Molesworth Street, Dublin 2 Waste tycoon Eamon Waters has reached a multi-million-euro agreement to buy Dublin’s Buswells Hotel. Waters agreed terms on a €16.4m sale of the city centre hotel earlier this year. It has emerged, however, that new bidders have also expressed an interest in acquiring the property and no deal has yet been concluded. The Business Post has learned that heads of terms were agreed between Sretaw, his private equity firm, and Interpath Advisory in August. Buswell is being sold by Savills on behalf of special liquidators of the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation. It has a guide price of €22m. Under the terms of the proposed deal, Waters’ Sretaw entered into an exclusivity period until the end of September. The bulk of the sale price was to be paid this week, with the proposed acquisition set to close on January 1, 2024. The agreed price of more than €16m in cash included payment of a €1m deposit on the date of signing, with the balance to be paid by the end of the year. The Business Post, 17th December
Mount Street, Dublin 2 Esprit Investments is seeking permission to build what will be one of Dublin’s biggest hotels on Mount Street. A planning application lodged with Dublin City Council just days ago shows that Esprit intends building a 300-bedroom hotel and apartments on a site bounded by Mount Street Upper, James’s Place East and Herbert Street in central Dublin. The application seeks permission to demolish existing buildings at 38 to 43 James’s Place East and replace them with a seven-storey hotel. Esprit is also applying to convert 38 to 40 Mount Street Upper from offices to incorporate them into the hotel. Dublin City Council’s planning section website states that Esprit’s application is open to observations from the public until January 15th 2024. The Irish Times, 14th December
Sandyford Business Park, Dublin 18 Whitbread has purchased the long leasehold interest of a site in Sandyford Business Park. The 0.57-acre site marks its first acquisition in outer Dublin, as the group eyes a portfolio of 3,500 Premier Inn rooms in Ireland. Located at 5 Arkle Road, the plot is currently occupied by The Wall Climbing Gym. The building extends to 13,283 sq. ft and includes approx. 24 car park spaces. Prior to the gym, the space was let to Crossan Motors. Whitbread plans to bring forward proposals for a 150-bedroom Premier Inn, with the planning application to be submitted in the new year. Currently, the hospitality group operates four Premier Inn hotels in Dublin City Centre as well as another hotel at Swords near Dublin airport. React News, 14th December
South Frederick Street, Dublin 2 JMK Group, a UK-based hospitality company, has emerged as the frontrunner to buy the old New Ireland Assurance offices on South Frederick Street in Dublin City Centre. The property came on the market in October for €12m. While it is in the early stages of the property sale, which is being marketed by CBRE, The Sunday Times understands that JMK is close to doing a deal. Nos. 5-9 South Frederick Street formed part of New Ireland’s old headquarters. The Dawson Street segment of the headquarters was sold in 2018 for €38m to Core Capital and Oakmount. The Dawson Street offices have since been redeveloped and let to the stockbroker Goodbody, with the ground floor earmarked for a restaurant. The South Frederick Street building measures approx. 39,000 sq. ft, comprising five storeys of office space over a basement car park. The Sunday Times, 17th December
Naas, Co Kildare The former owners of the Leinster Leader newspaper have sold its former premises on a 0.4-acre site in the centre of Naas for €1m. That price was 54% more than the €650k which Jordan Auctioneers had quoted for it prior to its recent auction. The vendor is Clylim Properties Limited. Located at 19 & 20 South Main Street, Naas, the property includes a three-storey office building extending to 5,705 sq. ft; a residence extending to 1,906 sq. ft, known as the Manager’s House, as well as a former printing works to the rear extending to 10,495 sq. ft. The Irish Independent, 14th December
Santry, Dublin 9 The Cosgrave family of property developers have sold a retail park in an off-market deal. Gulliver’s retail park in Santry was sold for in excess of €30m to a group of wealthy individuals. The retail park, which was built in 2005, has 16 units, and shops on the site include Lidl, Homebase, EZ Living Interiors and McCabes Pharmacy. McDonald’s, the fast-food giant, and Costa Coffee are also at the retail park. Jysk, the Danish furniture retailer, opened its first Dublin store at Gulliver’s in 2020. The chain signed a ten-year lease with the Cosgraves, paying an annual rent of more than €107k, according to the property price register. Gulliver’s retail park was opened as part of the expansion of the Northwood business campus, which lies off the M50 exit to Ballymun. The Cosgrave brothers bought 50 acres for approx. €28m from the IDA. The Sunday Times, 17th December
Grafton Street, Dublin 2 Swatch, the Swiss watchmaker, is preparing to reopen a shop in Dublin, as Grafton Street continues to recover from the pandemic. The company closed its previous store, at No. 55 on the prime shopping street, in 2020 but will soon reopen at No. 80. In a planning application submitted to Dublin City Council last week, Swatch proposed turning the ground floor of the store, which is next door to Bewley’s café, into a retail area for “jewellery and associated items”. The shop is currently occupied by Molton Brown, the beauty brand. The Sunday Times, 17th December
Clonskeagh, Dublin 14 The guide price for vacant offices at Block 7 Richview Office Park, Clonskeagh has been reduced from €3.5m to €3m. Located on a complex adjoining UCD, the property comprises 8,600 sq. ft in a three-storey office building which is laid out with reception space at ground level and a mix of open plan and meeting rooms on the two upper floors. It also comes with 24 dedicated surface car spaces. In 2014 a private investor paid €3.3m for the premises which was then the Irish head office of McDonald’s Restaurants generating an annual rent of €256.3k, giving the new owner a 7.32% yield. The Irish Independent, 14th December
James Street, Dublin 8 A partly let apartment block at 181 James St and located between St James’s Hospital and the Royal Hospital Kilmainham, sold at a recent auction for €1.211m, or 42% over the €850k guide price quoted by Artis estate agents. Comprising five apartments and a ground floor retail unit extending to a combined 5,539 sq. ft, two of the apartments were tenanted with rents totalling €34.7k pa. The other units were vacant. It is surrounded on three sides by a cleared site with planning permission for a 145-bedroom hotel. The Irish Independent, 14th December
Clongriffin, Dublin 13 The Land Development Agency (LDA) has paid €44m for a large tract of land in Clongriffin that has the capacity for more than 2,300 homes. The 32.6 acres of land, spread across two sites beside Clongriffin railway station, has been acquired from NAMA. The residential developments planned for the sites, which are 27.4- and 5.2- acres in size respectively, have been dubbed Project Capital North and Barina. The permissions in place for the Project Capital North site involves four separate applications for 1,823 units. The LDA has said it plans to prioritise the development of two apartment blocks on the lands to deliver more than 400 homes. Construction on part of the Project Capital North is expected to commence in September 2024, with the first homes delivered on the lands in 2026. The agency plans to reassess the potential of the other permissions and will potentially seek new planning permission for the rest of the site. The Business Post, 18th December
Naas, Co Kildare The construction of 219 affordable and social homes has commenced on the former Devoy Barracks in Naas. Andrews Construction was appointed by the LDA as the contractor and is set to deliver the first homes in 2025. As part of the former Devoy Barracks complex, the site was made available to the LDA by the Housing Agency. The homes will be A-rated and are being constructed on a 10.23-acre site. The housing mix includes 42 two-storey, three-bed houses, 177 apartments and duplexes consisting of 64 one-bed, 105 two-bed and eight three-bed units. An Bord Pleanála approved the Strategic Housing Development in October 2022. The Business Post, 14th December
Galway Port Lands The LDA is in “advanced talks” to take on a three-acre site with potential for 250 homes from the operators of Galway port. It is close to striking an agreement with Galway Harbour Company that would give it control of a three-acre site located in Galway city centre. The land, located within the inner harbour area of the Galway port lands, has the capacity for 250 homes. Galway Harbour Company is a commercial semi-state entity owned by Galway City Council. The Business Post, 17th December
Horgan’s Quay, Cork The first large-scale apartment scheme in Cork City’s docklands is set to go ahead after the LDA swung in behind a stalled Clarendon Properties/Bam Ireland residential project on Horgan’s Quay. The move should see the first of 302 apartments delivered by the end of 2025, with the majority being made available at cost-rental, at least 25% below the regular local market rate. The LDA is also planning to deliver 350 homes at an ESB site in Wilton. The Horgan’s Quay site breakthrough is significant as the absence of residential had been the major gap in the €160m mixed-use development which, to date, consists of two office blocks. The Irish Examiner, 14th December
Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) Survey More than a quarter of small landlords are “likely or very likely” to sell their rental properties in the next five years, new research by the RTB has shown. Since 2020, the RTB has conducted a series of surveys of small, medium and large landlords to ask their views on the Irish rental sector and challenges faced by landlords. Results from the latest survey of small landlords, who own between one and two rental properties, has shown individuals in this cohort of the market are increasingly likely to sell in the next five years. The results showed that 52% are “unlikely or very unlikely” to sell, which was on par with 2020, and 20% of small landlords are “unsure”. As part of Budget 2024, the government announced new tax breaks in a bid to retain small landlords in the market. Further analysis by the RTB of the small landlords who signalled their intention to sell their rental assets has shown that 48% said their “main motivation is that they no longer wish to be a landlord”, up from 45% in 2020. The Business Post, 13th December
House Price Inflation Home prices rose by 2.3% in the year to the end of October, with the growth driven by increases outside of Dublin, new data from the CSO has shown. In Dublin, house prices decreased by 0.6% in the 12-month period, with residential prices up 4.5% in the rest of the country. Over the past 20-month period, property price growth has gradually eased from a 15.1% peak in February 2022 to a near three-year low of 1.1% in August 2023. The following month in September, prices rose by 1.4%. The new data from the CSO has shown that annual house price inflation has accelerated in recent months, as prices grew at their fastest monthly pace in 14 months in October. The CSO data on house prices is based on the body’s Residential Property Price Index, which has tracked prices since 2005. The data has shown that house prices are 5.1% above the highest level at the peak of the property boom in April 2007. Compared to early 2013, property prices nationally are up 134.3%, with prices in Dublin up by 132% from their February 2012 low. The Business Post, 13th December
Land Aggregation Scheme A scheme to bail out local authorities who bought land during the Celtic Tiger era and were unable to repay the loans to the Housing Finance Agency (HFA) has resulted in a potential loss of €80m to the taxpayer, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has heard. At a meeting of the committee, Comptroller and Auditor General Séamus McCarthy outlined a report his office completed on the Land Aggregation Scheme. The scheme was established in 2010 to alleviate the financial burden on local authorities related to maturing HFA loans. In all, 73 sites were accepted into the scheme on the basis that they had reasonable development potential for social housing. Approx. €132m was paid for the sites. The lands have since been transferred to the Housing Agency, which is separate to the HFA. As of August 31st, 2023, the Housing Agency retained ownership of 60 sites, with an estimated market value of just over €56m. Its officials said that the gap between what has been paid and their value, plus other costs to the State, could be approx. €80m. The Irish Times, 14th December
Social and Affordable Housing The Government is at risk of missing targets for delivery of social and affordable housing, newly-released figures indicate. Just over 4,800 social homes were delivered in the first nine months of the year, of which 2,642 are new-builds. This is far short of the target for new-builds for the year in Minister Darragh O’Brien’s Housing for All plan, which is set at 9,100. Meanwhile, approx. 2,000 “affordable housing supports” were delivered in the same period, less than half of the 5,500 target. Figures published by the Department of Housing show that 4,815 new social homes were delivered by the end of September. These include 2,642 new-build homes, 1,033 acquisitions and 1,140 homes delivered through leasing programmes. The department also said more than “2,000 affordable housing supports” were delivered in a number of ways, including through approved housing bodies, local authorities and the shared equity First Home Scheme. The Irish Times, 13th December
Ballsbridge, Dublin 4 The U.S. government plans to spend approx. $700m acquiring the former Jury’s hotel in Ballsbridge, Dublin, and building a new embassy there. The State Department notified Congress on 11th December that it intends to buy the former Jury’s Hotel in Ballsbridge for approx. $171m, demolish it and construct new embassy buildings on the site. According to a note sent to Congress, the total costs of acquiring and demolishing the existing building and designing a new premises will come to approx. $688.8m, The Associated Press reported. The new building on the old Jury’s site would include the embassy, a residence for U.S. Marine guards, support facilities and parking, the notice to Congress says. Planning permission was granted in December 2022 to split the site, which houses the former Jury’s Hotel and the prestigious Lansdowne Place residential development. While U.S. authorities are thought to have reached an agreement to buy the former Jury’s Hotel from developer Chartered Land, it is expected to remain in its current embassy building for up to 10 years until the construction of the new premises is complete. Bisnow, 18th December
Ires Reit Vision Capital, an activist shareholder in Ires Reit, has called for an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) to allow shareholders oust five directors, in a new letter. The letter by the Canada-based investment firm, which included the demand for an EGM, has come following the announcement in October that Margaret Sweeney will retire as chief executive of Ires Reit next year. Vision Capital has been a shareholder in Ires Reit since 2014 and owns more than 26m ordinary shares in the company, which means it has a 5% stake. Vision Capital’s resolution has proposed the replacement of five directors, including Sweeney, chief executive, Declan Moylan, chair of the board, Brian Fagan, chief financial officer, Joan Garahy and Tom Kavanagh, who are two other directors serving on the remuneration committee. The Business Post, 18th December
Dublin Airport DAA has written to the owners of a 260-acre block of land between the runways at Dublin Airport inviting them to a fresh round of talks over a potential landmark sale of the site. In a letter to aviation tycoon Ulick McEvaddy and his brother Des, along with Seán Fox and Brendan and Orla O’Donoghue, the airport operator reiterated that a bid it lodged earlier this year remained on the table. DAA, the operator of both Dublin and Cork airports, made a €75m offer on the land in September, which was rejected. The consortium is hoping to sell the block of land, which has been described as a strategically located asset, for €210m or more. The block of land remains on the market for sale. It’s understood a decision on the site’s future will be made by the landowners in January. The Business Post, 17th December
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Ballycoolin, Dublin 15 A 6.26-acre industrial infill site in the well-established Northwest Logistics Park, Ballycoolin is being offered for sale, guiding €4m (approx. €639k per acre). It is zoned ‘General Employment’ within the Fingal County Council Development Plan 2023-2029 to “provide opportunities for general enterprise and employment”. Regular in shape, it is bounded by Northwest Logistics Park estate road to the north which provides site access, and Kilshane Way to the south. The surrounding area is home to notable occupiers which include Amazon, Rhenus Logistics, DSV, DB Shenker, Renault Trucks and many more. The Irish Independent, 7th December
