The Glas Collection: After recently acquiring full control of Central Park for €310m, Green REIT has announced their intention to dispose of six properties which have a combined guide price of €168.7m. The Glas Collection is being sold through JLL and features four Dublin properties; the Arena Centre (€65m+), Classon House (€22m), the Ormond Building (€17m) and Parnell Car Park (€11.2m). The properties outside of Dublin are the Globe Retail Park in Kildare (€26m) and the Parkway (€27.5m) in Limerick. In total, The Glas Collection has a rent roll of c. €11.5m p.a. and a weighted average unexpired lease term of c. 9 years. The Irish Times, 3rd February
Sandyford Site: NAMA has retained Knight Frank to sell a 4.265 acre site in Sandyford, south Dublin for €9m. The site represents the majority of a five acre site purchased by Lalco in 2006 for €110m, which was at a time when sites in Sandyford were being sold for c. €20m an acre. James Meagher of Knight Frank believes that the site could facilitate up to 350,000 sq. ft. of office space. Among the expected bidders for the site is Green REIT, which owns the nearby Central Park development. The Irish Times, 3rd February
Belfast Telegraph Building: The former NAMA Borrower McAleer and Rushe has agreed to purchase the Belfast Telegraph building in Belfast, Northern Ireland, from Independent News and Media for c. €8m. Initial reports suggest that the new owner intends to convert the listed building into a 200-bed Jury’s Inn hotel. Independent News and Media are selling the building after making the decision to move all of their printing operations to their Newry offices. NAMA Wine Lake, 7th February
Liffey Valley: Hines Ireland has sought planning permission for an extension of Liffey Valley shopping centre in west Dublin, which proposes the development of c. 237,000 sq. ft. of additional retail space and an Olympic sized ice skating arena. Hines are already working on a c. €28m extension of the shopping centre which is expected to be completed later this year, and their latest extension is believed to have a project cost in excess of this amount. The retail space would allow for up to 60 new shops while the ice skating arena would also be able to host ice-hockey matches and live entertainment. The Irish Times, 5th February
Tulfarris Hotel: DTZ Sherry Fitzgerald has been chosen by the receiver Grant Thornton to handle the sale of Tulfarris Hotel in Co. Wicklow, which has a guide price of €5m. The four star, 67 bed hotel was purchased in 2003 by Paddy Kelly for €17.5m, with a further €60m invested renovating the hotel. The 220 acre asset also includes an 18-hole championship golf course and a manor house which has eight bedrooms. The asset was placed in receivership in 2009 by the former Anglo Irish Bank, when Paddy Kelly had loans of c. €25m outstanding. The Irish Times, 8th February
Cahernane House Hotel: Joint agents CBRE and Tom Spillane & Co are inviting offers in excess of €3m for Cahernane House Hotel in Killarney, Co. Kerry. The four star, 38 bed hotel is located on a 6.5 acre site and is owned by the Browne family. The boutique hotel is of a Victorian design and was built in the 1870s by the Herbert family. The hotel was previously placed on the market in 2000 with a guide price of IR£3.2m, however no sale was agreed. The Irish Examiner, 4th February
City Square: The listed property fund IRES REIT has agreed to purchase the City Square development in Dublin 2 for €5.9m. City Square is located on Gloucester Street and consists of 23 apartments (15 one-bed, 8 two-bed) and an office unit (613 sq. ft.). The development was completed in 2008 and the total rent roll is €500k p.a. The Irish Times, 5th February
Westport House: Ganly Walters is guiding €10m for one of Ireland’s leading tourist destinations, Westport House in Mayo. The house, which is part of a 455 acre site, has been home to the Browne family since the 1700s and open to the public since the 1960s. In 2006 a loan of €6.5m was obtained by Lord Altamont, for which c. 380 acres of the grounds were provided as collateral. The loan was later acquired by NAMA and the current balance is c. €9m after including outstanding interest. Over 162,000 people visited Westport House in 2014, generating a total of €1.7m for the local economy and state revenue. The Irish Times, 6th February
Abberley Square: Knight Frank has set an asking price of €6m for 50 apartments which form part of a mixed-use development in Tallaght, Dublin 24. The six storey development comprises retail units (Tallaght Retail Centre) on the ground floor and 107 apartments (Abberley Square) overhead. The apartments for sale have a very high occupancy rate and consist of 15 one-beds, 30 two-beds and 5 three-beds. There is potential to increase the current rent roll of €660k p.a. to €720k p.a. through active management. The apartments are being sold under the instruction of the receiver, Tom Kavanagh of Deloitte. The Irish Times, 3rd February
