visitor numbers until 2025. Occupancy rates and room rates have largely returned to pre-pandemic levels, with Dublin catching up to regional markets. Despite the recovery, challenges remain, including energy costs, staffing issues, VAT rate changes, and repurposed hotel properties. Construction and financial costs limit further development, although the improved trading environment should help absorb new capacity, especially in Dublin. The hotel market has seen positive transactional activity in 2023, with approx. €130m transacted across nine deals, along with ongoing sale agreements for hotels and sites. Cushman & Wakefield Report, 13th July
Project Tosaigh The LDA is preparing to pay private residential developers more than €2bn to build 5,000 homes. The agency will go to tender as it gathers a panel of ten or more developers to build the homes under the government’s Project Tosaigh initiative. The LDA published a prior information notice earlier this month, informing developers that it would publish the tender on July 24. According to the notice, the agency will forward fund residential schemes — comprising apartments and houses — by buying land from developers or landowners and then making staged payments during the construction process. It will also look to team up with developers in a joint venture or partnering arrangement. The agency has said it expects to build 5,000 homes over four years. It will focus on cost-rental homes but will also provide affordable housing for purchase. The developments will be located in Dublin and its surrounding counties, and in Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford. The Sunday Times, 16th July
The National Asset Management Agency (Nama) gave a 97.5% discount when selling loans related to a portfolio of residential units to a relative of the borrowers, because it believed it would never be able to dispose of the land due to a campaign of intimidation. Nama booked a loss of approx. €6m on loans – backed by collateral on 14 occupied rental homes, 28 unfinished units and seven plots of land – in an “exceptional” case that has been highlighted in a new report from the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG). The C&AG’s report said Nama had in 2021 sold loans related to two companies – which had a face value of €10.46m – for €265k to a newly incorporated company that was funded by a family relative of the debtors involved in the case. Nama had previously acquired the loans for €4.37m – a 49% discount on the initial price of €8.58m – so it did not lose out on a full €10m. But because €1.9m in unpaid interest was added to the loans, it did ultimately lose approx. €6m. The reason for the major discount, the report shows, was that Nama believed it would be unable to sell the assets involved – which it valued at €1.3m – because of “threats and intimidation”. The Business Post, 12th July
Planning Permissions A recent Department of Finance study reveals that at the end of last year, there were over 100k dormant or non-activated planning permissions for homes in Ireland, with more than 50k of them concentrated in Dublin. This represents a significant increase from the estimated 70k-80k non-activated permissions at the time the government announced its Housing for All strategy in late 2021. In Dublin alone, approx. 50,776 uncommenced units were identified, with a staggering 90% of them planned as apartments. The report highlights that these uncommenced units were primarily located on sites owned by a relatively small number of developers. The study further breaks down the data for Dublin, indicating that there were 108 sites with planning permission for high-density developments of 100 units or more. Out of these, 31 sites were subject to ongoing judicial reviews, two had their permission quashed, and four were related to sites where the judicial review had either been withdrawn or the planning decision upheld. Moreover, the report identifies 75 actionable sites in Dublin, with permissions in place to build a total of 23,526 units. Additionally, it reveals that 44 of these sites have had no activity for up to two years since obtaining planning permission, 22 sites have been dormant for two to four years, and nine sites have remained inactive for over four years. The Irish Times, 13th July
Donnybrook, Dublin 4 An Bord Pleanála has granted planning permission to Cairn Homes for a €345m, 608-unit apartment scheme on former RTÉ lands at Donnybrook in Dublin 4. However, in a split decision the appeals board has refused permission for the 16-storey tower component of the scheme that was to include a 192-bedroom hotel and 80 apartments. The scheme is to be built across the remaining nine blocks ranging from two to 10 storeys in height. The original scheme comprised 416 built-to-rent apartments and 272 build-to-sell units. The grant of the 10-year planning permission comes six years after Cairn Homes purchased the lands from RTÉ for €107.5m in 2017. The application made under the Large Scale Residential Development (LRD) scheme was Cairn Homes’s second attempt to build on the lands. The Irish Times, 13th July
Balbriggan, North Co Dublin Plans have been lodged for a €251.5m 564-unit residential scheme for a site off Flemington Lane near Balbriggan in North Co Dublin. In the Large Scale Residential Development (LRD) scheme application lodged with Fingal County Council, Dean Swift Property Holdings is seeking a 10-year planning permission for 378 houses, 102 apartments and 84 duplex units. The proposal also includes the provision of nine commercial units and six communal units and the 56-acre greenfield site 2.4km from Balbriggan town centre is currently used for agriculture including crop-growing. As part of its Part V social housing obligations, the firm has put an indicative price tag of €50m on 114 units to be sold to Fingal County Council for social housing. The units will have an average indicative price tag of €439k and a final price will be agreed if and when planning permission is secured. A decision is due on the application in September. The Irish Times, 17th July
If you have an article which you would like to have considered for inclusion in our next weekly report, please contact us at info@origincapital.ie
Grafton Street, Dublin 2 The official kit supplier to both the Irish women’s and men’s football teams, and to Leinster rugby, is to open a new flagship retail outlet on Grafton Street in Dublin city centre. Premium sportswear brand Castore’s new shop will be in the Grafton Buildings at 34 Grafton Street. Other tenants in the block include fashion retailer Jigsaw and athleisure brand Sweaty Betty. Castore’s new Dublin shop will occupy a high-profile corner location at the junction of South Anne Street. The premises extends to 2,150 sq. ft and Castore is set to pay an annual rent of approx. €300k and is believed to have seen off competition from a number of other international retailers who were seeking to secure the space. The Irish Times, 5th July
Wicklow Street, Dublin 2 Lisney is quoting a price of €1.95m (NIY 6.53%) for a prime retail investment in one of Dublin city centre’s most sought-after locations. No. 19 Wicklow Street is a high-profile mixed-use building with long-term income and reversionary potential. The property, just 130m from Grafton Street, comprises a four-storey over-basement building, occupied by well-established tenants: the vegetarian and vegan restaurant Cornucopia, and tailor Louis Copeland, who have both been trading from the building since 1992. The building extends to approx. 3,115 sq. ft and is generating a combined passing rent of €140k pa. The WAULT is 9.3 years to the break option and 9.9 years to expiry. The Irish Times, 5th July
Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2 Eamon Waters, the Co Meath entrepreneur, is planning to build a hotel in the centre of Dublin. The Grafton Residence, a company owned by Waters, has applied to Dublin city council for permission to build a 61-bedroom hotel at Textile House beside Peter’s Pub, near Stephen’s Green shopping centre. Waters bought the two-storey Textile House last year after it was put on the market for €6.5m. Waters wants to knock down the buildings at 3-5 Johnson’s Place and 2-5 Clarendon Market and replace them with an eight-storey building. If given the go-ahead, the hotel bedrooms would be located over the first to fifth floors, and would be used as an extension to, and managed by, the nearby Grafton hotel, which Waters also owns. The upper floors would include six apartments, while a restaurant, bar and retail unit would be located at the ground floor and basement levels. The Sunday Times, 9th July
Ormond Quay, Dublin 7 Dublin City Council has granted planning permission to the owners of the five-star Morrison Hotel in Dublin for an extension that will bring the total number of hotel rooms to 161. Zetland Capital, a London-based private equity firm, bought the Morrison in 2021 for an undisclosed sum though it was reported at the time that the deal was worth more than €65m. In the extension plan, four of the 16 new rooms are to be provided at basement level, while eight bedrooms are to be provided at ground floor in lieu of three meeting rooms. On the fourth floor, four bedrooms are to be provided. The Irish Times, 4th July
Hospitality Industry Dublin hotel prices rose to a new record in May, CBRE Ireland has said. Hotels in the capital saw an average daily rate of €209 in May, 3.5% ahead of a previous record in September 2022. On a YTD basis, the average daily rate across all Dublin hotels was €170. Occupancy rates across all Irish cities, including Dublin, remain strong, CBRE said in its second quarter hotel market report. Occupancy in Dublin averaged 78% to the end of May, “relatively in line” with the same period in 2019, CBRE said, predicting occupancy rates are set to grow in the busy summer period. The CBRE report shows deals picked up in the three months to June after a slower first quarter, with a total of €91m of transactions closed across six deals, including the sale of the Imperial Hotel and Spa in Cork city for approx. €25m to a private investor. A total of €135m of capital was deployed on Irish hotels in the first half of the year. The Irish Independent, 7th July
Tallaght, Dublin 24 Harvey has secured the sale and separate lettings of two adjoining units to the same occupier at Belgard Road Industrial Estate, a small scheme of just five units in Tallaght, Dublin 24. Having secured the sale of Unit 5, a mid-terrace industrial and office property of 3,132 sq. ft, to Limerick-headquartered electrical wholesaler Trade Electric Group (TEG) for over €400k, Harvey subsequently agreed the long-term letting off-market of the neighbouring Unit 6 to the same company. Unit 6 comprises an end-of-terrace industrial and office property of 2,885 sq. ft which had benefited from an extensive refurbishment. The Irish Times, 5th July
Sir John Rogerson’s Quay, Dublin 2 Marlet Property Group has secured a €102m refinancing facility with Cheyne Capital Real Estate for its Shipping Office scheme on Sir John Rogerson’s Quay in Dublin’s south docklands. The Shipping Office, developed on the site formerly occupied by the British and Irish Steam Packet Company, comprises 182,158 sq. ft of office accommodation over eight storeys, a 12,755 sq. ft roof garden, five terraces, 27 showers, changing facilities, 16 basement car-parking spaces with two electric-vehicle (EV) charging points and 234 bike spaces. The Irish Times, 5th July
St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2 A property development company has claimed in the Commercial Court that significantly understrength concrete was supplied for use in basement and ground floors of what it says will be an iconic office building near St. Stephen’s Green in Dublin. KC Capital Property Group Ltd says the defective concrete has been removed and the eventual cost of remediation will be at least €9m. The firm is behind what is to be known as the Greenside Building on Cuffe Street which, when complete, is expected to be worth €51m. The Irish Times, 10th July
MyHome Report Asking prices for Irish homes picked up in the three months to the end of June following three QoQ declines in a row, as the market showed signs of stabilising even as interest rates continued to climb, according to MyHome.ie. The average asking price for a home increased by 4.3% in the second quarter compared with the first three months of 2023, and are now 2.2% higher than the same time last year, at €325k, according to MyHome. That compared to a 0.4% QoQ drop in the first three months of the year. Dublin prices rose 3.3% in the period to the end of June and at an annual rate of 0.6%, according to the latest data. Homes outside the capital increased by 4.6% on the quarter and by 3.5% YoY. The Irish Times, 10th July
Residential Zoned Land Tax (RZLT) Hundreds of property owners lodged planning appeals in one week in May against a new tax designed to spur building on vacant land, an Oireachtas committee heard. The 600 appeals have added to the already high workload of An Bord Pleanála as it tries to overcome a major backload of planning files with a “blitz” of decision-making on smaller cases. In the face of the housing crisis the RZLT takes force next year as part of the Government’s effort to unlock vacant sites. The aim is to discourage hoarding by imposing costs on property owners, thereby boosting the supply of new homes. But appeals against the new tax now comprise “approx. 16%” of An Bord Pleanála’s workload. The Irish Times, 6th July
Fairview, North Dublin Residents are looking to overturn planning approval for 785 apartments on the grounds of St. Vincent’s Hospital in Fairview, Co Dublin. Five appeals on behalf of residents in the north Dublin suburb and the Ierne Social and Sports Club have been lodged with An Bord Pleanála. Dublin City Council granted permission for the €300m scheme after reducing the number of units from 811 to 785, a move that involved losing the top two storeys on the tallest 13-storey block. The applicants, St Vincent’s Hospital Fairview, have also lodged an appeal against three conditions attached to the planning permission. The large-scale residential development scheme comprises 303 build-to-rent units at Richmond Road and Convent Avenue. The scheme on the 23.4-acre site is being developed by Royalton Group, a British property development firm, in partnership with the board of St. Vincent’s Hospital Fairview. Under the terms of the deal, Royalton will build a new 73-bedroom mental health facility for St Vincent’s, which is currently located in a listed building that is more than 100 years old. The Irish Times, 6th July