St Patrick’s Street, Cork A reopening of Cork’s iconic Roches Stores/Debenhams large department store building is being slated for the middle of next year by its new Irish owners, Intersport Elverys, with plans for a hotel of up to 180 bedrooms towards the rear of the 1.6-acre city centre site. The Co Mayo-based sports and leisure wear company will occupy the front centre portion of the large premises. In advance of the opening, earmarked for Q2 2024 and taking as much as 40,000 sq. ft for its own presence, the company is meeting with Cork City Council this side of Christmas to outline its wider plans for the balance of the 160,000 sq. ft property which it acquired earlier this year in an approx. €12m purchase via Cushman & Wakefield, acting for Debenhams receivers. The Irish Examiner, 6th December
Camden Row, Dublin 8 ORHRE Camden Row Limited has secured planning approval for a 195-bed hotel on Camden Row in Dublin’s city centre. Dublin City Council last week granted permission to develop a seven-storey hotel at the site, set to include a gallery, restaurant and garden. The development will involve the demolition of the existing four-storey office block which is bound to the west by Technological University Dublin’s Focas campus and adjacent to St Kevin’s Park. The building was purchased for a reported €9m in January. Discussions are under way to decide an operator for the site, which is intended to be a four-star hotel. Construction is due to begin in the third quarter of 2024 and conclude by the end of 2026. The Sunday Times, 10th December
Kenmare, Co Kerry A local man with a background in hospitality is understood to be the preferred bidder in advanced talks around the sale of the Brennan brothers Lansdowne Hotel in Kenmare. The sale is expected to close before Christmas. The Brennan brothers are understood to be happy with the choice of preferred bidder, following interest in the hotel from local, national and international parties. The Irish Examiner, 7th December
Travelodge Accounts A Travelodge firm recorded a pretax profit of €8.65m from operating a Dublin hotel exclusively for International Protection (IP) applicants last year. Pumkinspice Ltd secured a contract in early 2022 from the State to house IP applicants at its newly constructed 393-room hotel on Townsend Street in Dublin 2. The directors say “the hotel secured a State contract and traded exclusively under this contract in 2022”. New accounts for Pumkinspice Ltd show that in its first year to trade, the hotel firm recorded revenues of €18.54m last year from the State contracts. Giving an insight into the cost of constructing hotels in the capital, Pumpkinspice directors said the firm’s capital costs totalled €74.6m at the end of 2021, just over two weeks before the hotel opened on January 17th, 2022. The company’s EBITDA totalled €12.15m for 2022. The company continued with the State contract until April of this year when it opened to trade as a hotel with the public. The company recorded a post-tax profit of €8.25m for 2022 after incurring a corporation tax charge of €405k. The Irish Times, 8th December
Drumcondra, Dublin 9 Jay Bourke, the well-known publican and restaurateur, is planning to reopen the landmark Quinn’s pub in Drumcondra. Closed since January 2020, Quinn’s was saved from demolition after planning authorities ruled last year that replacing it with a five-storey apartment block would “result in the loss of a historic Victorian building and would detract from the built heritage of the area”. The businessman regards Quinn’s as a “great opportunity”, and plans to reopen its nightclub as he believes there is a latent demand for more late-night venues in Dublin. Based at 42 to 44 Drumcondra Road, the pub was once owned by the ex-billionaire Sean Quinn. The three-storey-over-basement property was eventually bought by Discipulo Developments, registered in Cork. After planning permission was refused by Dublin City Council, Discipulo put forward a revised scheme and lodged an appeal, arguing that a conservation officer’s rationale for keeping the Quinn’s building “appears to be based on its significance to GAA fans, which is a regrettable priority amid a national housing crisis”. The Irish Independent, 9th December
Hospitality Sector Irish hotel transaction volumes are expected to be approx. €600m for year-end 2023. This is being driven primarily by the recent Dean Hotel Group/Press Up portfolio sale at a reported €350m, which is expected to complete in the coming weeks. The balance of activity comprised five Dublin hotel sales, with a combined value of approx. €120m, and 11 hotel transactions outside of Dublin for a further €140m. The Irish hotel market has also enjoyed strong trading conditions during 2023 with occupancy levels, as of year-to-date October, trending in Dublin at 84% and Cork at 79.8%. RevPAR also achieved record levels with Dublin reaching €152 and Cork at €124. The sector also had to contend with the many challenges, experienced by all businesses, in particular higher interest rates, increased VAT rate from 9% to 13.5%, prolonged expensive utility costs and a shortage of skilled labour. Private investors, high net worths/family offices and hotel groups have dominated transactional activity in the Irish market this year with institutional and private equity groups less active. The Irish Times, 6th December
Licensed Property Sector The Dublin licensed property market throughout 2023 was somewhat subdued when compared with the sales activity of the two previous years. The impact of rising interest rates, challenging debt-market conditions, substantial overhead increases and the shortage of skilled staff all took their toll. In 2023, just 17 licensed premises changed hands with a capital value of €31.8m. This compares with 30 pubs changing hands in 2022 with a capital value of approx. €97m, representing a 67% decline in the value of activity and a 43% drop in the number of deals. The first quarter of 2023 saw the completion of several pub sales which had been launched to the market in the third and final quarters of 2022. The trend of off-market deals, which was a feature of the market during 2022, continued with 4 Dame Lane being sold for approx. €5m, the highest price paid for a pub in Dublin this year. The final quarter of 2023 saw several pubs changing hands ahead of the busy Christmas trading period. A key feature of these sales was that they were acquired by long-term publican families. The Irish Times, 6th December
St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2 Grafter, the serviced office associate of Oakmount property group, has opened its largest and most prestigiously located premises at Smyth House at 6-7 St Stephen’s Green. Since it saw its first occupier last week, already Grafter has received bookings for 60% of Smyth House’s office space and they include bookings from three companies in the tech, recruitment and legal sectors. Rates range from €30 per day or €250 per month per desk for co-workers and up to €900 per month per desk for companies requiring a private room. The Business Post, 5th December
Office Sector 2023 was a difficult year for the Dublin office market. Just 1.3-1.5m sq. ft will likely transact in total this year, roughly half of the 2.6m sq. ft that signed in 2022. There was strong demand from the professional services, finance and State sectors. The technology, media & entertainment, and telecommunications sector, however, was a more mixed picture – smaller companies were active, but the larger names were particularly impacted by the cyclical and structural headwinds, contributing significantly to the additional 1.3m sq. ft that was added to the subletting or “grey market”. When combined with the 1.1m sq. ft of speculative new-build space that was delivered, the vacancy rate is now approaching the 15% mark, up from 10.5% since the end of last year. Cautious demand at a time of increased supply has seen prime rents slip back from the €70.00 per sq. ft observed at the end of 2022 to €62.50-€65.00 per sq. ft currently. Enhanced incentives and rent-free terms however are maintaining a floor under prime rents close to this level. The Irish Times, 6th December
Maynooth, Co Kildare The former co-owners of Carton House golf hotel have withdrawn their planning application for its proposed Carton Care Village complex on lands at Carton Demesne near Maynooth. In October, Carton Demesne Developments Ltd lodged plans for a three-storey 92-bedroom care home and two two-storey sheltered accommodation buildings comprising 40 independent living units. The firm is controlled by the Mallaghan family. The family firm’s proposed care facility, to be located within the walled gardens to the northeast of the house, has encountered widespread local opposition, while the Department of Housing also voiced “grave concerns” over the proposal. Kildare County Council was due to decide on the application on Tuesday, December 12th. However, ahead of the decision, in a letter on behalf of the applicants, BMA Planning has withdrawn the nursing home planning application. The Irish Times, 7th December
Development Land Sector The combination of high interest rates and uncertainty about investor purchases of apartment developments are causing the development land market to have its quietest year since 2015. According to Sherry FitzGerald, the value of development land transactions was well below average, reaching €82m in the third quarter of this year and was relatively unchanged from the second quarter. As a result, the first nine months of the year saw the lowest level of transactions since records began in 2015 to reach €226m and just half that recorded for the same period in 2022. The volume of transactions was also very low with only 572 land deals closing during the nine-month period, approx. a third lower than the corresponding period in 2022. Building and construction cost inflation has fallen from peak levels with wholesale material costs increased by an annual rate of 2.6% in September which is well below the high of 20.6% seen in July 2022. With expectations that interest rates have peaked and may fall, both of these cost factors together may encourage more developers back into the market. The Irish Independent, 7th December
Internal Spending Controls A recently published audit carried out by the Department of Housing found that a significant number of contracts across all departments at the country’s largest local authority were not compliant with procurement guidelines. It found that Dublin City Council had spent above and beyond what it had originally forecast for housing, engineering, infrastructure, and transport projects in the capital. The council has now moved to urgently address overspends on its projects by requiring an appraisal at each stage of construction to ensure that costings are sound and within budget. Furthermore, any substantial cost increases now need to be approved internally through a cost adjustment process “which requires the project sponsor to justify the cost increase,” a spokeswoman for the council said. In one instance, the 900 metre-long main street for the Belmayne development in North Dublin ended up costing the council €11.9m – 61% over the original tender price. The Business Post, 10th December
Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI) Report The average cost of building a new three-bed home in Ireland has increased to just under €400k this year, a new report has found. The ‘2023 real cost of new housing delivery’ report published by the SCSI shows that ongoing inflation in construction materials, wages and energy has driven the cost of housing construction to record highs. In the Greater Dublin Area, the cost of building a three-bed semi-detached home has risen to stand at a record €461k. The new SCSI report shows that the cost of building a three-bed home in Dublin is now more than 20% higher than the cost to build the same house three years ago and approx. 40% higher since the surveyors body published its first housing costs report in 2016. The SCSI found that the cheapest area for housing delivery is the Northwest region, where the cost of building a three bed home stands at €354k. The surveyors body said the main drivers of construction cost inflation over the last three years were so-called hard costs such as bricks and mortar (up 27%), while soft costs such as land, development levies, fees, vat, profit margins increased 21% in the period. The Business Post, 7th December
Planning permissions granted for apartments more than doubled in the third quarter, according to the latest planning data. The CSO figures show planning permissions were granted for 4,803 apartment units between July and September, which was 105% up on the same quarter last year. Dublin accounted for 64% of apartment planning permissions, with Dublin City Council accounting for approx. half. Overall the CSO figures show there was an annual increase of more than 43% in the total number of dwelling units approved across the State in the third quarter at 9,662 units compared with 6,743 units in the same quarter last year. An annual decrease of 23% was recorded in the second quarter of 2023. The number of dwelling units granted during the third quarter was almost evenly split between houses (4,859) and apartments (4,803). For the nine-month period of January to September this year there was an overall growth of 13% in the total number of dwelling units approved when compared with the same period in 2022. There was an annual rise of 32% in multi-development houses receiving planning permission in the third quarter compared with an annual decrease of 6% in the previous quarter. The Irish Times, 7th December
Fire Safety Defect Funding Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien has announced funding for interim fire safety measures to assist owners of defective apartments and duplexes in advance of a more comprehensive State support scheme being finalised. Earlier this year, the minister received Cabinet approval for a scheme to address historic fire safety issues and other defects in apartments constructed between 1991 and 2013 worth up to €2.5bn. However, given there is estimated to be up to 100k affected buildings, a code of practice for remediating the defects recommended the implementation of interim measures in the short term. The interim measures scheme, which opened for applications on Monday, will be administered by the Housing Agency on a nationwide basis. The scheme will provide for the full funding of interim measures in order to provide an acceptable level of fire safety in buildings, pending completion of the full remedial works. Full remedial works will be funded under a statutory scheme that will be legislated for next year. Work is already underway in the Department on drafting this legislation. The Irish Times, 11th December
Cost-Rental and Social Housing Approx. 3,000 cost-rental and social homes are to be built at sites across Dublin by housing charity Respond in the largest mixed-tenure housing programme undertaken since the property crash more than a decade ago. Just under half the homes will be cost-rental housing while the remaining homes will be allocated to people on the social housing waiting lists of the Dublin local authorities in the areas where the homes will be built. The first tranches of homes, just over 1,800 of the 2,906 total, will be built at four sites in the north and west of the city, in the Dublin City, Fingal and South Dubin County Council areas. The largest development will be in the Fingal area at Charlestown, north of Finglas village, where 590 apartments are to be built at Pipers Square, of which 284 will be cost-rental homes with 306 social homes. All of the four developments will be on-site in 2024, Respond said, with locations for the remaining 1,099 homes announced in the new year. The Irish Times, 12th December
BNP Paribas Real Estate Ireland Construction Report Activity in the construction sector fell for the fifth consecutive month in November, according to new analysis by BNP Paribas, with housing output decreasing to the largest extent since April. The headline BNP Paribas Real Estate Ireland Construction Total Activity Index – which tracks changes in the total volume of construction activity compared with one month previously – slipped further away from the no-change 50.0 mark last month, posting 44.5. This was down 6% MoM, pointing to the most marked reduction in construction activity in 2023 so far. A slowdown in the economy, the completion of projects and delays in decision making at client level were identified as factors leading activity to fall. House building declined a further 3.8% MoM, according to the data. Figures from the Department of Housing show construction commenced on 2,624 homes in October, up 42.5% on the same month last year. The commercial property sector, meanwhile, fell back into a state of contraction after returning to growth in October. The Business Post, 11th December
Dublin Airport The owners of the 260-acre block of land between the runways at Dublin Airport are expected to make a decision regarding its future early in the New Year. The block of land remains on the market for sale but it’s understood a decision on the site’s future will be made by the landowners in January. Aviation tycoon Ulick McEvaddy and his brother Des, along with Seán Fox and Brendan and Orla O’Donoghue, were considering applying for planning permission for a third terminal on the site by the end of this year. The consortium are hoping to sell the block of land, which has been described as a strategically located asset, for €210m or more. A number of bids have already been received for the land, including a €75m offer from DAA that has been rejected. The Business Post, 11th December
Newbridge, Co Kildare An Bord Pleanála has given the green light to drinks giant Diageo to construct its planned €200m brewery for Newbridge. The new facility, which will operate 24 hours a day, will brew lager and ales including Rockshore, Harp, Hop House 13, Smithwick’s, Kilkenny and Carlsberg. In a statement on Monday, Diageo said that it expects to commence construction work on the project “in early 2024″. The Irish Times, 11th December