Mortgage Drawdowns: There has been a decline in the number of first-time buyers drawing down a mortgage in Q4 2015, believed to be as a result of the recently introduced Central Bank regulations. New figures show 3,813 new buyers took out a mortgage in this period, a decline of 220 on Q4 2014. Overall, 8,103 mortgages were drawn down in Q4 2015, an increase of 6.9% on Q4 2014. Cash buyers are continuing to represent a significant share of the market, as the latest figures from the Property Price Register reveal that 47,500 transactions were completed in 2015, with 24,134 mortgages issued. The Irish Independent, 5th February
Rental Figures: A recent report based on statistics from the Irish Private Residential Tenancies Board reveals that rents across the country rose by an average of 4.9% in Q3 2015. Average monthly rents in Dublin are now €1,221, with Dublin 4 the most expensive area. Apartment rental values rose by an average of 11.34% in county Dublin, which was significantly above the national average increase of 6.14%. Counties surrounding the capital, such as Meath (9.36%) and Kildare (7.79%) also showed strong increases. On a national level, rents are still 18% below the peak level reached in Q4 2007. The Irish Times, 4th February
Mercantile Group: The Mercantile Group and the Capital Bars Group, two of Dublin’s leading entertainment groups, have announced their intention to merge. Frank Gleeson, the key individual behind the Mercantile Group, is to be the chief executive of the new entity. Once the merger is complete, the entity will have a turnover of c. €40m p.a. and c. 600 employees. The Mercantile and Capital Bars entities own 12 venues in Dublin, including Whelan’s, Opium and The Mercantile Hotel. The Irish Independent, 4th February
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City Square: The Sunday Business Post reports that City Square, a seven storey office property located at 61 – 64 Marlborough Street in Dublin 1, has been sold for c. €21m. The sale price is c. €3m above the guide price quoted by joint agents DTZ Sherry Fitzgerald and Finnegan Menton. While the purchaser has not been officially announced, it is believed to be an Irish insurance company. City Square has a floor area of 36,855 sq. ft. and is let to An Bord Pleanála at €1.27m p.a., with c. 11 years remaining on the lease. The Sunday Business Post, 31st January
Custom House Plaza: Killeen Property, which is owned by the daughters of Tim Mahony, the founding chairman of Toyota Ireland, has purchased 2 Custom House Plaza in Dublin’s IFSC for over €15m. The 29,430 sq. ft., five storey office block has 29 car spaces and its tenants have a weighted average unexpired lease term of 5.19 years. The current rent roll of the property, which is fully let, is c. €990k p.a. Tenants include PTSB Finance, TD Global Finance and Calypso. The current rent for the property equates to c. €32 psf, which is significantly below the peak rents in the IFSC of c. €45 psf. The Irish Times, 27th January
The Exchange: The Irish property fund IPUT is to fund the development of The Exchange, a new €80m, Grade A office property in Dublin’s IFSC. IPUT purchased the site of The Exchange for €25m from the Cosgrave Property Group, who will oversee the development. The Exchange will have a floor area of 110,000 sq. ft. spread over six storeys, with 37 basement car spaces. The Exchange is expected to be completed by September 2017. The Irish Times, 27th January
One Earlsfort Terrace: Hibernia REIT has been chosen as the preferred bidder for One Earlsfort Terrace in Dublin 2 after bidding c. €19m, €3m above Knight Frank’s guide price. The 21,750 sq. ft. property is currently let to the law firm Eversheds at €630k p.a. (€25.85 psf), with c. 11 years until the lease expires. Under the terms of the lease the rent will rise to a minimum of €750k (€31.45 psf) in 2016 and €850k (€36 psf) in 2021. However should the open market rent be higher at the time of each rent review, then the revised rent will be set at that amount. Prime rents in Dublin 2 are currently set at €55 – €60 psf. The Irish Times, 27th January
Boland’s Mill: Joint agents JLL and Lisney are shortly expected to announce the commencement of the marketing campaign for the commercial units of the Boland’s Quay redevelopment in Dublin’s south docklands. The project will see the development of three new buildings which are expected to have c. 397,000 sq. ft. of office, residential, retail and cultural space. The total cost of the project is estimated at €150m. The Irish Times, 27th January
George’s Quay House: Fidelity International has agreed to lease 68,000 sq. ft. of office space from Green REIT over two leases in George’s Quay House in Dublin 2. Fidelity will pay a rent of €49 psf on each lease. The leases are for 26,500 sq. ft. and 41,500 sq. ft., with the space previously let to the Royal Bank of Canada, Invesco and Twitter. Green paid €375m in June 2014 to purchase George’s Quay and George’s Court from the Cosgrave Property Group. The Irish Times, 27th January