Delgany, Co Wicklow The High Court has rejected a challenge to permission for the development of more than 200 homes on former monastery lands in Co Wicklow. Mr. Justice Richard Humphreys refused to quash An Bord Pleanála’s fast-track approval of the scheme proposed for Delgany by developer Drumakilla Limited. An Bord Pleanála granted permission in February 2021 for the construction of 232 homes on a 15.3-acre site sold by an order of Carmelite nuns for €15m in 2019. Located between Convent Road and Bellevue Hill, the proposed development would include 96 houses, 136 apartments over two four-storey blocks, and five three-storey duplex blocks. The Irish Times, 5th July
Housing Construction The transfer of State lands that could hold more than 3,000 homes to the Land Development Agency has been delayed, the Government has been told. Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien updated Cabinet about the process of transferring land from various state bodies to the LDA, which was set up to streamline the process of building homes on the land. According to the update, three sites are now classified as “high priority, transfer delayed”, where progress has been held up “due to ongoing negotiations with the relevant landowners, despite the sites being largely unconstrained for delivery”. The sites are – lands adjacent to the Leopardstown Racecourse, owned by Horse Racing Ireland, with an estimated capacity of between 1,550 and 2,080 homes; ESB lands at Wilton Cork that could hold 300 units; and HSE lands at Colbert Quarter in Limerick, with an estimated yield of 700 homes. The Irish Times, 5th July
Residential Developments Strategy The residential property investment market in Dublin has seen a decline in deals, leading developers to find alternative ways to recover their investments. Rising interest rates, construction costs, and uncertainty in the office investment market have caused prices to increase and made investors cautious. As a result, developers are hesitant to sell apartment complexes to private rental or public purchasers. Instead, some developers are retaining and managing the complexes as rental properties. For example, Ronan Group Real Estate’s Libra Living has decided not to sell apartments at Spencer Place and is targeting long-term institutional investors. Another developer, Marlet, has already brought over 600 units to the rental market and is retaining the rest for investment. Other players like Richmond Homes and Hammerson are also entering the rental market with their completed or upcoming apartment developments. This shift reflects the demand for high-quality rental properties and the challenges in the investment market. The Business Post, 8th July
Ireland’s commercial property market slowed sharply in the first half of the year, as the value and volume of deals dropped significantly. The €954m invested in the sector in the first half of 2023 was down approx. 48% when compared with the 10-year average. Only 51 deals took place in the period, down more than a third on the average. The data was revealed in JLL research tracking the investment market. Retail was the strongest performing. Retail parks were a particular draw for investors, with an off-market retail park deal accounting for the second-largest investment in the quarter, at €46m. The B&Q retail warehouse in Dublin’s Liffey Valley was bought for approx. €27m. The largest investment was a private rented sector investment for €55m. The research did point to some more positive signs, including the prospect of the end of interest rate hikes and the move by some businesses to a return to the office long-term. The Irish Times, 5th July
BNP Paribas Real Estate PMI The Irish construction sector rebounded in Q2, with increased new orders and employment at the fastest pace since March. Input costs rose at a slower rate, but supply chain delays worsened. While overall activity grew, some indicators were less positive, with reduced input buying and weakened business sentiment. Commercial activity drove the wider growth, while housing activity declined, though at a softer pace. The sector experienced a favorable demand environment, reflected in a fifth consecutive monthly expansion in new orders. Workforce numbers expanded for the sixth month, but input purchasing decreased slightly due to sufficient stock holdings and concerns about a potential market slowdown. Despite growth prospects, confidence remains historically subdued, partly due to concerns about inflation. BNP Paribas Real Estate Report, 10th July
If you have an article which you would like to have considered for inclusion in our next weekly report, please contact us at info@origincapital.ie
Britain Quay, Dublin City Centre The German investor MEAG is understood to be closing in on the purchase for approx. €50m of a prime office investment in Dublin’s south docklands from Hibernia Real Estate Group. The company, which acts as asset manager for the Munich RE Group and ERGO with approx. €310bn in AUM, is said by sources to have agreed heads of terms for Central Quay, a 59,861 sq. ft six-storey over-basement office building on Britain Quay. The subject property has undergone a significant programme of refurbishment since being acquired by the then Hibernia Reit for €51.3m in 2016. Approx. €3.4m is now being generated from a diverse mix of occupiers. This figure includes a fit-out rent of €250k pa (first floor until April 2028) and a proposed 12-month rental underwrite for the second floor, which is vacant currently. The current tenant line-up includes DAE (Dubai Aerospace Enterprise), Hines, global investment manager Millennium Operations Limited, international law firm Fragomen, and leading insurance provider Europ Assistance. The WAULT is just under six years and MEAG stands to secure a yield of approx. 6.25% on its investment. The Irish Times, 28th June
Monkstown, South Dublin Located on Abbey Road, Ballintle Court in Monkstown comprises a purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) facility constructed in the 1990s. Guiding at a price of €2m through Colliers, the property, which is being sold with the benefit of full vacant possession, consists of two buildings on a secure 0.2-acre site. Each building has four units with three en suite bedrooms and a kitchen/living area. The units include 21 single bedrooms and three double bedrooms, giving a total of 27 bedspaces. The Irish Times, 28th June
Fáilte Ireland has dramatically revised downwards the level of beds occupied by refugees and asylum seekers in hotels and other accommodation providers registered with the tourism body. The move follows an examination by Fáilte Ireland of data put together by the Department of Integration in April, which estimated that 28% of all beds registered with the tourism body was contracted to the State. The new estimate is that 13% of all tourism bed stock in premises that are registered with Fáilte Ireland is contracted out to the State. The overestimate is understood to have been caused by modelling which assumed that all accommodation stock was registered to Fáilte Ireland. Fáilte Ireland also revised how it estimates the impact on the tourism sector economically. Previously, this had been measured at approx. €1.1bn. However, the updated assessment from Fáilte Ireland says this is now estimated as a range, between €700m and €1.1bn. The new findings do not revise the absolute numbers of people accommodated in Ireland, with 76,143 beds under contract, and 29,555 in Fáilte Ireland properties. The Irish Times, 1st July
Camden Street, Dublin 8 JD Wetherspoon’s pub and hotel on Dublin’s Camden Street is facing an uphill battle to reopen a beer garden after objections from local residents about anti-social behaviour. The British pub chain, which opened the Keavan’s Port hotel and pub after a redevelopment two years ago, is also in the spotlight of Dublin City Council (DCC), which has served two enforcement notices on it for breach of planning. JD Wetherspoon closed its beer garden temporarily in April last year after DCC issued an enforcement notice and there was legal correspondence from local people. A new planning application to erect a 13-metre-high “acoustic sound barrier” wall is being seen as a move to reopen the garden and is being met with stiff opposition. The Irish Independent, 29th June
Online Auctions A variety of commercial and investment properties will be auctioned by BidX1. The most valuable of them is the Bull Ring mixed-use building at 67-70 Meath Street, Dublin 8, in Dublin’s Liberties, which has had its guide price reduced to €1.8m. Two tenants occupy the ground floor and another tenant has a first-floor office, bringing the total current rent reserved to €135k pa (NIY 6.8%). In 2017 the Bull Ring went for private treaty sale with a €3.75m guide price, and the following year BidX1 offered it for auction with a €3.3m guide price. Then last year it was again offered in a private treaty sale for €2.6m. The Business Post, 1st July
Ringsend, Dublin 4 The National Asset Management Agency (Nama) has sold its remaining 20% stake in the former Irish Glass Bottle site to a consortium led by developer Johnny Ronan. The agency’s shareholding is being acquired by Pembroke Ventures DAC, the majority 80% shareholder of the lands at Poolbeg in Dublin 4. Pembroke has now taken 100% ownership of the project and will oversee completion of the transformation of the Poolbeg West Strategic Development Zone, Nama said in a statement. The Business Post, 30th June
Cost Rental Housing Darragh O’Brien, the Minister for Housing, has promised that the state will “ramp up” the delivery of cost rental housing using low interest rate finance. Cost rental prices have to be at least 25% below market for non-social housing tenants and are a key part of the state’s strategy to make housing more affordable for “generation rent.” O’Brien was speaking at the launch of the annual report of the Housing Finance Agency, the semi-state body which lent out approx. €1.2bn to councils and affordable housing bodies. This funding helped to deliver a total of 3,353 homes last year, including 2889 social homes and 464 cost rental homes. The Business Post, 28th June
Rent in Ireland Rents for new tenancies rose by 7.6% on an annualised basis in the final quarter of 2022, new data from the RTB has shown. The national standardised average rent in Ireland was €1,507 in the fourth quarter of 2022. The figure is based on rents charged in 15,868 new tenancy registrations. Between the third and fourth quarter of last year, rents rose by 2%. Rents for new tenancies were highest in Dublin, with the average new tenancy costing €2,063 per month, up 6.9% in the year. The Business Post, 28th June
Presentation Road, Galway The sale of the former Presentation Convent site in Galway City is expected to see interest from a mix of developers, investors and potential occupiers. The subject property, which is being marketed as a redevelopment and refurbishment opportunity, is being offered to the market by agent Avison Young at a guide price of €2.5m. Located on Presentation Road and just a short walk from Eyre Square, Shop Street and Spanish Arch in the centre of the city, the 1.32-acre site comprises several substantial properties including the period Presentation Convent building (25 bedrooms), together with the former Our Lady’s College secondary school and Presentation national school, extending to a total area of 41,210 sq. ft. The Irish Times, 28th June
Kildare Town, Co Kildare A developer has succeeded in its High Court challenge to An Bord Pleanála’s refusal of planning permission for a 64-home scheme in Co Kildare. Ms. Justice Siobhán Phelan proposed making an order overturning the planning board’s decision to reject Keshmore Homes Ltd’s planning application for housing at a site in Kildare town. The Irish Times, 30th June
Dolphin’s Barn, Dublin 8 The construction of more than 540 social and cost-rental apartments at the site of the St Teresa’s Gardens flat complex in Dolphin’s Barn, Dublin 8, including a 15-storey block, has been granted permission by An Bord Pleanála. Three years ago, the LDA announced it was taking on the redevelopment of St Teresa’s Gardens, 15 years after Dublin City Council proposed to redevelop the dilapidated 1950s flat complex. Initially the LDA intended to build 700 apartments on the site in blocks up to 22-storeys tall, but it scaled back these plans following local and political opposition, eventually making an application in December of last year for 543 homes, of which just under 500 will be one- and two-bedroom apartments in blocks up to 15-storeys tall. Just over 70% of the apartments will be cost-rental homes. The rest of the apartments will be allocated to tenants on the city council’s social housing waiting list. Most of the apartments, 274, will have two bedrooms, with 225 one-bedroom apartments and 44 three-bedroom apartments. The site, located off Donore Avenue, covers an area of 4.3 acres. The Irish Times, 29th June
Clongriffin, North Dublin The State-owned LDA has struck a deal to pay more than €40m to “bad bank” Nama to advance plans for as many as 2,500 “affordable” homes in north Co Dublin. The development at Clongriffin will be the biggest single State housing project in decades, with building costs approx. €1.2bn. The aim is to provide “cost-rental” apartments with rents typically set 30% below market rates, although the LDA will not be on site for another year and must go to public tender for the building work. The deal will see the LDA buy a 24.7-acre property that was long under the control of developer Gerry Gannon, a Nama client who tried to sell the land two years ago. The agency will also buy lands surrounded by the Gannon properties that were controlled by another Nama client, Barina Construction, which is in receivership. The Gannon site has planning permission for 1,823 homes and a 209-bedroom hotel, in a stalled development known as Project Capital North. The 15-block project includes permission for more than 236,805 sq. ft of commercial space. The LDA believes there is potential for another 700 homes on the former Barina property. The Irish Times, 3rd July
Coolock, Co Dublin Approx. €104m in Government funding to build 853 new social and affordable homes at Oscar Traynor Road in Coolock, Dublin has been approved. The long-awaited scheme comprising of social housing homes (40%), cost rental homes (40%) and affordable purchase homes (20%) is a collaboration between Dublin City Council, Clúid Housing and the Department of Housing. The developer is Glenveagh. The scheme will include 240 houses and 613 apartments and duplex units up to six storeys tall. The total cost of the scheme is estimated at €357m. The Irish Times, 28th June
Jamestown Business Park, Dublin 11 Plans for the regeneration of 106 acres of industrial lands to the north of Finglas village to provide homes for up to 8,000 people have been approved by Dublin city councillors. The Jamestown Masterplan will govern the redevelopment of Jamestown Business Park and surrounding lands, to the east of the planned Finglas Luas line, with the potential for 3,500-3,800 homes, a primary school and employment, cultural and community facilities. Overall, the lands have been planned out with a ratio of 65% residential and 25% employment or commercial development, with the remainder to be used for community, education and ancillary facilities. The Irish Times, 3rd July