Dún Laoghaire, South Co Dublin The refurbishment of Dún Laoghaire Baths, which more than doubled in cost from an initial €8.7m to €18.2m, has been criticised in an audit by the Local Government Audit Service. The statutory audit report on Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council’s spending for 2022 also found rates arrears owed to the council increased to €25.3m in the year, up from €21.4m in 2021. The audit further found housing rents owed to the council increased from €5m to €5.4m during the year. Referring to the baths project the audit service report said a “more defined” and “comprehensive” project brief could have “identified unforeseen costs” as “required by the public spending code”. The baths, which date from 1843, closed in 1997, and were the subject of a 17-year campaign by locals to have them refurbished and reopened to the public. After a five-year work programme the baths reopened last December. The audit noted the council secured a grant of €1.1m for the project from the European Regional Development Fund and had “reacted in a timely manner to control the increasing costs by seeking legal advice”. The Irish Times, 12th December
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St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2 Kennedy Wilson is said to be weighing up the disposal of The Shelbourne hotel in Dublin for €260m. The US investment firm has reportedly appointed Eastdil Secured to sound out buyers for a 50% stake in the hotel for approx. €130m. However, the company is also considering offloading the entire property, which was valued at €236m, according to accounts filed earlier this year. It bought the hotel located on St Stephen’s Green in 2014 for €138m in a distressed sale at a significant discount. Later, the company invested €36m to refurbish the premises between 2015 and 2017. The 265-bedroom property generated higher income this year on the back of increased visitor travel since the pandemic, achieving approx. €15.3m. The Shelbourne hotel is the only operating hotel fully owned by Kennedy Wilson. The hotel is under a management agreement with Torriam Hotel Operating Company, a Marriott subsidiary, which will expire in 2026. React News, 4th December
Stephen’s Lane and Dame Street, Dublin 2 Investment manager Colm Wu has sold two Dublin South City Centre properties. 37 Dame Street has sold for €2.3m which is a discount to the €2.8m which was quoted for the premises when it was offered for sale last year. The premises is well located, between Trinity St and South Great George’s St, and opens to the rear onto Dame Lane with its Stag’s Head bar. Extending to 6,818 sq. ft, it comprises a five-storey former house over a concealed basement. The former Dobbins property at 15 Stephen’s Lane was in need of significant refurbishment and sold for €850k, which was a 43% discount to the €1.5m sought for it early last year. A mews style property, it is believed to have been bought by a builder and is well located between the two Mount streets. A purpose-built two-storey restaurant building, it extended to 3,778 sq. ft with capacity for more than 100 covers. Robert Colleran was the agent handling both sales. The Irish Independent, 30th November
JLL Hotel Report According to JLL, robust hotel market demand is evident by key indicators such as Dublin Airport reporting record passenger numbers with over 120k passengers travelling through the two terminals on Sunday, July 30th. Passenger volumes remain strong, with 2.8m passengers in the month of October, a 4% increase on the same month last year. This is reflected in the performance of the hotel sector. In June, for instance, Dublin city achieved a 91% occupancy level, a record €258 average room rate, and a RevPAR of €234. This broke the existing RevPAR record set, when 400k people attended the Garth Brooks concerts in Croke Park in September 2022, by 8%. In a year when investors have questioned the fundamentals of other real estate sectors, hotel investment volumes remain strong, with JLL forecasting more than €500m worth of transactions. Should this figure be achieved, it would represent an increase of approx. 20% on 2022. The profile of buyers for the first half of the year was predominately comprised of high-net-worth individuals and hotel operators. Q3 was a quiet and uncertain period, with back-to-back increases in interest rates. The Irish Times, 4th December
Ballymahon, Co Longford Center Parcs has secured planning permission for a €100m expansion of its holiday village at Longford Forest which includes approx. 200 new lodges. An Bord Pleanála rejected an appeal by a number of parties including an environmental group against plans by the UK-based operator of leisure resorts for a major expansion of accommodation and leisure facilities at its Irish centre. The board has upheld last year’s decision by Longford County Council to approve the construction of 198 new lodges across three zones at its Longford Forest resort outside Ballymahon. The expansion of the 395-acre holiday village also includes external saunas and pods, a new lakeside restaurant and coffee shop as well as an extension of several existing restaurants and additional staff facilities. A new car park will provide 313 parking spaces for staff vehicles. Longford Forest currently provides 466 self-catering lodges and 30 apartments. The Irish Examiner, 30th November
Walkinstown, Dublin 12 Colliers has concluded the off-market sale of an ultra-modern Bank of Ireland premises in Walkinstown, Dublin 12 for €4.175m (NIY 6.42%; €352 per sq. ft) to French fund FPS Europe +, a specialised professional fund owned by MNK Partners. The premises at 177 Drimnagh Road, which comprises a part single and part two storey detached premises, spans 11,830 sq. ft. The property is let on a FRI Lease to Bank of Ireland from October 24th, 2012, for a term of 25 years, with no break options. The lease is subject to five-yearly fixed rental uplifts of 15%. The passing rent is €294.9k pa with the next fixed uplift in 2027, at which point the rent will increase to €339.16k pa. The final rental increase to €390k pa in 2032 will provide the new owner with an increased return of over 8.4%. The Business Post, 2nd December
Applegreen and M&S are significantly extending their partnership, signing a ten-year deal that will add up to 60 new M&S Food service points at Applegreen locations. Fifteen new outlets will be open by the end of 2024, adding to the five already in operation, and all of the new outlets will also offer click and collect services for M&S Clothing and selected homeware ranges. The first M&S Food shop at an Applegreen opened last November at Mountgorr in Swords in North Co Dublin. Further outlets were added in Booterstown in South Dublin, Celbridge in Co Kildare, Kinsealy in Co Dublin and the M11 services area at Cullenmore, in Co Wicklow. The first of the new stores will be in Louth, Meath and Limerick, with other locations to be announced throughout the year. The outlets carry a range of up to 400 M&S products including fresh fruit, salads, Irish sandwiches and dinner options. The Business Post, 4th December
Rialto, Dublin 8 Plans have been lodged for a €26m mixed-use Large Scale Residential Development (LRD) development in Rialto. The project is located at the former G4S property on Herberton Road. The plans, submitted by Herberton Road Development Limited, propose the construction of 120 apartments and a community cultural space. It incorporates studios, co-working space, meeting room and a reception area. The Business Post, 1st December
Clongriffin, Dublin 13 Developers Gannons are selling a mixed-use investment in Clongriffin which comprises eight commercial units and five residential apartments. Joint agents Knight Frank and Colliers are quoting €1.715m (gross yield 10.1%) for the properties which are spread between premises on Main Street and Park Avenue in Clongriffin. Five of the commercial units are occupied and generating €82.1k pa. The current tenants in situ include a Centra convenience store, a restaurant, barbers and beauty salon and a community hub. The five apartments consist of three-bedroom apartments, four of which are within blocks on Park Avenue and one which is located in a block on Main Street. The apartments extend on average to 1,040 sq. ft and are privately let and generating a gross income of €101k pa. The Irish Independent, 30th November
Drimnagh, Dublin 12 Plans from a Conor McGregor company to build a 113-unit apartment block in his native Drimnagh have attracted opposition from locals, including a couple in their 80s. Emrajare Ltd lodged plans for the eight-storey, mixed-use development with Dublin City Council last month. They would involve the demolition of the Marble Arch pub that MMA fighter Mr McGregor bought two years ago, reportedly paying up to €2m. The LRD application also foresees the demolition of warehouse buildings/structures on the 0.72-acre site, with Emrajare to build a restaurant/bar/cafe, a gym and a retail unit in addition to the apartment scheme. The Marblearch LRD apartment element would consist of 57 two-bed units, 53 one-bed units and three studios. The Irish Times, 29th November
Castleforbes Business Park, Dublin 1 Eagle Street Partners has started construction of 702 apartments at Castleforbes Business Park in Dublin’s North Docklands. Catering for the private rental and social and affordable housing markets, the development will, upon completion, comprise 508 studios and one-bed units, 179 two-bed apartments and 15 three-bed apartments distributed across eight blocks with an 18-storey residential tower as its centrepiece. It will also include community and public amenity space and an adjacent hospitality offering. Eagle Street Partners is delivering the docklands development in a joint venture with Nuveen Real Estate and the Australian superannuation fund Hesta. Nuveen is acting as investment adviser to the joint venture while Eagle Street will act as developer and operator of the 702 rental apartments, under its resident space operating platform. The residential block is being financed by Apollo Global Management. The first phase of the scheme is expected to reach practical completion in the third quarter of 2025. The Irish Times, 30th November
Housing Initiatives According to Hooke & MacDonald, the Irish government’s Housing for All strategy is starting to make a significant difference across a number of areas of the housing sector. More than 40,000 first time buyers have secured their first home as a result of the Help-to-Buy initiative since its introduction in 2016; and the 16-month-old First Home (shared equity) Scheme has seen its 1,000th facility drawdown last month. The Croí Cónaithe (Cities) scheme aims to bridge the current “viability gap” between the cost of building apartments and the market sale price. Local authorities, the Land Development Agency and Affordable Housing Bodies are being funded by the government through a wide range of measures to supply subsidised housing for rent and to own. The one area that is currently not functioning properly is the private rented sector, which is made up of mostly smaller landlords (over 80%). Commentators and the Housing Commission have pointed towards a requirement to build 50,000 to 60,000 new homes per annum in Ireland to meet current demand. The Business Post, 2nd December
Portlaoise, Co Laois Laois County Council has granted planning to Marina Quarter Limited for a €33m LRD at Dublin Road, Ballyroan in Portlaoise. The project will consist of 175 houses in a mix of two, three and four-bed units and 20 one-bed apartments as well as a crèche and two ESB kiosks. The Business Post, 1st December
Athlone, Co Westmeath Plans are in the pipeline for a €30m LRD in Cornamaddy, Athlone. The development for Glenveagh Homes Limited proposes more than 170 units in a mix of apartments and houses. A decision is due in early 2024. The Business Post, 1st December
Rathdrum, Co Wicklow Works have begun on a €20.2m residential development in Knockadosan, Rathdrum. The project for Oakway Homes involves the construction of 88 houses and four apartments. Regan Construction has commenced work on the first 19 houses. The Business Post, 1st December
Drogheda, Co Louth Louth County Council has just given the green light to Sionna Homes Ltd for a large residential development on a site which extends to approx. 9.39 acres, on lands at Boyne Road, Drogheda. The €39m project will see the construction of 42 houses in a mix of 22 three-beds, 20 four-bed units and 150 apartments. The latter will comprise 95 two-beds and 13 three-bed apartments. The Business Post, 1st December
Bundoran, Co Donegal Works are to begin imminently on a €10m social housing development at Gort na Gréine, Drumacrin, Bundoran, Co Donegal. The project is being built by Garyaron Homes Limited and includes the construction of 22 houses and 20 apartments. The Business Post, 1st December
Dominick Street Upper, Dublin 7 Fresh plans have surfaced to convert the Hendrons Building, a long-abandoned machinery workshop in Dublin 7, into apartments. The building, a modernist protected structure near the city centre, is owned by developer Eugene Carlyle. An application to redevelop the building into apartments has been filed with Dublin City Council by Phibsborough D7 Development Limited, a firm linked to Cafico International, a financial advisory business. The proposal for the building detailed plans to build a mixed-use development of 93 apartments across three residential blocks. The plans also include a café or retail unit, outdoor seating and a play area. A decision on the proposal by Dublin City Council is expected next year. The Business Post, 28th November
Cleeves Riverside Quarter, Limerick The “masterplan” for a major redevelopment of the former Cleeves factory site, which will see the grounds transformed for residential and commercial use, has been unveiled. Plans for the Cleeves Riverside Quarter development include the construction of up to 290 residential units on the historic industrial site, with scope for a further 275 residential beds for student accommodation. The project – which has been described as the “largest inner-city project ever undertaken in Limerick and one of the largest in the State” – is estimated to cost upwards of €500m, with a commitment of €35m already in place under the Urban Regeneration Development Fund (URDF). Limerick Twenty Thirty, the developer behind the project and a planning subsidiary of Limerick City and County Council, will seek expressions of interest for individual aspects of the plan in the new year. Limerick City and County Council purchased the grounds in 2014 and 2017 for a total of €4.1m. The Business Post, 28th November
Land Development Agency (LDA) The Coalition is close to a deal to provide “up to €3bn” in new funding for the LDA, giving it the firepower to build 5,000-6,000 new homes in the next three years. Although the LDA was set up as a State body to build social and “affordable” housing on public land, it has been criticised for the slow delivery of homes. The new money is approx. half the €6bn mooted when Minster for Housing Darragh O’Brien pushed to deploy a major portion of the State’s corporation tax windfall for social and “affordable” housing. But senior Government sources said the LDA never needed that entire sum in a single swoop, insisting the new package would be enough to fund its work through the early years of a new business plan for 2024-2028. In a deal under discussion at the Cabinet subcommittee on housing, the agency will receive an initial round of funding for 2024 until 2026. Also under discussion is a further injection from the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, a separate sovereign wealth fund from which the LDA’s first €1.25bn was drawn. With agreement now in prospect on money for 2024-2026, the arrangement assumes the LDA will use such funds to deliver between 5,000 and 6,000 new homes by 2027. That is in addition to the pipeline of just over 3,000 homes committed under the first €1.25bn. The Irish Times, 5th December
Cherry Orchard, West Dublin Plans for more than 700 social and cost-rental homes in Cherry Orchard in west Dublin, in blocks of up to 15 storeys, have been submitted to An Bord Pleanála by the Land Development Agency (LDA) and Dublin City Council. The 547 cost rental and 161 social housing apartments represent the first phase in the development of more than 1,100 homes on a large land bank just north of Park West railway station and to the east of the M50. The apartment scheme is the largest joint project undertaken by the LDA and the City Council to date. The apartments are proposed in 16 blocks ranging in height from four to 15 storeys, with 28 studios, 263 one-bed, 368 two-bed and 49 three-bed apartments. With the Cherry Orchard area dominated by two-storey social housing, the new development is designed with a majority of cost-rental homes for low- and middle-income workers. The Irish Times, 1st December
Housing Construction Builders could complete more than 33,000 new homes in the Republic next year, say European forecasters. Industry forecaster Euroconstruct estimates that approx. 31,000 new homes will be built here this year, boosting Government claims that the final figure will top its 29,000 target. Euroconstruct says that the Republic could build 33,450 new houses in 2024, lending weight to industry and Government predictions that it will be a particularly strong year for residential construction. The organisation, which operates in 19 European countries, says the Republic will be the only one where building will grow strongly next year “up 7.9% during this period”. The Irish Times, 1st December