New Generation Development: New Generation has confirmed that they will shortly apply for planning permission from Dublin City Council for a development in Dublin’s south docklands which will provide 400,000 sq. ft. of office space and 200 apartments. The site owned by New Generation runs from Lime Street to Hanover Street East, with the development expected to cost c. €250m. Greg Kavanagh and Pat Crean of New Generation advised that they had already been approached by potential tenants for the office space, which is uncommon before planning permission is sought. The Irish Times, 29th January
Conrad House: The five star, 192-bed Conrad Dublin on Earlsfort Terrace is to undergo an €8m renovation as the owners look to build on a strong year of trading in 2015. Turnover for the hotel was close to €16m in 2015, which was in line with trading prior to the recession. Of the renovation, €4m is to be spent refurbishing the 192 bedrooms with a further €4m being spent remodelling the ground floor. Ownership of the hotel is split between Hilton Worldwide, an investment fund known as the Cashel Fund and Aviva. The Irish Times, 2nd February
Pillo Hotel: Savills are guiding €8m for the Pillo Hotel in Ashbourne, Co. Meath. The four star, 148-bed hotel is being sold on the instructions of the receiver KPMG, who was appointed by the former Anglo Irish Bank. The hotel is trading profitably and in an attractive location near Tayto Park and Dublin Airport. When the hotel opened in 2007 it operated under the Marriott brand, however its new owners will be free to trade under a new brand. The leisure centre of the hotel is also highly sought after with over 1,000 members. The Irish Times, 27th January
Dalata Acquisitions: Dalata’s recent spending spree continues following the announcement that they have reached an agreement to acquire the leasehold interest in four hotels which have a combined enterprise value of €40m. The four hotels are the Gibson Hotel in Dublin, the Croydon Park Hotel in south London, the Clarion Hotel in Cork and the Clarion Hotel in Limerick. Dalata is to undertake a major renovation of the four hotels at a cost of c. €14m over the next two years. Dalata will also rebrand the hotels as Clayton hotels. The deal will also see Dalata assume management of the Clarion Liffey Valley Hotel in Dublin under a short term contract. The total number of rooms of the Irish hotels is 960 while the Croydon hotel has 211. The Irish Times, 28th January
Howth Development: Despite a significant level of opposition from local residents, Fingal County Council has approved a planning application to develop 200 residential units and six commercial units on a 10.87 acre site in Howth, Co. Dublin. The existing buildings are to be demolished and replaced by five apartment blocks comprising 145 units, 55 houses and commercial units which include retail, restaurants / cafes and a gym. The application was submitted last August by Grant Thornton, who are acting as receivers over Ray Grehan’s Glenkerrin Homes. The Irish Times, 1st February
O’Flynn Transactions: Developer Michael O’Flynn has announced two projects in Cork. The first has seen the US fund Blackrock provide O’Flynn with a €5m contract to fit out the final 137 apartments of the 17 storey Elysian tower, which O’Flynn developed in 2008 for over €100m. Blackrock subsequently secured ownership of the tower after they purchased O’Flynn’s assets from NAMA in 2014. The tower comprises 217 apartments in total, with 74 currently rented and six already sold. In a separate transaction, O’Flynn has purchased a 42 acre site in Kerry Pike, where he is planning to build a minimum of 100 homes. The Irish Times, 30th January
Market Statistics: The latest figures from the CSO show that national property prices rose by 6.6% in the 12 months ending December 2015, following a 0.5% increase in the month of December. While prices in the cumulative Dublin market rose by 2.6% over the twelve month period, apartments reported the biggest rise, up 7.8%. Outside of Dublin, prices rose by 10.2% during the same period. Irish Independent, 27th January
RTE Site: The board of RTE has agreed in principle to sell a portion of their 32 acre site in Donnybrook, Dublin 4. RTE are seeking to undertake a c. €50m capital expenditure programme over the next few years and intend to use the sale proceeds to part fund the programme. The Donnybrook site is believed to be worth c. €5m – €6m an acre. CBRE and KPMG were retained by RTE last year to advise on their strategic options, which included selling the entire site. The Sunday Times, 31stJanuary
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