Housing Market Approx. 6,000 tenancies were lost in the rental market in the first six months of 2023, according to data from Sherry FitzGerald. House price growth, meanwhile, continues to slow in the face of higher borrowing costs. In its latest quarterly report on the Irish property market, the State’s largest real estate agent estimated that the price of a second-hand home in the Republic rose by 3.4% in the 12 months to June, down from a rate of approx. 10% this time last year. The official property price register, which is based on actual transactions, put the annual rate of inflation for all property types at 3.6% in April. Sales volumes continued to exceed pre-pandemic levels with 12,500 housing transactions recorded in the first quarter, as per the property price register. This represents a 2% increase compared to the same quarter in 2022 and an 11.3% increase compared to the opening quarter of 2020. The new homes market displayed continued growth in transaction activity during the first three months of 2023, recording an 11.3% increase. In the first six months of the year 35% of vendors were investors selling their properties. This would suggest a net loss of approx. 6,000 tenancies from the rental market in the first six months of 2023. The Irish Times, 4th July
Celbridge, Co Kildare Two companies owned by Steven Dunne are unable currently to pay their debts, a judge was told. Barrister Ross Gorman told Judge John O’Connor in the Circuit Civil Court that Mr. Dunne was seeking the appointment of an interim examiner to property development and construction company Aterna Developments and related firm Aterna Lee on the application of the latter company. The judge appointed Interpath Advisory Dublin, as interim examiner to both companies. The main project undertaken by Aterna Developments was a Celbridge development of 75 houses and apartments to provide critically needed social housing for Kildare County Council, which would lease the completed homes. The Celbridge project had been split into two phases, firstly the building of 29 houses and then the build of another 22 houses with 24 apartments and duplexes. Blacklough Construction had been appointed to complete the works but was placed into liquidation earlier this year. Kildare County Council received approval from the Department of Housing to enter long-term leases for the 75 units. The Irish Times, 3rd July
Cairn Homes Results Ireland’s largest housebuilder recorded a strong performance in the first half of the year, while “persistent” inflation showed some signs of moderating. Cairn Homes generated core revenue of €215m in the first six months of the year, down from €240m reported in the same period in 2022. The company also closed 535 new homes sales. This was slightly below the 547 new home sales recorded in the first half of 2022. Over 1,100 new home sales were agreed in the six-month period, while the current closed and forward sales pipeline has grown to 2,230 new homes with a net sales value of over €800m. Sales pricing levels were flat in the period despite inflationary pressures, although Cairn pointed to a moderation in build cost inflation. However, despite this slowdown, the housebuilder anticipates the impact of inflation to add approx. €10k to the cost of each unit this year. The Irish Independent, 4th July
Draft CRE figures for Q2 2023 have been released and show a decrease in overall spend from the previous quarter and the 10-year average. The total volume of transactions in Q2 equated to approx. €200m – a 68% decrease from Q1. However, the number of transactions was in line with Q1 at 22 for the quarter compared to 26 in Q1, indicating investors are still active but at smaller lot sizes. In terms of active sectors for the quarter there has been a relatively even split between the traditional sectors with retail being the most dominant at 32% (clocking five deals), industrial at 24% (also with five major deals), office at 21% (with three major deals) and PRS, which historically has been the most active sector in recent years, at 19% (registering four major deals). The Business Post, 1st July
University College Cork (UCC) has secured €50m in financing from the European Investment Bank (EIB) to build a new business school. Located on South Terrace in the city centre, planning permission for UCC’s new school was granted by Cork City Council in May. UCC said the development will provide an economic boost to the area by bringing over 4,500 students and 225 staff into the city centre every day. It is anticipated that construction of the new building will begin in May 2024. In addition to the EIB loan, the €115m project will be financed via exchequer support and a €25m Higher Education Strategic Infrastructure Fund award. The Business Post, 30th June
Dublin Airport With less than one month to go before agent JLL calls for bids, according to market sources several potential purchasers including a US-headquartered logistics and airport developer and a sovereign wealth fund from Abu Dhabi have expressed their interest in the 260 acres of land currently for sale next to Dublin Airport. Although it remains to be seen if any of these parties makes a bid for the lands which are owned by brothers and aviation entrepreneurs Ulick and Des McEvaddy, along with other owners Seán Fox and Brendan and Orla O’Donoghue, their interest will likely serve to further concentrate the minds at DAA as it weighs up its own offer. The Irish Times, 28th June
If you have an article which you would like to have considered for inclusion in our next weekly report, please contact us at info@origincapital.ie
Kenmare, Co Kerry Mayrange, the hospitality group behind Sheen Falls Lodge, a luxury resort in Kenmare, Co Kerry, is the frontrunner to buy local rival Park Hotel Kenmare from John and Francis Brennan. According to market sources, Mayrange were mulling a purchase of the property before it was officially put on the market for €17m last month. Another Brennan hotel in Kenmare — the Lansdowne, a four-star property that the brothers bought in 2021 — is also for sale for €3.5m through CBRE and is available to purchase with Park Hotel Kenmare or separately. The Sunday Times, 25th June
Townsend Street, Dublin 2 The shortage of hotel rooms in Dublin city centre has eased somewhat in recent weeks with the arrival to the market of the newly developed Travelodge Plus on Townsend Street. While the 393-bedroom hotel was to have opened for business in January of last year, that plan was put on hold when its owner, Tifco Hotel Group, signed a contract with the State to use the property to accommodate people seeking asylum in Ireland. The deal with the International Protection Accommodation Service division of the Department of Children, which is responsible for housing people seeking refuge in Ireland, saw Pumpkinspice Limited, a company set up by Tifco to develop the city centre hotel, paid approx. €20.5m to house asylum seekers in 2022. The Travelodge Plus, near the quays, is understood to have cost approx. €100m to build and is the second-biggest hotel in Dublin’s central city area. The Irish Times, 21st June
Dundrum, Dublin 14 Penneys has invested €16m in a new shop at Dundrum Town Centre. The €16m investment is part of Primark’s overall commitment to invest €250m in Ireland over the next 10 years, according to a statement from the group. The new Dundrum Penneys occupies the second and third floors of the old House of Fraser site at Dundrum. It is the third largest Penneys in Ireland after Mary Street and Blanchardstown. The Business Post, 22nd June
Liffey Valley, South Dublin The French fund Inter Gestion REIM has made its first investment in Ireland’s commercial property market, paying in excess of €26m (NIY 7%) for B&Q’s flagship store at Liffey Valley in Dublin. The fund, an independent family-owned portfolio management company, is understood to have secured ownership of the property from its owners, Aviva and Iput, in the face of competing bids from several other parties. The subject property extends to 119,213 sq. ft with an ancillary garden centre of approx. 29,000 sq. ft, as well as builder’s stores and a service yard. The unit also benefits from a large surface car park comprising 552 spaces. The property is single let to B&Q PLC on a 25-year upwards-only, FRI lease from March 27th, 2002. B&Q currently pay a rent of €2.02m pa (€18.80 per sq. ft). The Irish Times, 21st June
Sandyford, South Dublin US real estate investment firm Kennedy Wilson is seeking an occupier for the fourth-floor offices in the Chase Building at the Sandyford Business District in south Dublin. The accommodation, which extends to total area of 24,865 sq. ft, is being offered to the market by joint agents BNP Paribas Real Estate and Savills on a new direct lease and on flexible terms at an annual rent of €30 per sq. ft and €2k per car space pa. The overall scheme comprises a total area of 174,400 sq. ft, distributed over eight floors. The Chase Building on Arkle Road in the heart of Sandyford Business District is home to a number of international occupiers including Google, Service Source, Dun & Bradstreet, Ericsson and Regus. The Irish Times, 21st June
Naas, Co Kildare Palm Logistics is to seek planning permission to develop a further 500,000 sq. ft of logistics space at Naas Enterprise Park, the largest single asset in the Core industrial portfolio, which it acquired with KKR for €195m in December 2021. The proposed expansion, which will see the 250-acre park’s logistics space increase to more than 2m sq. ft, will involve an investment of more than €100m. The Naas scheme is home to more than 100 businesses employing more than 2,000 people and Palm has estimated that its investment offers the potential to double this workforce. The Irish Times, 21st June
Bluebell Avenue, Dublin 12 Gannon Recovery Services are paying more than €2m for the former Nangle Harris motor showrooms property on a 1.1-acre site at 1, 2 and 3 Bluebell Avenue, Dublin 12. The surrounding area has been designated for the City Edge Regen redevelopment by Dublin City and South Dublin local authorities. Savills had been quoting €1.85m for the property which includes three premises with a combined 23,971 sq. ft. These include a detached warehouse of 18,557 sq. ft. fronting Bluebell Avenue, together with two units to the rear of the site which total 5,414 sq. ft. The Irish Independent, 22nd June
John F Kennedy Industrial Estate, Dublin 12 Savills is bringing JFK Enterprise Centre in John F Kennedy Industrial Estate, Dublin 12 for sale with the benefit of vacant possession at a guide price of €1.4m. Sitting on approx. an acre at a prominent corner at the junction of John F Kennedy Drive and John F Kennedy Road, the detached premises extends to 16,716 sq. ft. This property is also in the area zoned Regen in the South Dublin County Council Development Plan. The Irish Independent, 22nd June
Midleton, Co Cork One of the country’s largest meat processing companies, Dawn Meats, has received planning permission to build a mixed-use development in Co Cork that includes over 400 housing units. It follows CGI Food Park Limited withdrawing its appeal at An Bord Pleanála against the County Council granting permission to Dawn Meats in September 2022 for the mixed-use development at the Water Rock site near Midleton. The scheme comprises of 434 residential units, a childcare facility, a Research and Development building, a neighbourhood centre and a 90-bed nursing home. The residential element of the development will contain 281 apartments/duplex units and the construction of 153 houses. The proposed development is to also provide 87 homes for social housing in compliance with the developer’s Part V obligations. The Irish Times, 22nd June
Guinness Brewery Site, Dublin 8 Property developer Ballymore has been granted planning permission to redevelop part of the Guinness brewery site in Dublin 8 for residential housing and a range of other uses. Dublin City Council has given the green light to Marbelsand Holding Ltd for the scheme at St James’s Gate, which includes 336 build-to-rent housing units in blocks rising up to 16 storeys in height. It also includes two hotels (with 304 bedrooms between them), a 280-capacity performance space, a food hall and marketplace, offices and a number of public spaces and new squares. Called the Guinness Quarter, the plan involves the development of a 12.5-acre site that currently forms part of Diageo’s St James’s Gate brewing campus in Dublin 8. The council has decided that Ballymore must pay a development contribution of €10.6m to the local authority “in respect of public infrastructure and facilities benefiting [the] development”. The Irish Times, 22nd June
Swords, Co Dublin CBRE is guiding a price of €7m for Gamestop’s former Irish headquarters in Swords Business Park after the video game retailer announced earlier this year it would be winding down its Irish operation. Estuary House is a high-specification detached facility of 41,290 sq. ft consisting of a two-storey office unit of 14,235 sq. ft and an industrial unit. The Irish Times, 21st June
Daft Report House prices have fallen by 0.5% YoY between March and June compared to the same period in 2022, the first drop since 2020, according to a new report published by Daft. The average house price for the period was €309.6k, which was up on a quarterly basis by 2.4%. The number of homes available on Daft on 1 June was 13,000, up 5% on the same date last year but still below 2019 when 24,200 were available on the platform. Asking prices were down in Dublin by 1%. While Daft’s report found an overall drop, data published earlier this month by the CSO found that residential property prices were up on the whole YoY by 3.6%. The Business Post, 26th June
The National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) has reported profit after tax of €81m for 2022. The body said the profit reflects the ongoing reduction in the size of its loan portfolio, which stood at €500m at end 2022, less than 2% of the value of €32bn paid by NAMA to acquire the loans when it was set up. Subject to market conditions, NAMA will make surplus transfer payments totalling €350m to the Exchequer over the remainder of this year, which will bring the total paid to the Exchequer to €4.25bn, it said. Between the start of 2014 and the end of March this year, NAMA funded or facilitated the delivery of close to 30,000 new homes, it said. Of these 30,000 homes, approx. 14,000 were directly funded by NAMA and approx. 16,000 were delivered indirectly on sites for which NAMA had funded planning permission, enabling works, legal costs or holding costs before they were disposed of. The Business Post, 22nd June