Peter McVerry Trust Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien has said there was “no question” that the Peter McVerry Trust would need to be restructured in the future, after the Government had to bail out the homelessness charity. Mr. O’Brien received Cabinet approval this week for up to €15m in “exceptional” emergency funding for the charity, which has been battling a major financial crisis over recent months. The bailout will be paid to the charity in phases between now and March 2024, with the first tranche of approx. €4m to be released this week. There would be “conditions attached” to the State funding, which the Minister said he would lay out in correspondence sent to the charity. The Irish Times, 30th November
Church Street and Hammond Lane, Dublin 7 Plans for the construction of a purpose-built family court complex on a vacant Dublin City site bought by the State approx. 30 years ago have finally been published by the Office of Public Works. The Dublin Family Court complex will be constructed beside the Four Courts on a large derelict site in Smithfield bordered by Church Street, Hammond Lane, Bow Street, and the Red Luas line. The complex of 19 court rooms will replace the existing fragmented facilities for family law at Dolphin House, Chancery Street, Phoenix House and the Four Courts. The building, which will rise to six storeys, will include consultation spaces, staff and judicial accommodation, public waiting areas, space for mediation and domestic violence support services, accommodation for legal practitioners, and custody facilities. The development of the complex, which will rise to six storeys, is expected to cost more than €100m and has been dogged by delays since the site was acquired by the State in the late 1990s. The Irish Times, 30th November
JLL Report Annual returns on direct investment in Irish property recorded the largest decline in more than a decade, a new report from JLL Ireland has shown. The latest JLL Irish Property Index showed that annual returns “experienced a significant drop” of 9.7% YoY in the third quarter of 2023 – the largest decline recorded in the property investment market since the second quarter of 2010, according to the property investment manager. On a quarterly basis, values in the property investment market are down 1.3% in overall returns compared to the previous quarter. The current report assessed a typical institutional investment portfolio worth approx. €647m, which is weighted 53% offices, 19% retail, 15% industrial and 13% residential. The latest JLL analysis shows that that the rate of decline in property valuations QoQ has eased, after investment returns dropped 2.1% in Q2. Further analysis of the sample portfolio used by JLL Ireland showed that the capital value declined by 2.8% QoQ and decreased by 14.7% YoY. Rental values for office sector properties have remained stable across the last four quarters, with no significant changes. Meanwhile, retail’s rental values have recorded the first annual increase for the first time in ten quarters, up 2.5% YoY. The Business Post, 28th November
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Baldonnell Business Park, Dublin 22 Mountpark has sold the second phase of its Dublin logistics park to Spanish investment house Pontegadea for approx. €225m (NIY approx. 5%). Pontegadea, the company that invests on behalf of Spanish billionaire Amancio Ortega, has purchased 1.2m sq. ft of logistics space at Mountpark Baldonnell Business Park. The assets are considered to have significant reversionary potential, with Dublin’s logistics market still maturing and offering future rental growth. The deal represents a successful exit for Affinius Capital-backed Mountpark at Baldonnell, where it has developed over 1.4m sq. ft of grade A logistics space across two phases. React News, 27th November
Birr, Co Offaly Harvey is guiding a price of €3.5m for the former Milne Foods manufacturing facility in Birr. The property is alternatively available to let at an annual rent of €350k. Located in the Syngefield Industrial Estate and 1.5km from Birr town centre, the subject property briefly comprises a high-quality, fully fitted food production facility in walk-in condition and available for immediate occupation. Overall, the property comprises several buildings extending to a total area of 52,603 sq. ft on a 5.25-acre site. The subject property has a freehold title and is being offered for sale with full vacant possession. The Irish Times, 22nd November
Dundalk, Co Louth Irish developer and builder Tanola Ltd has pre-let Tanola Place, Dundalk’s newest industrial complex measuring 120,000 sq. ft to Anord Mardix to facilitate their expansion plans for their existing European headquarters in the town. Letting agent Sherry FitzGerald Carroll Dundalk confirmed the letting but did not comment on the records in the Property Price Register which show 20-year leases at average annual rents of €752.6k for Phase 1 and €542.6k for Phase 2. Those rents equate to approx. €10.50 per sq. ft for the 14-metre-high building. The Irish Independent, 23rd November
Macroom, Co Cork A developer is seeking permission for works at a warehouse in an IDA Industrial Estate in Macroom. Edgefield Property Investments Limited has submitted a planning application to Cork County Council for a proposed warehouse distribution unit, incorporating office accommodation and new site entrances. The works are to be located at the IDA Industrial Estate at Hartnett’s Cross. The Irish Examiner, 22nd November
Nexus Logistics Park, Dublin Iput has submitted plans to Fingal County Council for the proposed expansion of its Nexus Logistics Park. The proposals specify 12 logistics facilities to be built on a 118 acre site North-West of the Cherryhound-Tyrrelstown M2-M3 Link Road that will serve as phase two of Nexus. The units will range in size from 68,238 sq. ft to 457,359 sq. ft, for an overall footprint of 1.72m sq. ft. React News, 22nd November
Dún Laoghaire, South Co Dublin A Dún Laoghaire mixed-use investment with State-backed and educational tenants is being offered for sale with a €6m guide price and a NIY of approx. 6.5%. It comprises two full blocks and sections of two other blocks in Century Court at 100 Upper George’s Street, in Dun Laoghaire town centre. An Post, ABII (Acquired Brain Injury Ireland), St John of God, GEDU Holdings and St Nicholas Montessori pay a combined annual rent totalling €460k. The combined total floor area extends to 17,614 sq. ft. An Post occupies 2,745 sq. ft on the ground floor of Block A paying a total annual rent of €105k on a lease which runs until April 2027. ABII occupies 7,786 sq. ft on the first, second and third floors of the same block at a rent of €201.7k pa on a lease which runs until March 2034. In Block B GEDU Holdings, trading as English Path, occupies 2,143 sq. ft on the first, second and third floors at an annual rent of €40k on a lease which runs until October 2028. In Block C, St Nicholas Montessori occupies 3,606 sq. ft on the second and third floors at an annual rent of €75k on a 10-year lease which runs until June 2028. St John of God occupies 1,334 sq. ft on the second and third floors in Block D at an annual rent of €38.75k on a lease which runs until October 2027. The Irish Independent, 23th November
Ronan Group Real Estate (RGRE) A receiver has been appointed to five more of RGRE’s development properties, bringing the total number of its assets under receivership to 17. RGRE confirmed in a statement that Fortress Investment Group appointed a receiver over a portfolio of five assets. These include a site on Appian Way, a house on Fitzwilliam Square, as well as sites in Enniskerry, Delgany and near Carrickmines, which are earmarked for development. It is understood that PwC was appointed as receiver. This came after RGRE consented to receivers being appointed by BoI and AIB over 12 prized property assets, including the historic Bewley’s Café on Grafton Street, Connaught House on Burlington Road, Percy Place in Dublin 4, and Kingram House in Dublin 2. It is understood that the loans from AIB and BoI to which a receiver has been appointed amount to approx. €130m; when the Fortress debt in both portfolios is included, this rises to approx. €220m. RGRE said the properties affected by the receiverships sit in a group of special purpose vehicles that are financially insulated from the rest of the group. The Business Post, 25th November
Naas, Co Kildare A company associated with Hollybrook Homes, the UK-based builder, is planning a scheme of 941 student beds off Naas Road in Dublin. The firm is looking to build the development at Gowan House, a site previously owned by the Gowan motor group and put on the market for €7.5m in 2021. Malclose Ltd applied to Dublin City Council through the large-scale residential development process. If granted permission, the development would be built in two blocks of up to 15 storeys, containing a combined 871 standard rooms, 47 accessible studio rooms and 23 studios. They would be used for short-term lets during holiday periods. The Sunday Times, 26th November
Social Housing Schemes, Dublin US-headquartered investment giant Franklin Templeton has paid approx. €75m (approx. €480.7k per unit) to secure ownership of a portfolio of 156 apartments in Dublin. Developed by Kouchin Holdings, the units are distributed across five new social-housing schemes in Deansgrange, Dun Laoghaire, Donnybrook and Clondalkin. The Joinery is the largest of the five developments and comprises of 78 apartments over six floors along with two retail units extending to a total area of 6,500 sq. ft at ground-floor level. Franklin Templeton stands to secure a blended NIY of just under 3.45% on its investment with rent reviews every three years. The Irish Times, 22nd November
Dalkey, South Dublin Irish Life’s Irish Residential Property Fund has completed the purchase of 94 luxury apartments Winterbrook has developed at Dalkey in South Dublin. While the value of the off-market deal has not been disclosed, The Irish Times understands Irish Life has paid approx. €50m (approx. €521.2k per unit) to secure ownership of The Lookout on Harbour Road. The development comprises a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments distributed across two parallel blocks overlooking Dalkey Island. The Harbour Road scheme was developed on the grounds of Charleville, a large building occupying a 1.77-acre site which Winterbrook acquired for €5.5m in 2017. The Irish Times, 22nd November
Naas, Co Kildare Coonan Property has sold the Leinster Mills, perhaps better known as the former Odlums flour mills, at Oberstown in Naas. The property, which encompasses approx. 2.4 acres of land, was sold to a local businessman for an undisclosed sum. The site was previously for sale with another agent in 2020, when it was given a guide price of €2m. The buildings extend to more than 30,000 sq. ft and include a five-storey corn mill, a three-storey refurbished annex – which includes a refurbished mews in use as an office. The lands are zoned under the Naas Local Area Plan 2021-2027 as Objective F which is “to protect and provide for open space, amenity and recreation provision.” The Business Post, 25th November
Dublin Airport, Co Dublin Colliers is selling an investment site near Dublin Airport at a guide price of €2.75m. The site is situated approx. 400 metres from Dublin airport lands and totals an area of approx. 1.8 acres and is currently zoned GE – General Employment. The site further benefits from two tenancies. One of these is Emo Oil Limited, which occupies a portion of the site under a 10-year lease, which expires on March 31st, 2026 and is subject to a passing rent of €65k pa. The remainder of the land is leased to Value Van Rentals Limited under a 10-year lease expiring on December 31st, 2029 with a current passing rent of €86k pa, increasing to €92k pa on January 1st, 2024. The current combined passing rent is €151k, which is subject to an increase to €157k in 2024. The Business Post, 24th November
Peter McVerry Trust Darragh O’Brien, the minister for housing, is expected to seek cabinet approval for a €15m bailout of the Peter McVerry Trust, the housing and homeless charity, in the coming days. A memo is to be brought to cabinet next week seeking emergency funding for the organisation to allow it to continue providing services. It is understood that the organisation has given assurances to the Department of Housing and the Dublin Region Homeless Executive (DRHE) that improved budgetary and management process are being put in place. Under the proposal to go before ministers, the Department would provide a bailout of €15m with funding to be provided on a phased basis between December and March 2024. The Business Post, 24th November
The Peter McVerry Trust under-reported how much the homelessness charity spent on the running costs of property it owned by €1.3m, while overvaluing its assets by more than €3m, according to revised financial accounts. The trust has filed a revised set of accounts detailing several amendments to previously published figures. The revised accounts show the charity had overstated the size of its financial surplus over the last two years by €1.49m. The total value of properties owned by the charity had been overstated by €3.2m, with updated accounts revising the worth of property assets down from €165.5m to €162.3m. The new documents show the charity previously under-reported how much it had spent running its portfolio of more than 600 properties by €418k last year and €932k in 2021. The organisation took in €15m in donations last year, which included a €4.7m donation from the Capuchin Day Centre to be spent on social housing for homeless people. The trust received €43m in State funding, with nearly half that coming from the Dublin Region Homeless Executive, which paid the charity €19.5m to run homeless services. The Irish Times, 28th November
Foxrock, South Co Dublin An Bord Pleanála has upheld a decision to reject planning permission for 99 apartments in blocks of up to six storeys in Foxrock, Dublin, saying the development would be “too tall”. The scheme was proposed by Macro Properties North West Limited. The proposal to build 99 apartments would have involved demolishing two homes located on the site to the south of Westminster Road, near Foxrock village. The development would have been in three apartment blocks, which would have ranged between three and six storeys tall. It also would have included 145 car-parking spaces, 216 bike-parking spaces and a gym and cinema located on the ground floor of one of the apartment blocks. The Irish Independent, 25th November
Gannon Homes Accounts New accounts for Gannon Homes Ltd show the company’s turnover was stable during 2022 at €55.9m. This is up slightly compared with the €55.2m recorded in 2021. However, the company managed to reduce its running costs from €48.2m to €45.6m. This helped the firm record an operating profit of €8.3m, up from €4.8m in 2021, and a full-year profit of €5.5m. In turn, this allowed Gannon Homes to reduce its liabilities, which dropped from €104.7m to €99.2m. The Irish Independent, 25th November
Ballincollig, Cork Colman New Homes (Blarney) Limited has unveiled plans seeking permission to develop approx. 162 residential units in Ballincollig. The company has applied for permission for the Large Scale Residential Development, which would be located off Maglin Road. The proposed development would consist of 84 two-storey dwellings including 26 four-bedroom semi-detached homes, 28 3-bed semi-detached dwellings, 20 3-bed terraced dwellings and 10 2-bed terraced dwellings. It also contains 56 duplex units provided in six two- to three- storey buildings comprising 23 two-bed units and 33 one-bed units, and one four- to five-storey apartment building consisting of 22 no. apartments. The Irish Examiner, 23rd November
Residential Development Pipeline, Cork Plans have been unveiled for a large residential development in East Cork. Castle Rock Homes (Midleton) Ltd has submitted a planning application for approx. 272 new homes at Broomfield West in Midleton. The plan, which also includes a creche, includes a range of site development works. There are plans from Ingram Homes Limited to build 400 homes in Water Rock, while Glenveagh Homes has proposed 125 homes in Maple Woods, Ballincurra, Midleton. Havenfalls Limited has also proposed 330 homes at Knockgriffin, and there is another plan from Glenveagh for 270 homes in Castleredmond. All these schemes are unrelated and are at various stages of the planning process. The Irish Examiner, 23rd November
Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) Approx. two-thirds of households in receipt of the HAP last year were in employment of some kind, official figures show. This is a significant rise in the proportion of those in employment compared to the first year the scheme was introduced, with representatives in the sector saying it represents a recognition among those under financial pressure of their entitlements. Under the HAP scheme, tenants who qualify for social housing source their own private rental accommodation but have most of their rent paid directly to their landlord by their Local Authority. According to data from the CSO, there were a total of 68,180 households in receipt of HAP last year. Of those, 42,749 were in employment of some kind, representing 62.7%. By comparison in 2017, the first year in which it fully operated nationally, 42% of households were in employment. The median income for those on HAP has also increased to €19.3k last year, up from €14k in 2017. Figures from the Department of Housing show that last year a record €515.2m was paid to landlords by the State through the scheme. The Irish Times, 27th November