Housing Construction Nama has abandoned plans to deliver 400 apartments before it is wound down in 2½ years’ time, as investment in the targeted PRS sector has fallen sharply amid a spike in interest rates in the past year, according to the agency’s chief executive, Brendan McDonagh. Speaking to reporters after Nama published its annual report, Mr. McDonagh said the agency had envisaged delivering 1,800 new homes between 2022 and 2025, subject to commercial viability. However, 400 of the units that it had preapproved funding for its debtors to build, subject to the properties being pre-sold to institutional investors, will now not be constructed during the period, he said. The remaining 1,400 planned units are primary houses, 650 of which have already been delivered. The Irish Times, 22nd June
Ringsend, Dublin 4 Darragh O’Brien and Eamon Ryan are to meet with Nama in the coming weeks “to see if anything can be done” with the agency’s 20% stake in the Glass Bottle site to build social and affordable homes. Following reports of a controversial deal being finalised between a consortium led by developer Johnny Ronan and the Department of Housing, the ministers have moved to enter discussions with the agency. The deal between the developers, the department and Dublin City Council has been criticised due to the lack of affordable homes proposed at the 84-acre site, which is the last major vacant plot in the city. The scheme has the potential to deliver 3,800 homes, 900 of which would be used for social and affordable homes. The planning scheme for the site stipulates that 10% of homes must be for social housing and 15% for affordable housing. However, the deal being proposed for the first phase of the development would only deliver 4% of affordable homes. The Business Post, 25th June
Leixlip, Co Kildare Coonan Property is guiding a price of €3m (approx. €9.2k per acre) for a 32.9-acre landholding in Leixlip, Co Kildare. The subject property is zoned for enterprise and employment under the terms of the Leixlip Local Area Plan 2020-2023. The Irish Times, 21st June
Bishopstown, Co Cork Cork property development company Bridgewater Homes has announced the acquisition of a site in Bishopstown with planning permission for approx. 275 homes for €10.2m from rival developer Ardstone Homes. The Waterfall Road scheme will comprise 136 houses, 99 apartments, and 40 duplexes across a “diverse range” of options, the company said in a statement. It expects to deliver the project, which has an overall projected value of more than €123.6m, over a period of 30 months. The Irish Times, 25th June
Crumlin, Dublin 12 Seabren Developments is making a third attempt to secure planning permission for a €70.3m 152-unit residential scheme for Crumlin. The firm has joined with Circle VHA CLG in lodging the large-scale residential scheme to Dublin City Council for a site to the southwest of St Agnes Road, Crumlin, Dublin 12. The new application follows a community group in January in the High Court challenging the October 2022 grant of permission by An Bord Pleanála for a “fast track” Strategic Housing Development 150-unit scheme. Seabren first lodged plans for the site in January 2021. The new scheme consists of 152 apartments made up of 75 one-bed units, 72 two-bed units and five three-bed units. In order to comply with its Part V social housing obligations, the applicants have put an indicative price tag of €8m on 21 units and the indicative prices range from €518.8k to €330.6k. The Irish Times, 23rd June
Galway The High Court has rejected an attempt to halt a contract to complete 58 social housing units in Galway. Mr. Justice Michael Twomey said that if the court had allowed Glenman Corporation to challenge the awarding of the €10m contract by Galway City Council to complete the Garraí Beag social housing scheme, Ballybaan More, it could potentially have delayed the project by up to two years. Glenman previously won the contract to build these houses but the commencement of the project was delayed until June 2020 due to the pandemic. There were further practical and technical difficulties and, in June 2022, the council terminated the contract. Glenman said it had spent approx. €6.1m on the project, although it had only received €2.75m from the council. The Irish Times, 22nd June
Rathmines, Dublin 6 A Church of Ireland-backed housing development in south Dublin, described as a community-driven scheme “to address the shortage of affordable housing” in the area, is seeking up to €4k a month in rent for its main three-bed residential units. The Coram Deo project in Purser Gardens, Rathmines, which has just come on the market, is a nine-unit development. According to property website Daft.ie, the asking rent for the three-bed duplexes is €4k a month, while the rent sought for the one-bed units is €2.6k a month. Construction of the scheme was originally costed at €3.6m but ran over budget because of Covid-19 and increased procurement costs. The Irish Times, 22nd June
Rathcoole, Co Dublin Planning permission for the development of 204 homes in Rathcoole, Co Dublin, has been overturned by the High Court. Mr. Justice Richard Humphreys agreed to quash the approval, secured by Homeville Developments Ltd in November 2020, on account of two legal flaws identified by four residents’ groups. The strategic housing development was to consist of 123 three-to-four-bed houses, 28 duplexes, 53 apartments, a childcare facility and associated works at Stoney Hill Road in Rathcoole. The Irish Times, 21st June
Clonburris, West Dublin Builder Cairn Homes has put an indicative price tag of €22.19m on 56 units to be sold for social housing from a proposed €242.7m housing scheme for Clonburris in west Dublin. Plans before South Dublin County Council confirm that Cairn Homes Properties Ltd is seeking planning permission for 565 units at Clonburris made up of 230 houses, 216 duplex apartments and 119 apartments. The private scheme for the 35-acre site is in the fourth phase of the development and the latest scheme is earmarked for two parcels of land to the north of the Grand Canal in the Clonburris Special Development Zone (SDZ). The overall SDZ lands consist of 691 acres within the established Lucan, Clondalkin and Liffey Valley suburban areas. Documentation lodged with the new scheme put a value of €242.7m on the overall scheme with an average house price of €429.6k. After planning permission is granted for the SDZ scheme, the two sides will enter negotiations on a final price for the homes. The Irish Times, 20th June
Bandon, Co Cork A prime development site in Bandon previously endorsed by planners for the building of 260 homes is on the market for €4m. The approx. 24-acre landbank is zoned for large-scale residential development in the current Cork County Development Plan, which runs to 2028. If planning permission was secured again for approx. 260 units, that would equate to approx. €15k per unit. The Irish Examiner, 22nd June
Commercial Property Market, Ireland Investment property deals worth in excess of €280m have either stalled or been withdrawn from the Dublin property market in recent weeks. The South Korean owners of the Beckett building on East Wall Road in Dublin are thought to have initiated lengthy negotiations with potential buyers after receiving bids substantially less than the €80m asking price. Kookmin Bank bought the office building for €101m in 2018. Meta, the social media group, decided to exit its 15-year lease on the building in March. Negotiations could push the sale out to the end of the year, or early next year.
Seabren has pressed pause on the sale of Rockpoint, a 91-apartment scheme on the former Europa garage site in Blackrock, Co Dublin. The property was put on the market for €59m in February. Meanwhile Brookfield, the global asset manager and owner of Hibernia real estate group, has decided not to proceed with the €140m sale of an apartment portfolio in Dundrum. More than 290 apartments were for sale across Wyckham Point and Dundrum View. The Sunday Times, 25th June
Mortgage Approvals The number of new mortgage approvals fell slightly during the month of May, according to a new report from Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI). A total of 4,928 mortgages were approved in May, which is down 8% compared to the same period last year. First time buyers (FTBs) accounted for 3,170 of the mortgages approved while there were 1,033 mover purchases. The overall value of all mortgage approvals during May stood at just under €1.4bn, which is down 4% YoY. Of this, FTBs accounted for €926m in mortgage approvals, while mover purchasers accounted for €333m. The Business Post, 27th June
Online Auctions A total of 85 lots valued at approx. €21m will be auctioned online by BidX1. Residential properties, including investment apartments and houses, will account for 80% of the lots and commercial real estate for approx. 20%. The most valuable lot is a creche investment at Feltrim Business Park, Swords, Co Dublin which has a €800k guide price. Extending to approx. 5,844 sq. ft over ground and first floor, it is let to a tenant trading as Charlie’s Childcare and the total current rent reserved is €75k pa inclusive of Vat (NIY 9.37%). The Business Post, 24th June
Construction Prices Dublin has been ranked the second-most-expensive city in the European Union to build in and the 19th-most-expensive city in the world, according to Turner & Townsend’s latest International Construction Market Survey. But in spite of the high cost to build, Ireland is proving resilient, and construction is set to grow in 2023, according to the report’s authors. It put this down in part to relatively low labour costs, with construction wages in Dublin averaging €43.80 per hour. That figure stretches to €48.30 in London, €74.80 in Munich and €110.60 in Geneva. The data indicated falling sector confidence worldwide in the face of continued cost increases, fears of insufficient credit availability, and a persistent labour crisis, Turner & Townsend said. Turner & Townsend Report, 26th June
If you have an article which you would like to have considered for inclusion in our next weekly report, please contact us at info@origincapital.ie
Tralee, Co Kerry Cushman & Wakefield is guiding €7.5m for a mixed-use scheme in Tralee Town Centre. This mixed-use property portfolio comprises 52 apartment units, two office suites, and a 390-space multi-storey car park. Currently used for student accommodation and holiday rentals, the apartments generated €719k in gross income in 2022, with near-full occupancy throughout the academic year. The car park, generating €227k in gross revenue in 2022, also includes a telecom mast with a 15-year lease earning €14k annually. The projected income for 2023 across all three income streams is €1.04m. Tralee Town Centre is available for purchase in three lots: Apartments (€6.25m), Car Park (€1.25m), or the entire property (€7.5m). Cushman & Wakefield Brochure, 14th June
For lending terms on this asset please contact rossmetcalfe@origincapital.ie
Cork Street, Dublin 8 A private family office has paid €2.5m for a boutique apartment scheme and a ground-floor commercial unit in the Liberties area of Dublin. The subject property, Saoirse House, had been offered to the market originally by Owen Reilly last September at a guide price of €2.2m. Saoirse House comprises a block of five A-rated apartments along with a ground-floor commercial unit extending to 1,033 sq. ft. The units comprise a mix of two one-beds (643 sq. ft), a two-bedroom duplex (781 sq. ft), a three-bedroom apartment (1,104 sq. ft) and a two-bedroom penthouse (946 sq. ft) and came for sale fully furnished. In terms of their potential income, the selling agent marketed them on the basis that they could expect to generate approx. €136.2k pa. The commercial unit has been let on a new 10-year lease at a rent of €20k pa. The Irish Times, 14th June
Lower Mount Street, Dublin 2 Knight Frank is guiding €9.5m for 33-41 Lower Mount Street, an office building with potential for refurbishment or redevelopment. The property, a five-storey over-basement block of 22,942 sq. ft with 39 car-parking spaces, is home to the Irish League of Credit Unions (ILCU) while the OPW occupies 6,500 sq. ft of the building’s office accommodation and six car-parking spaces under a four-year, nine-month lease until January 2024. The Irish Times, 14th June
Dame Lane, Dublin 2 Hennebique Studios at 5 Dame Lane was sold to Nadir Properties in an off-market transaction. The property was let last year to Pembroke Hall, a provider of flexible office accommodation. It was let at €500k pa, indicating a value of up to €10m. The Sunday Times, 18th June
City Centre, Dublin Dublin City Council has blocked two new hotels in the city centre, warning there is an “overconcentration” that is damaging the “vitality of the inner city”. It is first time the council has used a new clause in the city development plan to prevent further tourist accommodation, causing anger in the tourism sector. Fáilte Ireland said there should be “an evidence-based approach” from Dublin City Council to accommodation provision, “to ensure a suitable balance is found between needs of the local community and providing appropriate accommodation stock for visitors”. City ID, the Dutch hospitality group, has been told it cannot build a 105-bedroom hotel on a derelict site on Capel Street beside Jack Nealon’s pub. A proposal by Urban Capital Limited, an investment firm, to convert an existing building on Thomas Street being used as offices into a small four-unit aparthotel was also refused permission. The Business Post, 17th June
Residential Property Prices The rate of average residential property price increases has eased to 3.6% in the year to the end of April, according to the latest national price index from the CSO. This is down from a 4% increase in the year to March 2023 and the high value of 15.1% in the 12 months to February and March 2022. The CSO’s residential property index showed that prices in Dublin rose by 1% and prices outside Dublin by 5.6% in the 12 months up to the end of April. In April 2023, 3,262 dwelling purchases by households at market prices were filed with the Revenue Commissioners, down by 5.3% compared with the 3,446 purchases in April 2022. The RPPI is designed to measure the change in the average level of prices paid by households for residential properties sold in Ireland. The RPPI specifically excludes non-household purchases, non-market purchases and self-builds, where the land is purchased separately. The Business Post, 14th June
Blackrock, Co Dublin Oakmount has instructed joint agents Knight Frank and Savills to offer a 9.86 acre site to the market at a reduced guide price of €36m (down from €45m). Located on lands formerly owned by the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul, the property at Temple Hill, comes for sale with full planning permission secured in 2019 from An Bord Pleanála for the development of 291 one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments. 284 of the units will be distributed across 13 blocks ranging in height from one to eight storeys, while a further six units will be accommodated within the existing protected structure of St Teresa’s House following its subdivision and conversion. The development will also provide parking spaces for 272 cars, 666 bicycles and 20 motorcycles. Oakmount acquired the Temple Hill site for €30m in 2017. The price paid by the company represented a premium of 20% on the €25m guided by WK Nowlan Real Estate Advisors when it brought the lands to the market on behalf of the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul. The Irish Times, 14th June
Government Housing Spend The Government failed to spend €1bn of the €4bn earmarked for social and affordable housing projects last year. Under its Housing for All strategy, launched in 2021, the Government pledged to spend €20bn on housing over the next five years, including €4bn in both 2022 and 2023. However, new figures obtained from the Department of Housing show it spent just 75% of its original allocation last year. The figures show capital expenditure on social housing, direct builds and acquisitions, came to just under €1.7bn in 2022 while Government-backed loans to AHBs, also for social and affordable housing projects, amounted to €1.15bn. A further €100m was spent on various Government housing initiatives while an additional €51m was spent on housing projects by the LDA. When combined, the total spend on housing by the Government came to €3bn, €1bn less than the budgetary allocation. The Irish Times, 19th June
Galway Eleven parcels of land across Galway city have been left “unzoned” following a row between the local authority and a planning watchdog. The unzoned parcels of land are located at some of Galway city’s key growth areas such as Roscam, Castlegar and Coolagh. As it stands, the lands fall outside of the normal planning system, and it is unclear if they can be legally used for any purpose. The situation has come about after months of disagreement between elected officials in Galway and the Office of the Planning Regulator, over the recently adopted Galway City Development Plan. The Irish Times, 18th June
North Docklands, Dublin A development company of Johnny Ronan’s has won its appeal against a High Court decision to quash permission for an increase in the height of two apartment blocks that form part of a larger development in the north Dublin docklands. An Bord Pleanála had approved height rises for two blocks – one from seven to 13 storeys and the other from seven to 11 floors – in a 500-unit development proposed by Spencer Place Development Company (SPDC). In October 2020 the High Court overturned this permission in proceedings brought against the board by Dublin City Council. SPDC, which was a notice party in the case, was allowed to appeal the ruling on a single ground asking whether the board has jurisdiction to grant permission for developments that materially contravene a planning scheme. The Irish Times, 16th June
Glenageary, South Dublin Plans by Redrock Glenageary for a seven-storey, 140-unit apartment scheme for Glenageary in south Dublin are facing local opposition. The application is a renewed attempt to build on the site after An Bord Pleanála in April 2022 refused planning permission for a 147-unit build-to-rent SHD. That plan had also been opposed locally. The new Large Scale Residential Development scheme at the junction of Sallynoggin Road and Glenageary Avenue at Glenageary roundabout would include a neighbourhood centre that would have commercial and retail units, a public plaza and a childcare facility. Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council has received 36 submissions concerning the new proposal. The Irish Times, 14th June
Cherry Orchard, West Dublin More than 1,000 social and affordable homes in blocks up to 15-storeys tall are to be built by the LDA and Dublin City Council in Cherry Orchard in west Dublin. The council has long sought to build homes on its large land bank just north of Park West railway station and to the east of the M50. However, despite several proposals over the last decade, development has not progressed. The scheme will involve the construction of 1,131 homes and 251,875 sq. ft of retail and community space, to accommodate up to 2,000 residents. The homes will be a mix of one bedroom, two-bedroom and three-bedroom apartments in the initial phase, with two- and three-bedroom own-door homes in subsequent phases. A total of 40,644 sq. ft is reserved for retail use, while there are plans for two creches and up to 193,750 sq. ft. of commercial/enterprise use located near to the M50 edge of the site. The Irish Times, 14th June
Compulsory Purchase Orders (CPO) More than 250 CPOs have been issued by Limerick City and County Council since 2019 with the local authority generating €7m in sales after refurbishing the properties. In 2022 alone, the council acquired 43 properties under its CPO activation programme with the aim of turning those properties into homes. Similarly, Waterford City and County Council was awarded €28m in funding to repurpose derelict and vacant properties within the centre of the city, following the authority achieving a high rate of converting derelict homes under Government schemes such as the repair and lease scheme. The Housing for All plan set a target for local authorities of 2,500 identified vacant properties in their areas to be acquired, repaired, and then sold to homebuyers. The Irish Times, 15th June
Banking and Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) report A new report by the BPFI reveals that individual first-time buyers (FTBs) of new homes in Ireland had an average income of €67,000 in 2022, significantly higher than the national average of just under €50,000. Solo FTB applicants accounted for 16.5% of all FTB mortgage drawdowns for new homes and 33% for existing homes. Despite a 26% increase in house prices, the share of solo applicants remained stable. This can be attributed to a 13% increase in average income and the introduction of the government’s Help-to-Buy scheme, which contributed to larger loan sizes. Critics argue that such schemes may drive up housing prices. The Irish Times, 20th June
Hooke & MacDonald Report A new report on the residential investment market by agent Hooke & MacDonald has revealed significant new trends in the sector, including a slowdown in PRS investment being picked up by the social and affordable sector. It also delves into transactional activity over 2022 and 2023 and looks at the likely scenarios for the sector in the year ahead. Among the agent’s findings in the report, is a continued focus of investment interest in the multi-family/PRS sector in the past 15 months. According to Hooke & MacDonald, some deals that were listed as signed in Q3 and Q4 were generally agreed in the first half of 2022, and in some cases in late 2021, so the continued strength of the rental market and portfolio performance helped ensure forward sale investment deals that were agreed in early 2022 proceeded. There was a relatively low level of investment transactions in the first quarter of 2023 with a total spend of just over €470m. Breaking that down into sectors, approx. 51% of that, or €240m of the total, was on multi-family; 24.5%, or €116m, on industrial; 18%, approx. €85m, on offices; and just 4%, €18m, on retail. The Business Post, 17th June
National Children’s Hospital, Dublin There are fresh concerns that the National Children’s Hospital could be delayed even further, as the lead contractor has been told to stop construction on a number of operating theatres. It is understood the latest potential obstacle could cost the project tens of millions to rectify. The National Paediatric Hospital Development Board (NPHDB)’s agent wrote to the contractor BAM, at the end of last month regarding 11 of the 22 operating theatres in the facility. The final bill for the children’s hospital, currently put at €1.4bn, remains unclear. The Irish Independent, 20th June
If you have an article which you would like to have considered for inclusion in our next weekly report, please contact us at info@origincapital.ie
Blanchardstown Centre, Dublin 15 Goldman Sachs has appointed Eastdil Secured and CBRE to find a buyer for the Blanchardstown Centre. The proposed disposal of the west Dublin scheme, the largest shopping centre in the country, is expected to carry a guide price of €650m-€725m. Industry sources have estimated that a sale at this level would see the Wall Street investment giant incurring a loss of €25m-€100m on its investment before any allowances for rental income received or capital expenditure. Goldman Sachs acquired the Blanchardstown Centre for approx. €750m in December 2020, after striking a deal with the scheme’s previous owner, Blackstone. Blackstone paid approx. €950m in 2016 to secure ownership of the complex from Green Property. Blackstone’s purchase of the Blanchardstown Centre is believed to have been financed originally with €250m of equity, with the balance being a combination of traditional senior debt and mezzanine financing provided by a syndicate of lenders that reportedly included Morgan Stanley, AIG, AIB and Goldman Sachs. The Blanchardstown Centre comprises approx. 1.2m sq. ft of retail space distributed across 180 shops. The Irish Times, 7th June
Tallaght, Dublin 24 The American owners of the Square Tallaght are preparing to put the Dublin shopping centre on the market later this year for approx. €170m. Oaktree Capital, the US private equity company, bought the Square from Nama in 2019 for €250m. The Square, which is managed by Sigma Retail Partners, scored a significant coup last year when Penneys opened in the old Debenhams unit. The mall has 570,487 sq. ft of shopping space distributed over more than 130 outlets and a Movies@ cinema. Indego, one of the Square’s operating companies, was granted an extension to planning permission for a 231,316 sq. ft extension at level two and a six-storey car park, but it is due to expire next year. The Sunday Times, 11th June
Dundrum Town Centre, Dublin 14 The owners of Dundrum Town Centre have just over a year to refinance the south Dublin mall’s €600m loan. Accounts filed in November for Dundrum Retail GP — which is jointly owned by Hammerson, the British property company, and Allianz, the German insurer — say that the debt is due for payment in September 2024. A May 2022 valuation for Dundrum Town Centre found it was worth more than €1bn. The company has a LTV ratio of 56% and said it did not expect the valuation to fall below the default LTV level of 70% on its loans. However, in 2021, rental arrears meant that it did not meet its default covenant tests and the company paid over all surplus cash to the banks under a so-called cash trap. Hammerson and Allianz are still waiting to hear whether they will be granted permission to build 881 apartments in the south Dublin village. The case was due to be decided by An Bord Pleanála in July 2022 but has been delayed. The Sunday Times, 11th June
Ballycoolin Business Park, Dublin 15 Having brought the Aurora Building at Ballycoolin Business Park in Dublin 15 to the market as a fully let investment for €16.5m in February 2020, Cushman & Wakefield is offering it for sale once more at a reduced guide price of €14m. On this occasion, the subject property, which comprises two interconnecting office blocks (Block A and B), extending to 121,482 sq. ft, comes with the benefit of full vacant possession. The property, which was occupied previously by Veritas Storage (Ireland) Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Veritas Holdings Ltd, sits on a plot of 6.59 acres with 311 surface car parking spaces. The property is held by way of a 999-year ground lease and is subject to a nominal ground rent. The Irish Times, 7th June
Churchtown, South Dublin Hooke & MacDonald and Stapleton Property Consultants are seeking offers of €2.15m (NIY 9.1%) for Landscape House, Churchtown. Landscape House is a detached two-storey office building which extends to approx. 17,222 sq. ft and sits on a site of 0.6 acres. The property is let to Apleona Ireland Limited, Red Box Direct Limited and Flextime Limited at an income of approx. €215.3k pa. All of the leases expire by 2027. Apleona pays approx. 70% of the annual income of the building and has been in occupation since 2017 on a ten-year lease. The Business Post, 10th June
Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin 2 KKR, the US private equity group, has leased 40,000 sq. ft of office space in Dublin. Intercom has assigned a portion of its lease at Irish Life Investment Managers’ Cadenza building to the US investor, which will occupy three floors of the recently developed office block. Tech firm Intercom prelet more than 100,000 sq. ft at Cadenza at the end of 2019. React News, 7th June
Lucan, Co Dublin Fingal County Council has paid more than €3.6m for 60 acres of land with potential for residential development at Coldblow in Lucan, Co Dublin. The site is zoned for “high amenity” in the latest Fingal Development Plan, the aim of which is to “protect and enhance high-amenity areas”. The council is understood to have seen off competing offers from a range of developers, investors and farmers following a “best-bids” process overseen by Coonan Property. The Irish Times, 7th June
Dublin Airport The owners of a key Dublin Airport land bank now up for sale have privately suggested they expect it to fetch more than €210m in a sign the State airport operator faces a potentially large bill to bring the property into public ownership. Three connecting lots of land in the centre of the airport are being sold by brothers Ulick and Des McEvaddy; Seán Fox; and Brendan and Orla O’Donoghue. The property is being sold in its entirety or three separate lots. The site has been cast as an ideal location for a third terminal although senior airport figures believe such infrastructure won’t be required for another two decades. The guide-price valuation on the 260-acre property sets the expected price to approx. €800k per acre. That valuation is roughly half the €1.6m price per acre that the airport authority recently paid in a €70m deal for a car park site outside the airport campus. The Irish Times, 3rd June
Brennanstown Road, South Dublin Nama is selling a south Dublin site with potential for 370 homes and its guide price has been reduced since it last came on the market. Known as the Brennanstown plot, it is available in one or more lots and is situated off the Brennanstown Road between the villages of Cabinteely and Foxrock. According to market sources, the guide price has been reduced to approx. €18m for the whole 29.4 acres, which is €5m below the previous asking price of €23m. Lot 1, known as Druid’s Glen, comprises approx. 8.8 acres of residential development land and 11.1 acres of forestry land. It includes three houses: Glendruid House, a protected structure; Druid House and Knockanree House. Lot 2, known as Lehaunstown, consists of approx. 9.5 acres of residential development land, with a small portion zoned for town centre use under the Cherrywood Strategic Development Zone (SDZ). The Irish Independent, 8th June