Mortgage Approvals First-time buyer mortgage approvals reached new highs in the year to the end of October despite a wider market slowdown, according to the latest figures from the Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI). The total number of mortgages approved fell by 20.1% YoY, while the value dropped by 16.9%, with the trend driven mainly by lower switching levels, the industry body said. Meanwhile, the average value of a first-time buyer mortgage reached €295k in October this year, up €27k on October 2022, reflecting higher house prices. The Irish Times, 24th November
Housing Construction Commencements The construction of 2,624 homes commenced this October, which was 42.5% higher than the number of commencements in the same month last year, new figures from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage show. The strong uptick in commencement notices seen throughout this year continued last month, it said. The construction of 26,547 homes got underway in the first ten months of 2023. This represents a 16.6% increase on the same period last year, when the figure stood at 22,760. The Government estimated in its Housing For All plan, published in 2021, that 33,000 new homes would be required each year up to 2030. With two months remaining in 2023, commencement notices in respect of 6,453 homes will need to be received to achieve this target. The Irish Times, 23rd November
New Legislation Landlords selling a property will be obliged to first offer it to the tenant on the basis of an independent valuation under new legislation being proposed by Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien. The draft Residential Tenancies (Right to Purchase) Bill will give tenants the right to first refusal if the landlord is selling. Under the rules, once a notice termination is served signalling the landlord’s intention to sell, the landlord must simultaneously invite their tenant to make a bid to purchase the property. The tenant will then have a period of 90 days to make one or more bids. After the 90-day period, the landlord will be obliged to invite a further bid from the tenant if the sales prices agreed with a third party on the open market “is lower than or equal to the tenant’s highest unsuccessful bid made during the initial 90-day period”. If the tenant is not in a position to buy and is at risk of being made homeless by the sale, the Bill allows for the relevant local authority (for tenants in receipt of social housing support) or the Housing Agency (for private tenants) buy the rented property “to continue renting it to the sitting tenant”. The Irish Times, 22nd November
Vacant Homes Just 3,000 homes across the State have been found liable for Vacant Homes Tax (VHT), a fraction of the 25,000 homes that were initially identified as potentially liable by Revenue. Introduced in the Finance Act 2022, the VHT was set at three times a property’s Local Property Tax (LPT) charge and applies to residential properties that have been lived in for less than 30 days in a year. After the first chargeable year of the tax, running from 1st November 2022 to 31st October 2023, the rate of VHT was increased to five times a property’s base LPT charge in Budget 2024, which applies to the current period running from 1st November 2023 to 31st October 2024. An update published by the Department of Finance has shown that as of 20th November, more than 50,000 properties have been reported through Revenue’s Vacant Home Tax portal. Approx. 5,000 properties were declared as vacant, while 45,000 were declared as occupied. Approx. 2,000 of these vacant properties have availed of a number of exemptions, this leaves a total of approx. 3,000 properties that are liable to pay the tax. The Irish Times, 21st November
An Bord Pleanála New evidence has come to light on the board breakdown at An Bord Pleanála in the fallout from the governance scandal at the body, delaying major housing projects. Internal files show how board decision-making on big housing and infrastructure cases came to a halt amid the turmoil. The backlog of planning cases is one of the biggest legacies of the affair, which prompted Government moves to overhaul An Bord Pleanála. The restructured institution will work under a new name, An Coimisiún Pleanála. Records point to a collapse in the processing of fast-track housing schemes by the board at that time, undermining efforts to tackle the worsening housing crisis. The board was supposed to be examining a large number of fast-track cases under Strategic Housing Development (SHD) laws because applications had surged before the legislation expired in early 2022. With An Bord Pleanála taking no SHD determinations for more than two months, the internal files show how a special board division was established for three weeks in a bid to revive decision-making. That move came alongside steps to expand the board, which now comprises 15 members, 11 more than at the height of the crisis. The Irish Times, 27th November
Planning System Overhaul Key stakeholders have broadly welcomed a new Bill designed to overhaul the Irish planning system, which they say will limit spurious objections, speed up processes, and address the infrastructure deficits facing the country. The Planning and Development Bill 2023, which runs to more than 700 pages, has been published in full by the Government, and is the result of a 15-month review by the Office of the Attorney General of the Planning and Development Bill 2000. Among the key aspects of the Bill is the introduction of new restrictions on parties that are eligible to seek judicial reviews of decisions by An Bord Pleanála. Applicants must have “a sufficient interest in the matter” and must be “directly or indirectly materially affected”. There is also closer scrutiny of complaints surrounding “significant effects on the environment”, as the Bill demands that organisations mounting challenges on these grounds must be in existence for a minimum of a year. New measures in the Bill will also involve a scheme which could curtail winning parties from facing excessive legal costs. The Bill will now be reviewed by the Oireachtas and is expected to be enacted next year. The Irish Times, 22nd November
Ballincollig, Cork The largest land deal of the year in the greater Cork area at €15m at Maglin, Ballincollig, will bring the total amount invested in development land around the city to approx. €50m by year’s end, approx. twice what was spent in 2022, which was put at €26m. The 2023 spend now approaching €50m is across 15 separate deals, and spanning 160 acres, putting average values for residential development land at €300k based on a €48m spend to date in 2023. The site was first brought to market in the latter half of 2021 when the guide price was €20m. In the event, the value was down by 25%, and it took two additional years to finally get over the line. Vendors in the €15m sale were a local business/farming family and the buyers included developers/builders Murnane & O’Shea. Separately, 2023 is coming to an end with approx. €100m worth of land in the metropolitan Cork area still on offer, most of it off-market, and including at the Ford/docks site for €30m for Glenveagh; approx. €22m at Ballyvolane; approx. €15m at Fernhill, Carrigaline; at the city’s Good Shepherd Convent close to the LDA’s site at St Kevin’s; and at Waterfall, the Grafton Group’s site, with 16 acres on offer for approx. €6m. The Irish Examiner, 23rd November
Coom Green Energy Park, Co Cork An Bord Pleanála has given the green light for a massive wind farm in County Cork, called Coom Green Energy Park. ESB Ireland, Coillte and Ørsted received planning permission for their 121 MW project which will consist of up to 22 wind turbines. According to Ørsted, the wind farm will be able to power up to 80,000 homes and displace 150k tonnes of carbon emissions. Ørsted holds 50% of the project while the other 50% are held by ESB Ireland’s and Collite’s joint venture FuturEnergy Ireland. With the permission granted the companies now have 10 years to finalise the project, however according to Ørsted, the park could already be operational in 2027. The Business Post, 22nd November
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Kenmare, Co Kerry The Park Hotel in Kenmare has been purchased by Irish businessman Bryan Meehan, co-founder of the Nude skincare brand, for an undisclosed sum. Brothers Francis and John Brennan had advertised the 46-bedroom hotel and its sister hotel, the four star Lansdowne, for sale with a combined price of €20.5m. It is understood that the agreed sale does not include the Lansdowne. During the pandemic the hotel’s revenue dropped from €5m to €2m, but the brothers have managed to lead it back to profitability. In 2022, revenue rose to €5.5m, resulting in a profit of €1.15m. The Business Post, 16th November
Dawson Street, Dublin 2 A group of private Irish investors is closing in on the purchase of the Dawson Hotel in Dublin City Centre. The consortium is understood to have agreed a deal to acquire the property at 35/36 Dawson Street for approx. €16m. The figure represents a 9% discount on the €17.5m price CBRE had been guiding when the property was brought to the market on behalf of its current owner, Tetrarch Capital, last January. The Irish Times, 15th November
Center Parcs Brookfield has put a halt to its attempt to sell leisure business Center Parcs. Although a strategic review is still officially ongoing, tools have been downed on the process, in which Brookfield had been aiming to achieve a £5bn exit. The top bid for Center Parcs is understood to have been registered at approx. £3.7bn, along with further add-ons subject to performance. Center Parcs currently operates at an occupancy level of approx. 98%, with approx. 60% of its visitors being repeat customers. Center Parcs has approx. £2.5bn of debt secured against it, with Brookfield having undertaken a partial £648m refinance in April in two separate bond issuances priced at 5.9% and 6.1%. Brookfield bought Center Parcs from Blackstone in 2015 for £2.4bn. It owns six giant parks of which five are in the UK and one in Longford, which was developed under Brookfield’s ownership. React News, 16th November
Sandyford, Dublin 18 Sigmoid has signed a 10-year lease for 3,194 sq. ft fronting on to Beacon South Quarter Square for Dublin’s first indoor golf centre, which will be known as Sigmoid HQ. The development of the facility comes on foot of the approval by Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council of a planning application for a change of use of the unit from retail to leisure. Sigmoid HQ operates an indoor golf centre that features a number of bespoke indoor golf simulators equipped with TrackMan technology. The space also includes an indoor putting green delivered to golf-course standards and coffee bar. Sigmoid, which works with a number of professional golfers on the LPGA and Ladies European tours, will offer customers a range of services including golf simulators for personal use, golf classes and custom golf club fittings for golfers of all levels. The Irish Times, 15th November
Grafton Street, Dublin 2 Colliers has launched the sale of No. 55 Grafton Street in Dublin, comprising a ground floor and basement commercial building. The unit was recently let to Claddagh Jewellers, an Irish-owned family business operating since 1967. No. 55 is located at the St Stephen’s Green end of Grafton Street, close to the Disney store, Lifestyle Sports and Benetton. The store extends to 690 sq. ft over two levels and is let under a ten-year lease from July 2023. It is subject to a reserved rent of €150k pa exclusive. Colliers is seeking offers in excess of €2.5m (NIY 5.46%). The Business Post, 18th November
St Patrick Street, Cork Penneys has confirmed that it was “never tempted to look at Debenhams” when planning a €60m redevelopment of its flagship store on Cork City’s main street, which has just been cleared by planners. By the time Debenhams, formerly Roches Stores, became vacant in April 2020, Penneys had already spent the bones of 10 years and tens of millions of euros assembling almost an entire block on St Patrick Street. Having completed the site assembly, with the help of O’Flynn Construction, it lodged plans to expand its retail space by approx. 50% in August 2021. Cork City Council consented to the plan, but it was subsequently appealed to An Bord Pleanála by the owner of a premises on Cook Street, who objected to the inclusion of Elbow Lane in the redevelopment. The Lane traverses the site and had been used for servicing of commercial units and refuse storage. The board ruled in Penneys favour, a move business leaders have hailed as “excellent news for the city”. The Irish Examiner, 18th November
Hibernia Real Estate Refinance Brookfield has refinanced part of the Hibernia Real Estate portfolio it bought last year in a €1.1bn deal to take the former stock market-listed REIT private. The refinancing of €411m of the Hibernia debt comes amid a significant downturn in the commercial property market, but it is understood will support further development projects. Hibernia said the transaction included the transfer for certain assets within the group. Brookfield’s 2022 takeover was backed by €930m of debt raised from global banks Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and Société Générale. The deal struck by Brookfield represented a near 36% premium to the closing price of Hibernia’s shares. Shares in the Irish group had traded at a discount to net tangible assets for six years before the sale. The Irish Independent, 21st November
Carrickmines Park, South Dublin The penthouse on the third floor of the Iveagh Building at Carrickmines Park is guiding at a price of €2.9m (€223 psf) through Colliers. The property comprises 12,994 sq. ft of fully fitted open-plan office space, meeting rooms and a boardroom. The floor is complemented by two large outdoor terraces and 27 designated car-parking spaces at basement level. The Irish Times, 15th November
Britain Quay, Dublin 2 Following on from the recent letting of the entire 11,217 sq. ft first floor at Central Quay in Dublin South Docklands to Millenium Capital Partners, Hibernia Real Estate Group has now secured Peninsula Petroleum as tenants for part of the building’s second floor. The company has agreed to take 3,845 sq. ft of space at the building. Both tenants are understood to have committed to a rent of approx. €54 per sq. ft. CBRE is now marketing the remaining part of the second floor extending to 7,347 sq. ft which is fully fitted to a CAT A specification and is available immediately. The Irish Times, 15th November
Northumberland Road, Dublin 4 No. 80 Northumberland Road, the headquarters of MS Ireland, is being offered to the market with the benefit of vacant possession by CBRE at a guide price of €2.1m. The subject property comprises a three-storey over-basement period building of 4,399 sq. ft (€477 psf). While the property is in office use at present, it offers the potential for conversion to residential use subject to planning permission being obtained. The property comes with 10 car-parking spaces and is accessed from both Northumberland Road and from an entrance to the rear of Lansdowne Park. The Irish Times, 15th November
Logistics Hubs, North Dublin Irish property investor and developer Iput could invest in excess of €250m in two new huge Dublin logistics hubs. Iput, already the largest owner of modern logistics assets in Dublin, recently submitted plans to Fingal County Council for its Nexus 2 logistics development, which would consist of 12 logistics and warehousing buildings at a 118-acre site at Killamonan near the Cherryhound Interchange of the M2 in North Dublin. It has already received planning permission for its Nexus 1 project nearby, which would consist of five separate logistics facilities across a 64-acre site. The Irish Independent, 19th November
Malahide Road Industrial Park, North Dublin Pan-European investor and asset manager, M7 Real Estate, is seeking an occupier for the former Bunzl premises at Malahide Road Industrial Park. Now known as Newtown Hub, the 74,540 sq. ft warehouse facility is being offered to the market following the completion of a comprehensive repositioning and upgrade programme by Savills at a quoting rent of €895k pa (€12 per sq. ft). M7 acquired the property in near-derelict condition from Hibernia Real Estate Group in 2022 for €6.25m. The Irish Times, 15th November
Old Airport Road, Co Dublin Colliers is guiding a price of €2.75m for a 1.8-acre site zoned for employment use immediately adjacent to Dublin Airport. Located on the Old Airport Road and to the west of the Swords Road, the subject property is occupied by two tenants and generating an overall rental income of €151k pa. Emo Oil Limited occupies a portion of the site under a 10-year lease, which expires on March 31st, 2026 and is subject to a passing rent of €65k pa. The site is an unmanned filling station operated by Certa and covers a portion of roadside to the front of the property. The remainder of the land is leased to Value Van Rentals Limited under a 10-year lease expiring on December 31st 2029 with a current passing rent of €86k pa, increasing to €92k pa from January 1st, 2024. The current combined passing rent is €151k, which is subject to an increase to €157k in 2024. The Irish Times, 15th November
Irish Student Accommodation Report According to Cushman & Wakefield, for the 2022/23 academic year, there were approx. 199,000 full-time students, reflecting a 13.5% increase since 2017. Dublin leads in bed space supply with 19,500 beds, followed by Cork (7,600), Limerick (6,200), and Galway (5,300). 66% of beds are in private ownership with the remaining beds being University owned.