Kilcullen, Kildare Jordan Auctioneers recently brought a development site in south Kildare to the market for €2.5m. Extending to 4.86 acres, it is zoned ‘New Residential’ under the Kilcullen Local Area Plan 2014-2020, which has been extended. The site overlooks the River Liffey. The Irish Independent, 8th June
Social Housing, Ireland Approx. 73% of new-build social housing units delivered last year came from the private sector, according to figures obtained from the Department of Housing. They show the Government funded the delivery of 7,433 social homes in 2022. The majority (54% or 4,026 units) were delivered by private developers in what are known as turnkey projects where the local authority or housing body enters a forward-purchasing arrangement with a private developer. A further 19% or 1,408 units were purchased from private developers under Part V of the Planning and Development Act, where 10% of a private scheme is acquired for social housing. The final 27% or 1,976 units were delivered directly by local authorities and Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs). The Irish Times, 8th June
Planning Permission, Ireland In the first quarter of 2023, the number of new homes approved by planning authorities in Ireland increased by 38% compared to the same period in 2022. A total of 11,659 homes received planning permission, with 53% being houses and the rest being apartments. This marked the third consecutive quarter where more houses than apartments were approved. Dublin accounted for 84% of the approved apartment permissions and 44.3% of the approved house permissions in the country. This indicates a strong concentration of new housing development in the capital city. It’s worth noting that although the number of planning applications approved for new homes decreased by 29%, the increase in approved homes was due to multi-development schemes where a single application covered multiple units. Furthermore, the SHD scheme saw an annual increase of 112.8% in the total number of approved homes. This scheme allows direct applications for developments with at least 100 residential units or over 200 student bed spaces. In Dublin, there was a substantial share of SHD approvals, contributing to the overall housing growth in the city. Overall, these statistics highlight the increased housing activity in Dublin, with a significant proportion of new homes being approved in the capital, particularly in the apartment sector. The Irish Times, 9th June
Leopardstown, Dublin 18 Two State bodies are involved in a “standoff” over the development of a prime site next to Leopardstown racecourse. The LDA wants to develop up to 2,080 homes on the land, which is owned by Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) and the local authority, adjacent to the famous racetrack. However, HRI is in the process of developing its own masterplan for the site, which is expected to include a range of amenities beyond housing – including a hotel and events centre, and the possibility of an equestrian sprint track. Such a plan would be expected to feature a housing element, but likely at a lower level than that envisaged by the LDA. In its Report on Relevant Public Land – a scoping exercise assessing how much housing could be built on State lands produced earlier this year – the LDA estimated that between 1,550 and 2,080 homes could be built on the site at an estimated cost of up to €535.5m. The Irish Times, 10th June
Milltown, South Dublin Ardstone is to lodge plans for a new €300m apartment scheme near Milltown in Dublin, months after An Bord Pleanála conceded a High Court challenge against a previous permitted scheme for the site. Ardstone subsidiary, Sandford Living Ltd, is to lodge a large-scale residential development application in the coming days with Dublin City Council for a 636-unit scheme. A statutory planning notice confirms that the 636-unit scheme is of a slightly lower density than the 667-unit SHD scheme that was previously permitted and then quashed. Ardstone bought the Jesuit Order lands at Sandford Road near Milltown for €65m in 2019 and received permission from An Bord Pleanála in December 2021 for a mainly build-to-rent apartment complex on the 10-acre site. The new planning notice confirms that the latest scheme is comprised of 227 one-bed units, 296 two-bed units, 26 three-bed units and 87 studios. The scheme – on a 10.53 acre site at Milltown Park, Sandford Road – is to include six apartment blocks, with the tallest rising to 10 storeys. The Irish Times, 9th June
BNP Paribas Real Estate Ireland Report Home-building in Ireland experienced a significant slowdown in May, with the Construction PMI for the housing sector measuring 43.9, marking the eighth consecutive month of decline. Construction price inflation reached 14% YoY by February, and while it has since eased, costs continue to rise. Material prices have stabilized but remain high. The commercial building sector grew in May, registering a PMI reading of 53.7, while civil engineering projects slumped to 43.9. Overall, the construction industry is expected to contract by 4% this year due to factors like increased interest rates, labor shortages, and high costs. However, new orders increased, indicating potential growth in the coming months. The Republic of Ireland’s population growth, foreign direct investment, and economic expansion continue to drive construction. BNP Paribas Real Estate Ireland Report, 12th June
Government spending on housing was more than €80m behind target in the first three months of the year, as the Department of Housing continues to struggle to use all its budget even in the teeth of the housing crisis. Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien is due to give an update to Cabinet on spending by his department – and will tell them that when carry-over items from last year are included, capital spending is €83m behind the amount the Government budgeted for the first quarter of 2023. It emerged earlier this year that the Department of Housing failed to spend more than €1bn earmarked for housing over the past three years. With the economy suffering from so-called “capacity constraints” – factors such as the labour market, which is at full employment – Government departments are struggling to spend their entire budget, despite huge levels of tax flowing into the exchequer. While YoY spending in housing has increased, the figures to be shared with Cabinet show the nature of the challenge facing the Coalition is deeper than funding. Last week, it emerged the Department of Transport had underspent its capital budget by approx. €100m during the same three-month period. The Irish Times, 13th June
Ringsend, Dublin 4 Dublin city councillors have voted for the rejection of a deal with developer Johnny Ronan at the Irish Glass Bottle site in Ringsend which would see the number of affordable homes promised reduced from 15% to just 4%. In 2020, a consortium involving Ronan Group Real Estate, Oaktree Capital Management and Lioncor Developments was chosen as the preferred bidder to develop up to 3,800 apartments on the former industrial lands on the Poolbeg Peninsula. Under planning laws, 10% of the new homes must be sold to Dublin City Council for social housing. In May 2017, however, in order to secure councillors’ approval for the redevelopment plans, then Minister for Environment Simon Coveney agreed State funding would be made available for an additional 15% affordable homes. However, a deal negotiated between the council management, the Department of Housing and the consortium on the first phase of 570 apartments, while it would include 57 social apartments, would provide only 25 affordable homes, or just 4%. The Irish Times, 12th June
Ennis, Co Clare Permission for the largest private housing scheme proposed for Ennis, Co Clare, is being challenged in the High Court. The 289-unit strategic housing development is proposed by developer Glenveagh Homes Ltd for the outskirts of the town at Drumbiggle, Keelty. Clare County Council had recommended refusing the scheme, which is to comprise 199 three-bed houses, 78 two-bed homes and 12 one-bed maisonettes. In compliance with its obligations, Glenveagh proposes to sell 57 homes to the local authority. The Irish Times, 12th June
Clonburris, Co Dublin Planning permission is being sought by Cairn Homes for a €142m residential development of 565 units. The development, within a strategic development zone in Clonburris, Co Dublin, comprises the construction of 230 houses and 335 apartments. A decision is due in Q3 2023. The Business Post, 10th June
Fairview, Dublin 3 Planning permission has been approved for a €300m large residential development application at St Vincent’s Hospital, Richmond Road in Fairview, Dublin 3. The development includes the construction of 811 residential units, comprising a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments across a number of blocks ranging in height from two to 13 storeys. The project also comprises the construction of a brand new 73-bed hospital. The Business Post, 10th June
Old Cratloe Road, Limerick Planning permission has been granted for an €11m residential development on the Old Cratloe Road in Limerick for Riverpoint Construction. The scheme will see the creation of 86 residential units, split between 46 houses and 40 apartments. The Business Post, 10th June
Tullamore, Co Offaly Plans are in the pipeline for a Large-Scale Residential Development in Tullamore, Co Offaly. The project, for John Flanagan Developments, will see the construction of 148 dwellings in total, split between 58 apartments and 90 houses. A decision is due in late July 2023. The Business Post, 10th June
Loughmacask, Kilkenny Works have begun on the next phase of housing as part of a €21m residential development in Loughmacask in Kilkenny. This phase will see the construction of 10 houses out of a total of 112 proposed. Work originally commenced in early 2022 and to date 50 houses have commenced construction, with 17 complete. The Business Post, 10th June
Walkinstown, Dublin 12 Works are now under way on the construction of a €37.5m apartment development at the former CHM Premises on Ballymount Road Lower in Walkinstown, Dublin 12. The development for Montane Developments will see the demolition of the existing buildings on site and the construction of 171 apartments, café, crèche and landscaping works. The project consists of 61 one-bed, 103 two-bed and 7 three-bed apartments. The Business Post, 10th June
Leixlip, Co Kildare Coonan Property is handling the sale of a prime commercial development opportunity at Collinstown in Leixlip, Co Kildare, for which it is guiding in excess of €3m. The lands extend to 32.9 acres and are zoned in the Leixlip Local Area Plan 2020-2023 with the following objective: Q – Enterprise & Employment – to provide for and facilitate the provision of high job-generating uses. The Business Post, 9th June
Commercial Real Estate Outlook, Ireland The Central Bank of Ireland (CBI) recently published its financial stability review, highlighting the strength of the Irish economy. However, concerns were raised regarding the commercial property sector. The CBI expects double-digit declines in commercial property values due to factors like higher interest rates, remote working, and weak business demand, with prices already down by 9.4% in Q1 2023. The office vacancy rate in Dublin stands at approx. 13%, comparable to other European cities, while US cities like San Francisco have experienced a 30% vacancy rate. The CBI warns that an oversupply of office space could lead to further price and rental declines, financial losses, and potential contagion effects on the wider Irish economy. Commercial property funds in Ireland have already reported nearly €500m in write-downs this year. While the impact on the broader economy has been limited so far, the situation remains a concern for the CBI and other financial institutions. The Business Post, 11th June
If you have an article which you would like to have considered for inclusion in our next weekly report, please contact us at info@origincapital.ie
Park West Business Park, Dublin 12 Lisney is guiding a price of €3.5m (€128 per sq. ft; NIY 10%) for a fully let office investment at Park West Business Park in Dublin 12. The sale of Block 14 on Joyce Way offers the prospective purchaser the opportunity to secure rental income into the medium term of €384.16k, rising to €392.7k in July 2023. The subject property is occupied by a strong tenant line-up that includes ICRLA, Client Solutions (Ernst & Young), and Orchard Fostering. The WAULT is 2.9 years to the break option and 3.50 years to expiry. Block 14 briefly comprises a standalone three-storey building facing on to the main plaza at Park West. The property consists of a modern office building of 27,167 sq. ft together with 36 car-parking spaces. The Irish Times, 31st May
Fitzwilliam Street Lower, Dublin 2 Less than six months after it assumed the lease from Slack Technologies for all 135,000 sq. ft of office space at the newly developed Fitzwilliam 28 in Dublin city centre, SMBC Aviation Capital is looking to sublet a quarter of the building. The accommodation, which extends to 46,000 sq. ft in total, will be fully fitted out and available for occupation at a quoting rent of €59.50 per sq. ft in the final quarter of this year. The news of SMBC Aviation Capital’s move comes after the company’s decision to take on the long-term lease Slack Technologies committed to in early 2020 at a rent of €7.7m a year. The available space on the building’s first and second floor extends to 21,000 sq. ft and 25,000 sq. ft respectively and is bright thanks to the presence of floor-to-ceiling windows and a ceiling height of 2.8 metres. The Irish Times, 31st May
Ballsbridge, Dublin 4 Waystone has instructed CBRE to sublet the first floor of its headquarters at 35 Shelbourne Road in Ballsbridge, Dublin 4. The company currently occupies a total of 52,000 sq. ft across the first to fourth floors and 12 car-parking spaces at the newly developed building, having entered into a 20-year lease on the premises in April of last year. The fifth and sixth floors of the building serve as the Dublin headquarters of online takeaway delivery giant Just Eat. The first floor of the property comes to the market fully fitted with open-plan desk space capable of accommodating up to 160 workers. CBRE is offering the space by way of a flexible sublease at a quoting rent of €60 per sq. ft. The Irish Times, 31st May
City Centre, Cork The target date for completion of a €20m glass prism building has been pushed out until midway through next year. The planned 15-storey block was due for completion in August this year. However, the latest completion date is now Q2 of 2024. The Prism is to provide more than 64,583 sq. ft of office space. The Irish Examiner, 1st June
Lucan, Co Dublin The Griffeen Centre in Lucan, Co Dublin is being offered to the market by joint agents Colliers and Bannon at a guide price of €6.6m (€245 per sq. ft; NIY 9.4%). The subject property comprises a retail-led neighbourhood scheme extending to 26,900 sq. ft. It incorporates a grocery anchor, creche, medical centre, restaurant and five office suites. The centre’s surface level car park is to the front and has 94 car-parking spaces. The centre is more than 95% occupied and is producing overall rental income of approx. €682k pa with a WAULT of just over 5.88 years. The tenant line-up includes Musgraves Ltd (trading as Centra), Giraffe Childcare Ltd, McCabe’s Pharmacy, Boylesports and Pizza Hut. The Irish Times, 31st May
Ballsbridge, Dublin 4 The American Embassy in Dublin is closing in on a deal to purchase the former Jury’s Hotel in Ballsbridge as it prepares to relocate embassy staff over the coming years. According to market sources, officials in the American government are currently carrying out a number of inspections and checks at the site as the embassy finalises a deal with the site’s owner, Chartered Land. Separately, the embassy is close to finalising a deal to purchase a number of premium apartments at the adjacent Lansdowne Place development to house embassy staff and overseas visitors. The latest embassy developments come after Dublin City Council agreed in 2019 to rezone the former Jury’s Hotel, which closed that same year, to facilitate the embassy’s relocation there. In 2021, planning permission was granted to separate the hotel site from the residential Lansdowne Place development with fencing, satisfying a key security concern for embassy officials. The Business Post, 31st May
Magheramore, Co Wicklow Oakmount’s plans for a multimillion-euro resort in Wicklow have been refused planning permission by the local council. Last month, a firm connected to Oakmount applied for permission to develop a tourism and leisure complex in Magheramore, Co. Wicklow. The site was sold to Oakmount in June 2021 following a competitive auction, with Wicklow county council reportedly among those bidding. The proposed facility would include 48 accommodation pods and a two-storey building with a gym, sauna, cinema and outdoor pool at lower ground level. A bar and restaurant would also be on site. It was widely reported Oakmount paid €700K to secure ownership of the wider Magheramore site in an online auction in June 2021. While the amount paid represented a massive premium on the €210k the property had been guiding in advance of its sale, intense competition involving five parties on the day saw bids surpass the €550k mark. The Business Post, 31st May
Tallaght, Dublin 24 After 19 months of being tied up with an application for 334 apartments in the Government’s “fast-track” planning system, the former Dublin headquarters of global technology company ABB on Tallaght’s Belgard Road is being put up for sale. The subject property is being offered to the market by joint agents Colliers and Cushman & Wakefield on the instructions of Myles Kirby as receiver over Landmarque Belgard Development Company Ltd at a guide price of €5.25m. The building briefly comprises a detached warehouse unit along with three-storey office accommodation extending to a total area of 41,254 sq. ft on a 2.2-acre site. The warehouse element of the property extends to 13,392 sq. ft while the office space measures 27,862 sq. ft and is laid out over three floors. The building has a secure yard to the south measuring 0.3 acres and 81 car-parking spaces around its perimeter. The Irish Times, 31st May
Blanchardstown, Dublin 15 Planning permission has been granted to the owners of Blanchardstown Town Centre for a €450m apartment scheme with approx. 1,000 units despite strong opposition by several major retailers with outlets in the shopping centre. The proposed development consists of 971 apartments in seven blocks ranging from one to 16 storeys in height as well as a shop, office, gym, restaurant/cafe, creche, mobility hub, community facility and place of worship. The development on a 16.3-acre site is being proposed by Blanche Retail Nominee, a company linked to the shopping centre’s owners, Goldman Sachs. A total of 97 apartments are due to be sold to Fingal County Council for an estimated cost of €44.9m. The Irish Times, 31st May
Rialto, Dublin 8 Harvey is guiding a price of €3.75m for an investment/development opportunity at Silverdale on Herberton Road in Rialto, Dublin 8. Offers for the property will be considered on a straight-sale basis, or subject to planning permission. The sale comprises two industrial warehouse and dry-storage buildings, measuring a gross external area of 31,022 sq. ft and located on a site of 1.5 acres, which is zoned Z10 under the Dublin City Development Plan 2022-2028. The property was occupied for more than 30 years by G4S Securicor as its cash-counting base, before being vacated in 2018. It is occupied by Dublin Street Parking Services Ltd under two leases and Vodafone Ireland Ltd under a mast licence, generating a total rent of €173k pa. The leases run for seven years from September 13th 2019, and contain mutual break options in September 2024, subject to serving six months’ written notice. Deeds of Renunciation have been signed in relation to both leases. The passing rent of €173k a year is well below market rent. The Irish Times, 31st May
Ballycoolin, Dublin 15 Joint agents Savills and CBRE are seeking an occupier for Unit 736, which is now nearing completion. The subject property will extend to 68,727 sq. ft. Unit 736 Northwest Logistics Park will be available to lease at an annual rent of €12.95 per sq. ft. Park Developments is awaiting a decision on planning permission in the coming weeks for Unit 735, which will extend to 55,240 sq. ft. The Irish Times, 31st May
Donaghmede, Dublin 13 Knight Frank is guiding a price of €700k for a residential site in north Dublin with full planning permission secured by Gannon Homes, owned by developer Gerry Gannon, for the construction of 18 new homes. The 0.84-acre site, at Grattan Lodge, off the Hole in the Wall Road in Donaghmede, has approval in place for 10 four-bedroom houses (1,472 sq. ft), one one-bed duplex (543 sq. ft) and seven two-bed duplexes (921-945 sq. ft). The Irish Times, 31st May
Residential Portfolio, Dublin The Vestry Partnership, a property fund backed by a Singapore sovereign wealth fund, has amassed a portfolio of more than 1,000 separate rental properties in Ireland. The portfolio consists of single or multiple units in different developments, mostly apartments in Dublin. Vestry is believed to be controlled by GIC, a Singaporean state wealth fund, and has received debt financing from DBS, a Singaporean lender. According to its most recent accounts, up to March 2022, the partnership controlled 813 units and had let 99% of the properties. Mortgage charge documents just filed in the Companies Office indicate that it has since added 200 further units to the portfolio. Sources say that the fund has acquired a large number of properties from Cerberus, a vulture fund. The Sunday Times, 4th June
Lucan, Co Dublin Fingal County Council is understood to have bought 60 acres of land next to St Catherine’s Park in Lucan, Co Dublin, for more than €4.5m, which is well over its €3.6m guide price. The local authority had to see off competition from investors, developers and farmers as selling agent Coonans said there was significant interest from other potential buyers. Located at Coldblow with extensive frontage onto the R419 Lucan to Clonee road, the lands are close to residential developments at Rokeby and Laraghacon. The Irish Independent, 1st June
Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) Government spending on a social housing support scheme for people in the rental sector has increased by 45% since 2019, with a record more than half a billion euro being paid to private landlords last year, new figures show. Figures from the Department of Housing show that last year a total of €515.2m was paid to landlords by the State through the scheme, a 45% increase on the €354.6m spent four years earlier in 2019. At the end of last year, there were 59,258 active HAP tenancies, which was a decrease on the 61,907 tenancies in 2021, although still higher than the 52,529 in 2019. Under the scheme, there are official maximum rent limits, which vary across the State, but in almost two-thirds of cases last year the local authority had to break these limits using “discretionary additional payments” to secure tenancies due to the high cost of rent in the State. The average rate of discretion was 25.5% above the limit last year. The Irish Times, 5th June
Coolegad, Wicklow Wicklow County Council has refused planning permission for 98 houses near Greystones on residentially zoned land, on the basis that the town has already reached its population target for 2028. The decision could have far-reaching implications – including an effective ban on new planning permissions in the Greystones–Delgany area for the next five years. Cairn Homes applied to Wicklow County Council in April for permission to construct 89 new homes at Coolegad, on the northern fringe of Greystones, an area close to the local, Temple Carrig School. Cairn Homes currently has an application for 586 new homes covering the same site and adjoining lands, made directly to Bord Pleanála last year, under the State’s former Strategic Housing Development initiative. Sources said a decision has not been made and is not likely to be made until much later this year. The Irish Times, 2nd June
Housing Demand Demand for housing nationally is up by 17% on this time last year while demand in Dublin is up by 34%, according to property website Daft.ie. To assess the demand, the site looks at the growth and change in the number of inquiries related to property listings on its website. The company estimated that demand for new homes specifically rose up by 114% in the 12 months to May this year. Homes with a listed price of €400k-€600k had the largest increase in demand of 38%. New homes within the price bracket of €400k-€500k marked the strongest surge in demand of 1,783%, Daft said. While demand for homes between €200k-€400k have risen 24%, homes listed between €600k-€800k grew by 20% compared with this time last year. Separate figures from the CSO showed the volume of production in construction rose by 7.5% in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the previous quarter and was up 2.8% on an annual basis. However, the CSO noted that compared to pre-pandemic levels the volume of construction activity was still down over 13%. The Irish Times, 2nd June
Fairview, Dublin 3 Dublin City Council has given the green light to plans for 785 apartments on the grounds of St Vincent’s Hospital in Fairview in Dublin 3 despite local opposition. The council granted planning permission for the €300m scheme after reducing the number of units from 811 to 785 by reducing the highest bloc from 13 to 11 storeys. The scheme on the 23.4-acre site is being developed by Royalton Group, a British property development firm, in partnership with the board of St Vincent’s Hospital. Under the terms of the deal, Royalton is to construct a new 73-bedroom mental health facility for the hospital. As part of 39 conditions attached to the permission, the council is requiring that the developer pays €8.7m in planning contributions towards public infrastructure. As part of its Part V social housing obligations, the developers were planning to sell 174 apartments (21% of the total number of units at an indicative price tag of €87.72m (€504k per unit)). With the reduction in the number of units, the number of Part V units will reduce to 164 or 165. The Irish Times, 1st June
Housing Underspend The Department of Housing had to return more than €380m to the exchequer over the last four years amid underspends blamed in part on Covid-19 construction stoppages, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) will be told. Despite the ongoing housing crisis the department has struggled to spend its full allocated budget. It was previously reported that it failed to spend more than €1bn earmarked for housing over the past three years. The department is able to carry over some of its capital funding allocation to be spent the following year under budgetary rules. However, secretary general Graham Doyle is expected to tell PAC that €382m has been surrendered back to the exchequer. His opening statement says the surrendered amount cumulatively represents 1.8% of the total funds allocated to the department. The Irish Times, 1st June
Ballyboden, South Dublin South Dublin County Council has given the green light to plans for a 402-unit apartment scheme for Taylor’s Lane in Ballyboden despite local opposition. The planning authority has granted planning permission to Shannon Homes Dublin UC for the large-scale residential development (LRD) scheme comprising three blocks rising to five storeys despite the opposition of local residents. The planning permission for the LRD plan follows the High Court in January 2022 quashing an An Bord Pleanála planning permission for a Shannon Homes UC Strategic Housing Development scheme for 486 apartments at the same site. Underlining the scale of the scheme, the council has attached a condition requiring the developer to pay €4.19m in planning contributions towards public infrastructure to the council. The Irish Times, 31st May
If you have an article which you would like to have considered for inclusion in our next weekly report, please contact us at info@origincapital.ie
Talbot Street, Dublin 1 Irish Water has initiated a search for new offices to replace its headquarters in Dublin city centre. In a request for information, which it issued last week, Uisce Éireann – as it is officially known – asked commercial real estate advisers and interested parties to provide it with options in the 65,000-80,000 sq. ft range. The proposed office sizes suggest that the State agency is looking to accommodate 600-800 workers at its new premises. Irish Water’s lease on its existing 55,000 sq. ft office at Colville House on Talbot Street is due to expire in February 2026. While the agency initially occupied the property under the terms of a lease assignment from Bank of Ireland in 2013, it went on to sign a 10-year lease in its own right once the bank exercised the break option on its original agreement in 2016. The Irish Times, 24th May