Since 2016, the number of beds in Dublin has almost doubled from just under 10,000 to 19,500, however the rate of growth in new beds has fallen from a high of 20% in 2018 to just 1%, as the pace of new deliveries has slowed significantly amidst headwinds of rising development costs and issues around debt funding. There are just under 1,900 bed spaces currently under construction across six developments In Ireland. Cork accounts for 702 bed spaces over 2 developments, with 513 bed spaces under construction in Dublin spread across 3 developments, and 345 bed spaces in Galway in 1 development. A further 189 and 115 beds are under construction in Dundalk and Maynooth, respectively. Cushman & Wakefield Report, 16th November
Blackrock, South Co Dublin Oval Target, a company controlled by Patrick McKillen Jr and Matt Ryan, is in talks to sell lands at Temple Hill in Blackrock, Co Dublin, at a sum substantially below its purchase price. Oval Target paid €30m for the 9.86-acre holding, formerly owned by the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul, in 2017. It is understood that Greystar, a US investment fund, will pay approx. €25m for the site, which has planning permission for the development of 291 one, two and three-bedroom apartments. The last filed accounts for Oval Target, to the end of 2019, put amounts owed to senior lender Greenoak Real Estate at €22.4m, with a further €14.3m due on shareholder and “other loans.” Oval sought to increase its planning to 446 units but the plan is subject to judicial review proceedings. The company put the lands on the market for €45m in early 2020 only for any sale to be derailed by the pandemic. The Sunday Times, 19th November
Montrose, Dublin 4 The current value of RTÉ’s Montrose campus is approx. €100m, significantly below the value per acre in 2017 when the broadcaster last sold part of its south Dublin headquarters. In its new strategic vision, the broadcaster has confirmed that Savills have commenced a high-level assessment of the site, which it said will take some time to conclude. However, the commercial real estate market faces several challenges at the moment and any sale of the Donnybrook site is further complicated due to a number of protected buildings on the campus, the broadcaster said. In 2017, RTÉ sold just under nine acres of land at Montrose to Cairn Homes for €107.5m. The Business Post, 14th November
Lone Star, the US private equity fund, is examining options for its substantial investment in Quintain Ireland as the housebuilder looks to double its ¬construction output by 2026. The Sunday Times understands that Lone Star, which set up Quintain Ireland in 2019, could bring in another equity ¬or funding partner or sell part of its existing interest to another entity. The Sunday Times, 19th November
Start Mortgages, owned by private equity giant Lone Star, is to quit the Irish market. Start manages over 11,000 mortgages with an estimated value of approx. €2.2bn. Lone Star has reached an agreement to transfer the servicing rights of Start’s mortgage book to Mars Capital. The value of the deal between Mars and Start has not been disclosed. Lone Star acquired Start in 2014 as part of a bigger portfolio of assets. The Business Post, 15th November
The Peter McVerry Trust has been provided with a sum of emergency funds by the Dublin Region Homeless Executive (DRHE). Following revelations in August that the Peter McVerry Trust had encountered “potential financial issues”, the charity sought more than €5m in emergency funding. The Business Post understands a small portion of this amount has been released to the homelessness services and housing charity. Discussions surrounding a wider bailout for the organisation are still underway, with the matter being reviewed by an oversight group established by the Department of Housing. A spokesperson for the DRHE has said that the charity has now been provided with a sum of funding to allow for the continuity of services. They said the trust has been provided with “sufficient funding” to ensure that services will not be interrupted. The DRHE did confirm how much funding has been released. The Business Post, 13th November
Croí Cónaithe Scheme The state has agreed a deal with Glenveagh Homes to part-fund construction of 274 private market apartments in Cork city, the largest scheme of its kind in the city for more than a decade. Further deals have been struck with Cairn Homes and Park Developments, the development firms, to subsidise construction of further apartments for the private market in Cork and Dublin. The three apartment schemes, which contain 395 units in total, will be the first projects to be funded through the Croí Cónaithe Cities scheme, which is being managed by the Housing Agency. The largest project being part-funded by the state will be Blackrock Villas, Blackrock, Co. Cork. Glenveagh secured planning permission for the 274 apartments on the site in 2019, but construction did not commence. Upon completion, there will be a mix of studio, one-, two- and three-bed apartments for sale in Blackrock Villas on the open market at subsidised prices. A further 68 owner-occupier apartments being developed by Cairn Homes on Carr’s Hill Carrigaline Road in Douglas, Co. Cork, will also be subsidised through Croí Cónaithe Cities. In Dublin, the Housing Agency has also agreed to subsidise the delivery of 53 owner-occupier apartments being developed by Park Developments at Woodward Court, Glencairn, Murphystown Way, Dublin 18. The Business Post, 17th November
Residential Sector House prices across the State rose at an annual rate of 1.4% in September, marginally up on the previous month, but still anchored near a three-year low as higher interest rates dampened buying activity. The latest residential property price index, compiled by the CSO, shows that prices in Dublin continued to decline, however. Values in the capital fell at an annual rate of 1.9%, the sharpest rate of drop since 2012 when the market was still mired in the financial crisis. Prices outside Dublin rose at an annual rate of 4%. The State’s property market has slowed significantly since a pandemic-driven surge in 2020 and 2021. The softening is perhaps best illustrated by a slowdown in transactions. The latest CSO data indicates 4,255 house purchases were filed with Revenue in September. This represents a 7.2% decrease compared with the 4,583 purchases in September 2022 and an 8.3% decline compared with the 4,640 purchases in August this year. The total value of transactions filed in September was €1.6bn. The Irish Times, 15th November
Dangan Castle, Co Meath Having only recently agreed an €11m deal to acquire the nearby Dowth Hall and its vast 552-acre estate for use as a new national park, the State may well be among the parties to run the rule over the sale of Dangan Castle in Co Meath. Nestling in the midst of 236 acres of lands comprising tillage, grassland and forestry, Dangan Castle is being offered to the market by Knight Frank at a guide price of €3.1m. The castle stands on an elevated site overlooking the estate, which is laid out currently in three sections, with 50 acres of grassland, 115 acres of tillage and 70 acres of forestry. The Irish Times, 15th November
Vacant Site Levy An Bord Pleanála has refused an appeal to have the former Smurfit paper mill in Clonskeagh owned by Bain Capital removed from Dublin City Council’s vacant site levy list. The appeal was brought by Harley Issuer DAC, whose only shareholder is SMT Trustees (Ireland) Limited. SMT Trustees act for and on behalf of Bain Capital Credit Global ICAV, in turn acting for and on behalf of its Sub Fund Bain Capital Credit CCC Fund. The annual levy is charged at 7% of the market valuation of the property. According to the council’s latest register, it values the site in question at €10m. This would put the estimated annual levy take at €700k. The 3.21-acre former Smurfit paper mill site was acquired in 2005 by developer Gerry Gannon who then sold it on to the American private investment firm in early 2021 with planning permission in place for 126 apartments in multiple blocks. According to quotes from Knight Frank at the time, the site was valued somewhere between €18 and €20m. An additional planning application was submitted in October 2021 by Harley Issuer for an aparthotel in addition to the apartments. This was subsequently withdrawn in September 2022. The Currency, 20th November
Kilternan, Co Dublin The Comer Group has objected to a demand from Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown Co Council for a public road to be installed through its land near the Kilternan hotel development. The company acquired the property in 2014 for €7m. The Comers secured planning permission to develop an equine training facility on the lands in 2016. Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown Co Council has warned Nijinsky Property Company Limited, a firm owned by the Comer brothers, about unauthorised construction at its planned ‘equine centre of excellence’ on the lands. Planners at Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown Co Council have told the Comer Group it has “responsibility in relation to the public right of way” in the area and “it appears that accessibility is compromised” following the construction by the company in the area. The Comer Group has lodged an appeal with An Bord Pleanála in a bid to get the public route requirement struck out. A decision is expected in March 2024. The Business Post, 19th November
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Shopping Centres, Blanchardstown and Tallaght AIB faces a haircut of up to 20% on the sale of loans advanced to two of Dublin’s largest shopping centres. According to the Sunday Times, the debt sale went to second-round bids, with four credible bids received in the first round. Offers were said to be at 80c on the euro. Blanchardstown shopping centre, which is controlled by Goldman Sachs, was put on the market for €700m, €50m less than Goldman paid for it in late 2020. The AIB loan on the centre has a face value of €175m and is part of a total syndicated senior debt package of €570m. AIB is the main senior lender to OCM Luxembourg Square Retail, a vehicle owned by Oaktree Capital Management which owns the Tallaght mall. It owed the bank €191m at the end of 2021. The Tallaght shopping centre is being sold for approx. €160m. The Sunday Times, 12th November
Retail Sector The latest research from MSCI and SCSI, the indexes for Irish commercial property investment, reveal that retail rents continued to increase in the third quarter of the year at rates of between 2% for shopping centres and 1.2% for those in Grafton Street. Consequently, over the 12 months to September, rents have increased across the sector by strong single digits ranging from 5% in Grafton Street to 7.1% in retail warehouse and 7.4% in shopping centres. Despite rental recovery the capital values of such properties continued to fall and this is attracting private Irish investors. According to MSCI, shopping centres and retail warehouses saw their values drop 1.2% and 2.1% respectively in the quarter while Grafton and Henry/Mary Street values fell 5.8% and 8.2% respectively. The Business Post, 11th November
Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin 2 Having already agreed a deal earlier this year to sublet just under 50,000 sq. ft of the office space at its new headquarters on Dublin’s Earlsfort Terrace to KKR, Intercom has decided to delay its own move into the property. The high costs associated with fitting out the Cadenza building are understood to have informed the company’s decision to seek out alternative, fully fitted accommodation at numbers 124-127 St Stephen’s Green instead. According to market sources, Intercom intends to rent approx. 40,000 sq. ft at the St Stephen’s Green building from its main tenant, Indeed, on a short to medium-term basis. The space being taken by Intercom became available in 2021 following Indeed’s move to consolidate its own Dublin-based operations into its other office at Capital Dock in the city’s south docklands. Intercom agreed to pre-let the entire Cadenza building (110,868 sq. ft) on an 18-year lease prior to the arrival of Covid-19 in December 2019. KKR occupies the top three floors of the property following the agreement of a deal that saw Intercom assigning part of its lease with the building’s owner, Irish Life, to the global investment firm. The Irish Times, 8th November
Adelaide Road, Dublin 2 Joint letting agents BNP Paribas Real Estate and CBRE have managed to secure occupiers for the entire of 57 Adelaide Road on a floor-by-floor basis. The recently refurbished grade-A building, which extends to 15,663 sq. ft is now home to BNP Paribas Real Estate Ireland, Murgitroyd, Acacium Group and VMO Aircraft Leasing. BNP Paribas Real Estate Ireland were the first tenant to move into the property and agreed to lease the entire ground floor extending to 4,854 sq. ft, while European patent and trademark lawyers, Murgitroyd took a lease on the second floor extending to 3,730 sq. ft on a 10-year term. Acacium Group, which specialises in recruitment, agreed to lease the penthouse floor extending to 2,549 sq. ft on a 10-year term while the final letting to VMO Aircraft leasing was for the first-floor suite extending to 4,530 sq. ft on a 10-year term. Rental levels across all four lettings are understood to have been approx. €50 per sq. ft and €3.5k per car space pa. BNP Paribas Real Estate and CBRE are also seeking tenants for the adjoining Corrib House, an end-of-terrace self-contained Georgian office building fronting onto Lower Leeson Street. The subject property extends to a net internal area of 4,270 sq. ft and is available for immediate occupation. The quoting rent has been set at €32.50 per sq. ft. The Irish Times, 8th November
Chancery Lane, Dublin 8 Sretaw PE is understood to be closing in on the acquisition of the Chancery building in Dublin City Centre for approx. €19m. Should a deal proceed at that level, it would equate to a discount of 23% on the €24.75m price that had been guided by Knight Frank. The proposed price is approx. 20% lower than the €23.8m Credit Suisse paid Hibernia Reit to secure ownership of the property in 2017. The Chancery building, built in 2005, comprises a six-storey over-basement office and residential development on Chancery Lane in Dublin 8. The office element of the scheme extends to 34,283 sq. ft with secure basement car parking for 19 cars. There are also four two-bedroom units that extend to 818 sq. ft each. The offices are fully let to three tenants and are producing total rental income of €1.4m pa, 69% is being generated by State tenants. The ground floor is let to Wella Studio. The first to fourth floors are let to the OPW. The penthouse floor is occupied by Analytic Partners. The four apartments are fully let to private residential tenants. The rent roll of the residential units equates to €99k pa. The Chancery building comes with planning permission to extend the floor area of the office accommodation by 9,838 sq. ft. The Irish Times, 8th November
Tifco Hotel Group Apollo Global Management is working on the sale of its €500m+ Irish hotel platform. Eastdil Secured has been mandated to explore various disposal options for the Tifco Hotel Group business, Ireland’s second-largest hotel chain. Tifco operates 25 hotel properties across Ireland, with approx. 3,000 rooms in total, although the number of assets it owns is understood to be 16. The portfolio includes 11 Travelodge hotels across Ireland and Northern Ireland, with the majority in Dublin. The five Dublin assets include Townsend Street in the city centre; Rathmines; Dublin Airport South; Dublin Airport North Swords; and Phoenix Park. Apollo acquired the hotels when it bought the Tifco hotel business from Goldman Sachs in 2018. The US group is understood to have paid approx. €320m for the standing hotel assets and committed a further €80m to €100m to fund the development schemes. React News, 9th November
Morrison’s Quay, Cork Cork City’s newest hotel, the €45m Premier Inn, is set to be handed over to its operators, the Whitbread Group, in less than two weeks time. The group is hoping to open the 187-bed Morrison’s Island hotel by the end of January next year. The development includes ground floor offices in one section of the hotel, as well as refurbished offices in Nos. 11,12 and 13 Morrison’s Quay. The Irish Examiner, 9th November
Killarney, Co. Kerry The Aghadoe Heights Hotel in Killarney has been granted permission by Kerry County Council for the provision of a new four-storey extension to its rear. Comprising approx. 22,173 sq. ft, it will allow for the provision of 30 additional hotel bedrooms and ancillary spa storage and plant space. The development at the five-star hotel will increase its total number of bedrooms from 74 to 104. Under the development, the overall hotel size will increase from 87,133 sq. ft to 110,276 sq. ft. The Irish Examiner, 8th November
Griffin Group Hotels, which operates the Monart Destination Spa and the Ferrycarrig Hotel in Co Wexford, as well as the nearby Hotel Kilkenny, saw its profits drop by more than a third last year. The business said it was “significantly impacted” by the rise in interest rates, as well as in the cost of food and energy. It reported a profit of €1.8m for the year, which was down from €2.9m in 2021 and €2.2m in pre-pandemic 2019. On the brighter side, turnover recovered to €25m as public health restrictions were lifted. Turnover in 2021 amounted to €12.8m, while the group generated a turnover of €25.2m in 2019. The group continued to invest in its properties with €2.1m capital spent throughout 2022. It invested in the significant refurbishment of all bedrooms at Monart Destination Spa, a major renovation of Hotel Kilkenny’s Rosehill 1831 bar and continued refurbishment of the Ferrycarrig Hotel bedrooms and public areas. The group’s director of sustainability said it would invest a further €1.2m in sustainability measures in 2024. The Irish Times, 14th November
North Quays, Dublin City Centre Ronan Group Real Estate (RGRE) will be allowed to build Dublin’s tallest building — 25 storeys — at the Waterfront South Central site on the North Quays, bringing an end to a years-long battle with authorities over height restrictions. RGRE confirmed that the site would be for a “signature apartment block” with 25 floors, up from the ten-storey cap in the North Lotts and Grand Canal Dock planning scheme. The decision to more than double the height of buildings allowed in the area was made by Dublin City Council and An Bord Pleanála. The approval marks a concession for both sides given they applied in 2019 for a 44-storey block with 1,005 apartments across the site. A second residential block at the rear of the Waterfront site can now consist of 12 floors, up from the previous seven storeys. The project will be built by Libra Living, RGRE’s residential brand and the developer behind the nearby Spencer Place apartments. The Sunday Times, 12th November
South Circular Road, Dublin 8 A three-year legal battle against the construction of two build-to-rent and co-living schemes on the sites of the former Bailey Gibson and Player Wills factories in Dublin 8 has been brought to an end, paving the way for apartment blocks up to 19 storeys tall. US property group Hines bought the former Player Wills cigarette factory and Bailey Gibson packaging plant sites on the South Circular Road, which had been in the control of Nama, in 2018. Hines was granted permission in 2020 by An Bord Pleanála for 416 homes with a 16-storey apartment block on the Bailey Gibson site. In 2022, the board granted the developer permission for the construction of 732 apartments across four blocks with one building rising to a height of 19 storeys on the Player Wills lands. In 2021, the High Court referred aspects of the Bailey Gibson case to the European Court of Justice. Earlier this year the case was determined in Hines’ favour but this was then appealed to the Supreme Court. It is understood that talks with the residents’ association have been ongoing for some months in an attempt to reach an agreement which would allow construction to begin on site. It is expected Hines will now work with the Land Development Agency. The Irish Times, 8th November
Residential Zoned Land Tax (RZLT) The owner of Independent House, the former headquarters of Independent Newspapers on Abbey Street in Dublin, has failed in its bid to have the 1920s protected structure excluded from the new land-hoarding tax. Retailer Primark bought the old newspaper building 10 years ago, and was expected to expand the clothing and homewares shop. However, the building remains vacant, its windows covered by metal panels. In its submission the retailer said it should not have to pay the new RZLT because the building was not suitable for conversion to residential use. Separately the board has upheld the decision by Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council to include two sites owned by the Carmelite order of nuns in South Dublin on the register. The order had appealed the inclusion of the Carmelite Monastery of the Immaculate Conception, Roebuck Road, Clonskeagh, close to UCD, and St Joseph’s Monastery on Kilmacud Road Upper, Blackrock, on the RZLT maps. The Irish Times, 13th November
Dublin Port A plan to provide berths for houseboats on the river Liffey and develop a residential marina at Pigeon House Harbour, has been presented to Minister of State at the Department of Housing. The plan would see the reopening of the existing Pigeon House Harbour beside the decommissioned power station on the Poolbeg peninsula, to provide a marina for long-stay and visiting boats. Proposed by the Dublin branch of the Inland Waterways Association of Ireland (IWAI), the plan also repeats a 2018 Dublin City Council recommendation for berths for residential, commercial and leisure use, at various locations along the river between Matt Talbot Bridge and the 3Arena. The Irish Times, 13th November
Schoolhouse Lane, Dublin 2 CBRE is guiding €4.5m for a block of 12 self-catering apartments and penthouses in Dublin’s Central Business District. Known as Molesworth Court Suites, they are located on Schoolhouse Lane, which connects Kildare Street to Molesworth and Dawson streets. Ranging in size from 441 to 1,377 sq. ft, the units include two split-level penthouses and the building comprises four floors over a reception entrance hall. Seven car-parking spaces are located at ground floor. CBRE declined to comment to the Irish Independent on the annual income from the short-stay units but the Molesworth Suites website recently quoted rates starting at €230 per night. The Irish Independent, 9th November
Housing Agency Acquisitions (HAA) Fund Just over 900 properties had been acquired by the Government’s HAA fund as of May this year, against a 2021 target of 1,600, according to Department of Housing. The €70m fund was established in 2017 with the aim of acquiring vacant property portfolios from banks and financial institutions that could then be used for social housing. The target for the HAA fund was to acquire 1,600 units over a four-year period to 2020. However, this target was subsequently extended out to 2021. According to data provided by Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien, 904 properties had been acquired under the HAA fund as of May of this year. Mr. O’Brien said a further 52 properties were delivered under the HAA fund programme but bought directly by local authorities using capital funding through the Social Housing Capital Investment Programme. The Minister also noted that the Housing Agency also completed the acquisition of 606 properties while acting on behalf of local authorities. Mr. O’Brien said his department had conducted a review of the HAA in 2022, which identified a number of challenges faced by the fund, “the most significant of which is the reduced availability of suitable units from banks and equity funds.” The Irish Times, 9th November
Vacant Houses Dublin Council homes will be left derelict or boarded up in Dublin city next year unless the Department of Housing reverses funding cuts for refurbishment, a senior Dublin City Council official has said. The council’s 2024 budget, which will be presented to councillors next week, includes €10m for “voids” – houses or flats which have been vacated by tenants but are not in a fit condition to be relet, a drop of €15m on 2023’s funding. The council had restored 843 homes this year, an increase of 22% on 2022 and 642 units “became void” to date in 2023. There are approx. 500 council homes in Dublin city waiting to be refurbished, a figure which fluctuates as homes are vacated or refurbishment work completed. “Voids in 2023 are costing us on average about €45,000. Before 2023 it was an average cost of €32,000 and this is to do with materials and labour costs,” the official said. The Irish Times, 9th November
Killarney, Co. Kerry A prime piece of land near Killarney town centre with a guide price of €2.5m and residential zoning is attracting “very strong interest” according to the auctioneer. The 4.5-acre site had the potential for 15 homes per acre, but potentially more if a developer was allowed to build upwards. It is within walking distance of Killarney town centre and national park and has handy access to the Tralee Road/Cork Road and the Ring of Kerry Road. The Irish Examiner, 9th November
Killarney, Co. Kerry Planning permission has been granted for a major housing development in Killarney. KPH Construction has been granted permission by Kerry County Council for the construction of 249 new homes in Upper Park Road, Killarney. The development includes a range of house type, including 117 three-bed houses, six four-bed houses, and two five-bed houses. There are approx. 68 two-bed apartments, 38 one- bed apartments, and 18 two-bed houses. All are two-storeys. The developer has also included provision for a two-storey creche of approx. 4,488 sq. ft in gross floor space, approx. 529 car parking spaces, as well as 352 bicycle spaces. The Irish Examiner, 8th November
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Ballsbridge, Dublin 4 Blackstone has started a process to bring debt finance into its €400m Facebook campus in Dublin. The private equity house is understood to be searching for up to €250m of debt, sources said, with JLL instructed to scout out potential lenders. Blackstone bought Facebook’s new European headquarters in Ballsbridge, Dublin 4, for one of its core-plus vehicles at the end of 2021. The four blocks, totalling close to 350,000 sq. ft, are fully let to Facebook owner Meta for 15 years. The properties were sold to Blackstone by the Serpentine consortium, a syndicate of private individuals and companies assembled by AIB Private Banking and Goodbody Stockbrokers. React News, 2nd November
WeWork has filed for bankruptcy as the SoftBank Group-backed company struggles with a massive debt pile and hefty losses. Shares of the flexible workspace provider have fallen approx. 96% this year. The company had net long-term debt of $2.9bn at the end of June and more than $13bn in long-term leases, at a time when rising borrowing costs are hurting the commercial property sector. WeWork is one of the biggest office tenants in Dublin, occupies space at the 2 Dublin Landings building in the docklands as well as on Harcourt Road and the Charlemont Exchange near the Grand Canal. As recently as September, the company said it remained on course to occupy most of the former Central Bank of Ireland building in Dublin, even as it was seeking to renegotiate nearly all of its leases around the world and leave some buildings it currently occupies. The Irish Times, 7th November
St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2 Abbey Capital is making the move from its base next to Dublin’s Rotunda Hospital to a new statement headquarters on the south side of the city. With its long-standing offices at Cavendish Row now on the market at a guide price of €4.2m, the company is relocating to no. 8 St Stephen’s Green after acquiring the property in September. Abbey Capital bought the home of the former Hibernian United Services Club for €16m. The price paid represented a discount of just over 25% on the €20m Cushman & Wakefield had been guiding when it first offered the property for sale last year. The Irish Times, 1st November
Lower Bridge Street, Dublin 8 Finnegan Menton is quoting a price of €3.2m for No. 1 City Gate on Lower Bridge Street in Dublin 8. The property, immediately adjacent to The Brazen Head, briefly comprises a four-storey office building extending to a net internal area of 8,960 sq. ft along with eight car-parking spaces. With the current occupier, Abbey Travel, in the process of moving to new premises nearby, 1 City Gate is being offered for sale with the benefit of vacant possession. The Irish Times, 1st November
St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2 The average daily rate for a room in the Shelbourne Hotel in Dublin jumped to €426 at the end of September from €410 last year, driving revenues at the five-star up by approx. one-fifth, according to its US owner. Kennedy Wilson, the property investment group that spent €138m in 2014 to take control of the 265-bedroom hotel from Irish Bank Resolution Corp, formerly Anglo Irish Bank, said in US filings that revenues from its hotel operations in the first nine months of 2023 are already approaching the full-year total for 2022. The Shelbourne was the only fully operational hotel in the Kennedy Wilson portfolio in the three months to the end of September, although it recently opened a resort in Hawaii after a refurbishment. According to the unaudited financial statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Kennedy Wilson’s hotel revenues jumped by more than 18%, from $14m in the third quarter of 2022 to $16.4m between June and September this year. The property investment company has also seen an increase in its cost base at the Shelbourne, with expenses from its hotel operations rising to $27m in the first nine months of the year compared with $20m over the same period last year. Kennedy Wilson’s annual report last year suggested the hotel’s valuation has increased by a quarter to €236m. It has spent approx. €36m on refurbishment works since it acquired the property. The Irish Times, 2nd November
IFSC, Dublin 1 UK-based investor Attestor Capital is selling its Lagoona Bar & Restaurant on Mayor Square and CBRE is inviting final offers in excess of €1m to be submitted by noon on 29th November. Attestor bought Lagoona as part of a group of five pubs from the family of TP Smith in a deal which valued the group at more than €35m in 2021. The five included the Auld Dubliner and The Norseman in Temple Bar, The Forty Four in Swords as well as TP Smiths on the corner of Jervis and Upper Abbey streets. The Lagoona itself is a modern contemporary venue, extending over two levels with a total floor area of 9,192 sq. ft. The ground floor includes a bar and lounge together with fully equipped catering kitchen. A first-floor mezzanine provides a dining atmosphere as well as the option to hold private gatherings. A small outdoor seating area is located at the front of the property. The Irish Independent, 2nd November
Kildare Town The former Boland’s pub on a 0.581-acre site in Kildare Town was sold for €1.26m. Located on a corner with frontage on Market Square and Bride Street, the property was sold in two lots by Jordan Auctioneers to the same bidder. Lot One including the former pub, a three-bedroom residence, two own door apartments, three commercial units, outhouses and garden on 0.304 acres achieved €860k which was over its €700k guide. An adjoining yard accessible off Bride Street on 0.277 acres sold for €400k or double its €200k guide price. Although the publican’s license was sold approx. 10 years ago, it is believed the purchaser may consider including hospitality in a new development. The Irish Independent, 2nd November
The Doyle Collection hotel group recorded a strong bounce back last year with its turnover and profits almost trebling following “steady growth” in tourism and leisure activity, and corporate business. Latest accounts for Doyle Hotels (Holdings) Ltd show that turnover rose to €147.7m last year compared with €53.2m in 2021, when many Covid-19 public health restrictions were still in place. The hotel group posted a pretax profit of approx. €28m last year compared with a surplus of just under €8m in 2021. Its trading Ebitda was €20.9m, an improvement of €28.6m on the previous year. The Doyle Collection operates eight hotels in Dublin, Cork, Bristol, London and Washington DC, including the five-star Westbury Hotel off Grafton Street in Dublin. Its Irish hotels achieved revenue of €59.7m during the year, up from €21.4m in 2021. The Irish Times, 6th November
O’Connell Street, Dublin 1 The HSE is to spend €45m on buying a building in the redeveloped area around Clerys department store in Dublin and fitting it out with an outpatient maternity ward. The Earl building, which is at the back of the new Clerys Quarter on O’Connell Street, will provide a range of outpatient services for the Rotunda Hospital by the end of next year. The works on the building will start in spring and are due to be finished by the end of next year. The HSE bought the property from OCES Property Holdings Limited, the company behind the redevelopment of the former department store. Other planned facilities in Clerys Quarter include offices, tea rooms, a rooftop bar, a Premier Inn hotel and a H&M store. The Irish Independent, 2nd November
Beaming Counting House, Cork The first tenant at the €30m Beamish Counting House development in Cork City will be a new mini-supermarket, Tesco Express, due to open in a fortnight. It is a significant breakthrough for owners BAM whose 150,000 sq. ft mixed-use development has remained vacant since it was completed two years ago, at the former Beamish & Crawford Brewery site on South Main Street. It has emerged also that a party is interested in buying the entire building from BAM. In addition, joint agents Behan Irwin & Gosling and CBRE confirmed that the office element of the scheme is “currently shortlisted for a 20,000 sq. ft occupier” and that there are two “strong enquiries” for 10,000 sq. ft. Grade ‘A’ offices, spread over five floors, account for 70,000 sq. ft of the development. Tesco Express is set to occupy a 5,710 sq. ft corner unit on the ground floor of the neighbouring 420-bed purpose-build student accommodation scheme, Lee Point, which forms part of the Brewery Quarter. The Irish Examiner, 1st November
Mount Merrion, Co Dublin Press Up hospitality group has closed its Union Cafe premises in Mount Merrion to make way for the development of a mixed-use scheme for which the Oakmount property vehicle received planning permission in 2018. The cafe, on the site of the former Kennedy’s pub, is at the corner of Deerpark Road and North Avenue in the south Dublin suburb. It was permanently shuttered on October 30th, a sign posted in the window of the premises stated. Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council at the time gave the green light for the demolition of the existing four-storey structure on the Union Cafe site and its replacement by a three-storey pub and restaurant to be operated by Press Up group as well 50 apartments. The Irish Times, 6th November
CBRE Industrial and Logistics Report Investment in Dublin’s industrial and logistics sectors reached €86m in the third quarter of the year, according to CBRE Ireland’s latest report. Data reveals that the total accounted for 20% of overall Irish investment spend for the period. In the YTD, the amount has grown to €259m, equating to 18% of the overall investment market and on track to be the highest-ever proportion of annual Irish investment in 2023. Approx. 28 transactions were signed over the past three months, with 19 comprising lettings and nine for sales. The figures show a slight increase from the 26 in the previous period, but below the average in 2022, which was at 30 deals per quarter. Take-up for the third quarter remained solid, reaching 646,416 sq. ft. However, even with total take-up in the YTD now at 2.3m sq. ft, the figure remains 40% below the level recorded in the same period last year. Take-up for 2023 is now expected to fall below the 10-year average. The research also noted that no deals for 100,000 sq. ft were completed. Prime rents in the capital also rose for the third successive quarter, by 2% to €12.75 per sq. ft – 11% higher YoY, with further increases expected over the next 12 months. React News, 1st November
Apartment Remediation Scheme The government’s €2.5bn scheme to fix Celtic Tiger era apartment blocks may not be rolled out before the next general election. Cabinet approval for the scheme had been secured by Darragh O’Brien, the Minister for Housing, in January. He said in March that he planned to introduce legislation in 2023. However, these plans have now been delayed. The latest a new election can be called is spring of 2025, leaving the government in a race against time to implement the scheme. The scheme, approved in January, will primarily focus on defects related to fire safety, water ingress and structural issues. The Business Post, 2nd November
Ballycullen, Dublin 16 Sherry FitzGerald Commercial is guiding €16m for 25.72 acres of a greenfield site in Ballycullen. Located immediately adjacent to several existing residential schemes and within a short distance of the M50 motorway, the site at Stocking Avenue has the capacity for up to 340 own-door homes, according to the feasibility study prepared by MCORM in advance of the sale. The delivery will be dependent on the recently published Draft Sustainable and Compact Settlement Guidelines being adopted as expected. The Irish Times, 1st November
Swords, North Co Dublin Knight Frank is guiding a price of €2.5m for a 12.8-acre greenfield holding at Forest Little Road in Swords. The site benefits from 175 metres of frontage to Forest Road and is bounded by the existing Ridgewood residential state to the north and agricultural lands to the west and south. The lands fall under the terms of Fingal Development Plan 2023-2029 with 5 acres zoned for residential use and the balance of the lands, approx. 8 acres zoned as green belt. The Irish Times, 1st November
BTR Apartment Regulation A ban on the construction of rental-only apartments that do not meet minimum size standards is to come into force in Dublin, with the quashing of BTR regulations. Regulations introduced in 2018 meant apartment blocks built for the rental market did not have to comply with the minimum size standards of apartments for sale, and had significantly reduced requirements for other amenities such as storage and outdoor space. Late last year, Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien indicated he intended to scrap the separate standards for rental-only developments, requiring new BTR blocks to meet the same specifications as apartments in the general market. In recent months, new guidelines, the Sustainable Urban Housing: Design Standards for New Apartments 2023, have been issued to local authorities, stating the “standard for BTR development is now the same as those for all other permitted apartment developments”. The guidelines include “transitional arrangements” to allow BTR applications that were already in the planning system by December 21st, 2022, to be processed. The Irish Times, 5th November