Abbey Street Lower, Dublin 1 Apex Fund Services has agreed to lease an additional 11,000 sq. ft at its existing Dublin headquarters in Block 5 at the Irish Life Centre. Having already occupied approx. 15,000 sq. ft of office space on the second floor of the building since 2018, the company will now take on part of the third floor by way of lease assignment on a 15-year lease from 2018 with the benefit of break options at a passing rent of €45 per sq. ft. The assigner is the Austrian lender BAWAG Group who acquired German-owned Depfa Bank in 2021 and has since managed an orderly wind down of their operations in Ireland. The Irish Times, 24th May
St Stephens Green, Dublin 2 A plan by Oakmount to build a new high-end hotel at St Stephen’s Green looks set to be scaled back significantly after the developer pulled back from acquiring three properties included as part of its original plan. According to market sources, Oakmount has withdrawn from the purchase of the home of the former Hibernian United Services Club at 8 St Stephen’s Green, as well as two other transactions involving two adjacent buildings. Oakmount had been progressing individual deals for 4, 5 and 8 St Stephen’s Green with a view to assembling a large site for a hotel to be operated as part of their Press Up Hospitality Group. Oakmount already owns UK fashion retailer Topshop’s former flagship premises at 6-7 St Stephen’s Green, having paid more than €17m to acquire the property last year. The Irish Times, 23rd May
Henry Street, Dublin 1 Fitzwilliam Real Estate, owned by Noel Smyth, has been granted planning permission to develop a nine-storey hotel on Henry Street in Dublin 1. The 245-bedroom hotel will be built over Arnotts department store, comprising a two-storey element set back over the store and a three-storey portion above its multi-level car park. The top three open-air levels of the Arnotts car park will be demolished to make way for part of the new hotel, necessitating the removal of 145 car spaces. According to the planning documents, the developer owns the Arnotts store’s “air rights”, allowing the company to submit an application for the air space above the store property. An agreement has been reached with Munich-based Ruby Hotels to operate the hotel. React News, 24th May
Oak Road Business Park, Dublin 12 CBRE has launched a modern, end-of-terrace business unit just off the Naas Road in Dublin for sale by private treaty. The property, Unit 22 in the Oak Road Business Park in Dublin 12, extends to 5,769 sq. ft and includes well-presented, two-storey office accommodation which extends to approx. 1,840 sq. ft. The Business Post, 26th May
Inchicore, Dublin 8 French investor Iroko Zen has completed its third acquisition this year and seventh deal to date in the Irish investment market, paying €1.425m for the premises of Tesco Express on Tyrconnell Road in Inchicore, Dublin 8. The property comprises of two adjoining ground-floor retail units, extending to 4,850 sq. ft. The accommodation is laid out primarily for supermarket use along with staff facilities and a storage area. The subject property is let to Tesco on a 20-year and five-months term from October 30th, 2007, expiring on March 31st, 2028. The lease incorporates CPI-linked rent reviews with cap and collar of 3% and 1% respectively. The passing rent is €98k annually. The Irish Times, 24th May
St Patrick’s Street, Cork A consortium of private investors has acquired Debenhams’ former premises in Cork city. According to market sources, the consortium has paid approx. €12m for the landmark property at 12-17 St Patrick’s Street. The building had been seeking €20m when it was first put on the market by agent Cushman & Wakefield along with Debenhams’ former premises on Henry Street in Dublin in August of last year. While the Henry Street property is set to become the Dublin flagship store for its new owners, Sports Direct, the future of the Cork building remains unclear at this point. And while it is possible that Intersport Elverys will occupy a portion of the property, market sources say they expect the remainder of its space to be offered to other prospective occupiers or to undergo redevelopment. The building extends to approx. 152,998 sq. ft and operated as Roches Stores for almost a century before the Roche family leased it to Debenhams in 2006. The Irish Times, 23rd May
Harcourt Portfolio Davy Real Estate is nearing a deal to buy the Harcourt Developments shopping centre portfolio for €75m, and finally end a protracted sales process. The property fund manager has entered into exclusive talks to buy the portfolio of six malls — becoming the third party do so in the past year — and is at an advanced stage of negotiations. Lugus Capital, a Cork investment group, and the Canadian-Irish vehicle Camgill Conway both entered periods of exclusivity but failed to complete a deal due to adverse conditions in the debt funding market. The portfolio includes the shopping centres Laois in Portlaoise; Donaghmede in Dublin; Galway; Letterkenny in Co Donegal; the Parkway in Limerick; and Longwalk in Dundalk. The Sunday Times, 28th May
South Main Street, Cork Available to lease with Lisney Cork, is the ground floor at No. 4/5, previously occupied by Japanese noodle bar Wagamama, until 2017, and more recently by Chinese restaurant Rice, which considerably refitted the interior. It’s to let on a new lease of €67k pa, and seats 120. The Irish Examiner, 25th May
St Patrick’s Street, Cork Mango, the Spanish fashion retail giant, is set to begin work at the end of May on the Savoy-adjoining premises on St Patrick’s Street, and the store is scheduled to open after the summer, with 10 jobs created. The premises has been vacant since Quills shut up shop in 2014. It was bought the following year for €2m by Clarendon Properties, owners of the Savoy. Mango has taken a 10-year lease on the property, with a five-year breakout clause, which includes a penalty for early exit. The Irish Examiner, 25th May
Churchtown Business Park, South Dublin Self-storage provider Nesta has secured its sixth premises in the capital following a deal with pan-European investor M7 Real Estate for Unit 21 at Churchtown Business Park in south Dublin. Nesta, which is Irish-owned and family-run, is understood to have entered into a long-term lease on the 8,135 sq. ft unit at a rent of €13 per sq. ft. The Irish Times, 24th May
Kilcullen, Co Kildare Savills is guiding a price of €5.25m for a 10.25-acre residential development site in Kilcullen, Co Kildare. The subject site represents phase three of the newly developed Riverside Manor estate and comes for sale with full planning permission for the construction of 116 homes (approx. €45k per unit) and a creche. The approved scheme provides for 17 apartments consisting of three one-beds and 14 two-beds, 50 duplexes consisting of 13 one-beds, 12 two-beds and 25 three-beds, and 49 three and four-bedroom houses. Riverside Manor is located approx. 500m from The Square at Kilcullen Bridge. The Irish Times, 24th May
Ennis, Co Clare Savills and Costelloe Estate Agents have brought to the market a 14.2-acre land holding in Ennis, Co Clare. Located on Clare Road and just 1.2km from Ennis town centre, the subject site is zoned for mixed-use development under the Clare County Development Plan 2023-2029. According to the terms of the plan, mixed-use proposals may include bulky retail goods, making provision, where appropriate, for primary and secondary uses such as commercial/retail development as the primary use with residential development as a secondary use. While a guide price has not been set for the subject property, the combination of its location and potential use is expected by market sources to see offers of approx. €4m (average of €282k per acre). The Irish Times, 24th May
Castlebellingham, Co Louth Developers involved in the delivery of housing in Dublin’s commuter-belt counties will be interested in the opportunity presented by the sale of 5.77-acre land holding on the outskirts of Castlebellingham, Co Louth. The subject property, which comes with two separate planning permissions in place for the delivery of 50 or 72 residential units, respectively, is being offered to the market by agent CBRE at a guide price of €2.25m (approx. €31k-€45k per unit). The original grant of planning comprises 50 residential units, encompassing a mix of terraced, semidetached, and detached two-, three- and four-bedroom houses ranging in size from 931 sq. ft to 1,480 sq. ft. Subsequently, a further grant of planning was permitted on the lands that allows for the replacement of 18 two-storey semi-detached and terraced houses with 40 two- and three-bedroom duplexes ranging in size from 793 sq. ft to 1,480 sq. ft. The Irish Times, 24th May
Poolbeg, Dublin 4 A Johnny Ronan-led consortium is close to finalising a deal with the Department of Housing to allow the first phase of the Irish Glass Bottle site development to proceed following months of negotiations. The consortium was granted planning permission more than a year ago for the first 570 units planned within the Poolbeg Strategic Development Zone (SDZ), which requires 25% of homes be provided for social and affordable housing, significantly more than the typical 10% requirement. Under the current proposal, the department and Dublin City Council has asked that 15 one-bed units in the first phase of the development be sold to the council for use as social and affordable cost-rental homes at a fixed price of no more than €420k. A further 10 one-bed units would be made available by the developer for the local authority affordable purchase scheme at a purchase price of €270k per unit for prospective homebuyers, allowing the consortium to avail of a €150k government subsidy for each unit, bringing the total all-in costs for these units to no more than €420k. For any units under the affordable purchase scheme that remain unsold for more than a year, the department and council has asked that these units could either be sold on the open market or be purchased by the council for cost-rental or social housing for €420k in order to meet the terms of the SDZ to deliver affordable housing at the site. The Business Post, 27th May
Donabate, North Dublin A community group is asking the High Court to quash planning permission for the construction of 432 homes in Donabate, north Dublin. The Donabate Portrane Community Council’s case against An Bord Pleanála, Fingal County Council, Ireland and the Attorney General, concerns permission for 213 houses, 93 apartments and 126 duplexes at Ballymastone in Donabate. Fingal County Council had approved the large-scale residential scheme proposed by developer Glenveagh Living Limited (a notice party in the court action), and the board upheld this on appeal from the community council. This week Mr. Justice Richard Humphreys gave permission for the community council to pursue judicial review of the board’s approval. The Irish Times, 25th May
Canal Bank, Limerick Planning permission for seven high-rise blocks of apartments, houses, a cafe, creche and retail units in a suburb of Limerick city have been rejected for a second time by An Bord Pleanála. Revington Developments, of Wellington Place, Clonmel, Co Tipperary, applied to the planning board for 10-year permission for a “strategic housing development” at Canal Bank, Pa Healy Road, Corbally. The 442-residential unit development was to consist of 363 build-to-rent apartments and 61 student apartments, rising between five and 10 storeys high, as well as 18 detached four-bed and terraced four-bed houses including parking spaces. The Irish Times, 24th May
Dundrum, South Dublin The Land Development Agency (LDA) has received planning permission for 852 affordable and social homes on the grounds of the former Central Mental Hospital in Dundrum, south Dublin. The approval granted to the LDA by An Bord Pleanála (ABP) marks a big step forward for one of the agency’s most prominent projects – but at a scale lower than it wanted. The LDA had sought approval for 977 homes from ABP under fast-track planning laws, since scrapped. The agency recently told the Oireachtas housing committee that the risk of a court challenge to the development was “considered high”. The proposed housing includes family homes, starter homes and housing suitable for older residents. The Irish Times, 29th May
Mount Merrion, South Dublin Marlet Property Group has sold the apartment complex section of its Oatlands Manor residential development in Mount Merrion in south Dublin to a German real estate investment fund for an undisclosed sum. German investor, Real IS, announced it had acquired the units at 1 Cherrygarth, for the open-ended retail real estate fund Realinvest Europa. The parties have agreed not to disclose the price of the transaction. The development incorporates a mix of four and five-bedroom, three-storey houses, which were launched to the open market for sale late last year with prices starting at €1.275m. The development’s apartment section includes 30 apartments and 18 duplex apartments along with 82 car parking spaces, 47 in the basement and 35 outside the property. The Business Post, 30th April
Property Portfolio The value of the Comer brothers’ property portfolio grew by €50m in 2022, with the pair now controlling more than €1.16bn-worth of property in Ireland. In 2017, land and properties owned by the Comers through these holding companies was worth €540.3m. The total value of the portfolio increased to €1.11bn by 2021. One notable asset in the collection is the Sentinel, a part-built shell of a tower in Sandyford, Co Dublin. It has nearly doubled in value to €4.5m since 2017. The Comers acquired the property in 2011 for a reported €850k. The Corrib Great Southern Hotel site was another piece of land added to the group’s portfolio during the downturn. In 2013, the site was acquired by the Comer Group for a reported price of €3.5m. Accounts for Trigo Property Company Limited, the Comer’s firm that owns the site, show it is valued at €7m. Nijinsky Property Company Limited, the Comer Group subsidiary linked to the Kilternan development it purchased in 2014, states in filings that the property is now worth €48.7m. The Business Post, 28th May
Dublin Airport Property owners are selling a large Dublin Airport landbank covering 260 acres in the centre of the airport grounds. The decision presents a strategic and financial challenge to the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA). The State body now faces questions as to whether it spends potentially many millions of euro to block any other party from gaining control of real estate crucial to its long-term growth. The sale comes amid concern the airport will soon reach capacity as travel recovers after pandemic disruption, although senior airport figures believe a new terminal won’t be needed for 20 years. A car park site near the airport but not within the campus itself is reputed to have realised approx. €1.6m per acre when the DAA recently acquired it for €70m. The deal is under review by competition regulators. The Irish Times, 30th May
If you have an article which you would like to have considered for inclusion in our next weekly report, please contact us at info@origincapital.ie