Property Prices More people are buying homes in rural areas, driving “strong and robust” price growth in those regions, while prices in urban areas are in decline, according to a new report on housing. Irish property tech firm Geowox has published its latest quarterly housing market report, which includes analysis of each single entry in the Irish property price register. The report focuses on actual sales rather than asking prices. It suggests homebuyers are increasingly looking to more rural areas to buy, after sales in those places experienced an increase of 4.6% compared to the same period a year ago. The report also found rural homes experienced “strong and robust” price growth YoY in the third quarter, with an increase of 11.1%. In contrast, urban prices declined by 0.7%. However, even with prices in rural and urban areas on different trajectories, the cost of buying in urban areas is still significantly greater. A total of 15,157 units were sold in the quarter, down 4.1% versus the same period last year. The Irish Times, 4th November
Landlord Exodus Approx. two-thirds of notices of termination served on tenants in the third quarter of this year were as a result of a landlord intending to sell the property, amid concerns the private rental sector will continue to shrink this year. According to the latest data from the Residential Tenancies Board there were a total of 4,518 notices to quit served to tenants between July and September 2023. This is a decrease on the number served in the second quarter of the year, during which 5,735 notices were served. Of those 4,518, a total of 2,863 were because the landlord intends to sell the property. In Dublin, where pressure in the rental sector is particularly acute, 1,863 notices of termination were issued during the third quarter, a reduction on the 2,298 notices issued in the second quarter of the year. Two-thirds of notices in the capital (1,210) were issued on the grounds of intended sale. The Irish Times, 2nd November
Clonburris, West Dublin South Dublin County Council has given the green light to Cairn Homes for a €240m apartment scheme for Clonburris after not receiving a single objection against the proposal. This follows the planning authority granting planning permission to Cairn Homes to construct 607 apartments for Clonburris. The initial scheme comprised 255 one-bedroom apartments, 307 two-bedroom apartments and 32 three-bedroom apartments across eight blocks including two rising to seven storeys tall and the applicants added a further 13 units in revised plans lodged with the council. The mixed-use scheme also includes offices, six retail units, a creche and an urban square. Cairn Homes is to sell 60 apartments to the council for social housing to comply with its Part V obligations under the Planning and Development Act. The Irish Times, 1st November
Ballyvolane, Cork A 28-acre land piece at Arderrow in Ballyvolane comes to market this week, between two other developments where site and ground works are advancing on provision of over 1,000 new homes. The land comes with mixed zonings and is guiding at €2.6m by Lisney. Alongside the local Lidl, and the longer-established Dunnes Stores at Ballyvolane, it adjoins a site just to the north where planning was granted for 753 homes by Cork-based company Longview Estates. The Irish Examiner, 2nd November
National Capital Budget A black hole of at least €19bn in the government’s capital budget will force national flagship projects to be delayed or dropped, the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (IFAC) is warning. Major infrastructure projects – including Metro North, Dart and national road, rail and cycle projects – are all under threat due to major inflationary pressures, the government has been warned. A continued shortfall in corporation tax receipts, as confirmed in the exchequer returns, has sparked “alarm and concern” within government over the state of the public finances, with spending allocations to come under pressure before the end of the year. Ministers had been warned by way of a cabinet memorandum in September of a deficit of up to €14bn, but IFAC is now warning the figure is more likely to be €19bn by 2030. There is now a growing consensus that ministers will have to prioritise some projects and shelve others unless the government decides to plug the expanding deficit. The Business Post, 5th November
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Merrion Road, Dublin 4 Having paid €190m in 2016 to acquire Elmpark Green, US property giant Starwood has engaged CBRE to find a buyer for its remaining interests at the Dublin 4 campus. The portfolio comprises eight commercial assets, including the Seamark and Vista buildings and is guiding at a price of €55m. While Starwood’s February 2016 purchase of the Elm Park scheme from Nama-appointed receivers Duff & Phelps gave it ownership of 10 buildings extending to approx. 750,000 sq. ft of commercial and residential space in total on a 17.3-acre site, it moved within months to dispose of two of the portfolio’s assets. In the first instance, the US-headquartered investor turned a profit of approx. €7.1m from the sale for €59m of 201 apartments at the scheme to Ires Reit. The second deal saw it secure an estimated €5m profit from the sale for €58m of the Irish headquarters of global financial services provider Allianz to Standard Life. The price paid for Allianz House reflected a capital value of just over €672 per sq. ft based on the eight-storey over-basement office building’s 86,272 sq. ft footprint. With approx. 319,000 sq. ft of space distributed across the portfolio now for sale, the capital value on this occasion is just €170 per sq. ft, which is considerably below replacement cost. The most significant of the assets being offered for sale at Elmpark Green is the Seamark building, extending to 184,000 sq. ft. The remaining assets include the 91,000 sq. ft Vista Building, which is leased to global healthcare company Novartis, producing an annual income of €1.8m, and six ancillary commercial units extending to a combined 44,000 sq. ft, which comprise a leisure centre, two coffee shops, a creche, a management suite and a conference centre. The Irish Times, 25th October
Cushman & Wakefield Quarterly Report Galway’s office market sector performance is more positive than that of Dublin and rents have been rising in Galway’s office market according to the latest quarterly report from Cushman & Wakefield. By relative standards Galway’s office market performed strongly in the first nine months of 2023 with more than 197,000 sq. ft of space taken-up in 17 deals. The report shows that Galway office availability has remained close to 247,570 sq. ft over the last number of quarters as its vacancy rate reduced from 10.2% in September last year to stand at 6.9%. That’s about half the vacancy rate in Dublin. Meanwhile, Galway office rents increased to €27.96 per sq. ft in Q3, up from €26.94 for prime existing stock since the first quarter of 2022 and are now up from €34.84 per sq. ft to €40.04 per sq. ft for new build. The Business Post, 28th October
The Dean Hotel Group, the owner of a prime collection of hotels in Ireland, has agreed to sell a majority stake in its business to an investment vehicle led by former directors of Ennismore and backed by US investor Elliott. A dedicated investment vehicle fronted by Lifestyle Hospitality Capital (LHC) Group and supported by funds advised by Elliott Investment Management is buying a majority position in the lifestyle hotel platform built up by Paddy McKillen Jnr. Financial details have not been disclosed. However, market sources said the enterprise value of the deal is believed to be approx. €400m and it contains a significant capital expenditure component to aid with future expansion plans. Dean Hotel Group founder Paddy McKillen Jnr and the McKillen Company will retain a minority stake and remain involved in the business, with the deal expected to close in the final quarter. The hotels portfolio – which will continue to be managed and operated by The Dean Hotel Group under its own brands – includes three of the fashionable Dean branded hotels, the Clarence, the Mayson, the Devlin, the Leinster and Glasson Lakehouse. React News, 31st October
Bolton Street, Dublin 1 Cork-based property investor and developer Clopen Capital has secured planning permission from Dublin City Council for a new 90-bedroom hotel in Dublin City Centre. Located on the site of a former garage at no. 21-24 Bolton Street, the new hotel will range in height from four to seven storeys over basement level and extend across a total area of 30,623 sq. ft. The hotel’s guest accommodation will be located from ground- to sixth-floor level. The Irish Times, 25th October
Milltown, Co Kildare Agent Coonan Property is inviting best bids by November 30th for The Hanged Man’s pub and restaurant in Milltown, Co Kildare which is guiding at a price of €1.1m. Positioned on a high-profile roadside site of 2.5 acres on the banks of the Grand Canal, the subject property briefly comprises a fully licensed bar and restaurant with capacity for 100 customers along with a fully fitted kitchen, a function room and a two-bedroom apartment at first-floor level. An additional two-bedroom, two-bathroom cut-stone apartment adjoins the main building. The existing property comes for sale with the benefit of full planning permission for a 20-bedroom boutique hotel and all associated works. The Irish Times, 25th October
Dame Street, Dublin 2 Cheyne has provided €80m of debt for a Dublin office which is home to WeWork, as the flex giant fights to solve its precarious financial position. WeWork, which occupies the majority of the asset’s floorspace, announced that it would be completing its fit-out of the asset in the first half of 2024. Located in the centre of Dublin, Central Plaza offers 100,000 sq. ft of floorspace, of which 73,000 sq. ft is leased to WeWork. JLL had been mandated to replace an existing construction facility with a longer-term loan of €90m-€100m. The site was initially purchased for approx. €70m and Hines is understood to have invested more than €100m in renovating the asset. Formerly home to Central Bank of Ireland, the asset also has 65,000 sq. ft of food & beverage and retail space. Spread across five buildings, it is currently let to 13 tenants. React News, 31st October
Duke Street, Dublin 2 17 Duke Street has come up for sale at a guide price of €2m with Finnegan Menton. The four-storey-over-basement period building is located just off Grafton Street, across the street from Marks and Spencer and the Duke Public House. The building extends to a net internal area of 2,673 sq. ft and a gross internal area of 3,550 sq. ft. No. 17 is in commercial use as an art gallery on the hall and first floors, with ancillary storage on the second floor, a partially refurbished but currently unused third floor and a former wine bar at basement level, which has separate street access and a small rear yard. The title is freehold and it is being offered with vacant possession of the entire. The Business Post, 29th October
Grafton Street, Dublin 2 Private investors looking to gain a foothold on Dublin city centre’s most sought-after shopping street along with a secure return on their investment will be interested in the sale of no. 55 Grafton Street. The subject property’s ground floor and basement level extend across a total area of 685 sq. ft and are being offered to the market by agent Colliers at a guide price of €2.5m (NIY 5.46%). The investment comes for sale following its recent letting to Claddagh Jewellers on a new, 10-year lease from July 2023 and is subject to a reserved rent of €150k pa. The Irish Times, 25th October
North City Business Park, North Dublin Industrial and logistics specialist Rohan Holdings has commenced construction of a new facility for Dublin Fire Brigade at its North City Business Park development. Upon completion in autumn 2024, the 50,000 sq. ft high-bay warehouse and office building will provide Dublin Fire Brigade with accommodation for the management and maintenance of its vehicle fleet. The main contractor, Costello Construction, began work on site earlier this month. Dublin Fire Brigade will join a number of recent arrivals at North City Business Park. These include Ammega Group, which is currently fitting out its new facility; Control Equipment Ltd; Creative Technology; Bio-Techne Inc; Harvey Norman; and the Office of Public Works (OPW). The Irish Times, 25th October
Parkway Business Centre, Dublin 24 Parnells is aiming for further growth across Europe and Scandinavia following its acquisition of a new and larger headquarter premises at Parkway Business Centre on Ballymount Road in Dublin 24. HWBC handled the €3.25m purchase of Unit 6A, a 23,000 sq. ft facility from the receiver, PwC. With Parnells planning to move to their new premises in early 2024, their existing premises at units 1 to 4 South City Business Park in Tallaght will be coming to the market with the benefit of vacant possession through HWBC at a guide price of €1.95m. The units extend to a gross external area of 11,300 sq. ft with 24 car spaces and are capable of being divided if required. The Irish Times, 25th October
Cushman & Wakefield Quarterly Report Galway’s industrial property has had a quiet year to date with no deals to take up space because of a shortage of supply although over 19,375 sq. ft of additional supply became available in two properties at Briarhill Business Park recently. Industrial vacancy at the end of Q3 2023 stood at 3.1% which was slightly higher compared to the 2.9% a year earlier. This equates to 163,073 sq. ft available but looking at the breakdown of available space, only one unit of more than 54,000 sq. ft was available at the end of Q3. Industrial rents have also risen. They now range between €9.5 per sq. ft for logistics and €10 per sq. ft for advanced manufacturing – an increase from €7.90 to €9.30 per sq. ft in Q1 2022. They also compare with prime Dublin logistics rents of approx. €12.54 per sq. ft. The Business Post, 28th October
Cherrywood, South Dublin Hines is seeking a total of €5m for two development sites at Cherrywood in South Dublin. Located in close proximity to the recently approved town centre element of the wider Cherrywood scheme, the subject holdings – sites M3A and M5 – extend to a total area of 3.09 acres and are zoned for a variety of uses including residential. While neither site has planning permission in place at present, both are situated within the Cherrywood SDZ (Strategic Development Zone), and as such will benefit from a fast-track planning process. Sites M3A and M5 are being offered for sale by Savills at guide prices of €2.25m and €2.75m respectively. The Irish Times, 25th October
Schoolhouse Lane, Dublin 2 CBRE is guiding a price of €4.5m for Molesworth Court Suites, a bespoke scheme of 12 self-catering apartments and penthouses on Schoolhouse Lane in Dublin 2. Purpose built as extended-stay accommodation for business and other longer-term visitors to the capital, the development comprises a stand-alone building consisting of four floors over a reception hall along with dedicated and secure car parking. The Irish Times, 25th October
Stradbrook Road, South Dublin Tetrarch Residential, a development company run by the owners of the Citywest and Mount Juliet hotels, has applied to bring judicial review proceedings against An Bord Pleanála over its refusal of a €50m apartment development in South County Dublin. In August, the planning board refused permission for the 108 build-to-rent apartment scheme on a 1.1-acre site beside Blackrock College rugby club on Stradbrook Road. The development would involve the demolition of an office building and the apartment blocks would range in height from three to seven storeys. The board received 80 observations in relation to the planning application. Tetrarch had intended to build the scheme for senior living use, aimed at people over the age of 65. The Sunday Times, 29th October
Ires Reit Margaret Sweeney, the chief executive of Ires Reit, will step down from her role next year after six years at the helm of the biggest private landlord in the state. In a trading update, the firm said that Sweeney, who also serves as an executive director, will retire from her position in April 2024, but has agreed to continue with the business beyond her six months’ notice period if necessary, to ensure an “orderly transition” in leadership. The search for her successor will commence immediately and will be lead by the nomination committee, the firm said. It comes following a turbulent few months at Ires Reit, with shareholders making a move against management, citing frustration over its direction. The announcement comes as Ires reported 99.6% occupancy rates across its portfolio as of the end of September, with the company on track to deliver a “broadly stable” net revenue interest margin for 2023, “reflecting ongoing initiatives to mitigate cost inflation and leverage the company’s market-leading operating platform”, Ires said. The Business Post, 31st October
Property Prices The price of homes in areas outside Dublin increased by 3.1% in the 12 months to August, according to figures published by the CSO. The Residential Property Price Index (RPPI) also shows prices in Dublin decreased by 1.9% over the same period. It means there was a national increase in the RPPI by 0.9% in the year to August – the lowest increase since December 2020. In August 2023, 4,640 homes were purchased – an 8% increase compared to the same month of 2022. The median price of a home purchased in the year to August 2023 was €320k. The Business Post, 24th October
Housing Policy The government has scrapped plans to strip developers of planning permission to build homes on land that they’ve failed to develop, in a significant reversal of national housing policy. Darragh O’Brien, the housing minister, has frequently touted the landmark ‘use it or lose it’ measure as an integral part of the government’s plans to overhaul the planning system and spur the construction of thousands of new homes in a bid to tackle the country’s chronic housing crisis. The construction industry, however, has mounted staunch opposition to the measure since it was first raised in 2019 with lobbyists for the sector saying it was “questionable” whether it would have any benefit. According to market sources, the Department of Housing has no active plans to introduce a use it or lose it clause in the new Planning and Development Bill, which government expect to be enacted before the end of the year. The Business Post, 29th October
Sandyford, Dublin 18 The Comer Group has appealed a mandate by Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council to include more three-bed apartments in the redevlopment of the landmark Sentinel building in Sandyford. Last month, a company owned by billionaire Galway brothers Luke and Brian Comer was granted planning permission to complete the 14-storey south Dublin building as an apartment block. The approval was given to the Comer Group on the condition it would redraw its plan for the long-derelict building in order to double the number of three-bed units that will be in the block. The Comer Group has now appealed the local authority’s decision to An Bord Pleanála and criticised the strict conditions imposed on the development project. The Business Post, 26th October
Housing Completions Approx. 8,500 new homes were completed in the third quarter of this year, according to the CSO. This was an increase of 14.4% on the same period last year. Apartments recorded the biggest increase with 3,373 completed between July-September, 47% more than the same quarter last year. They represented approx. four in every ten new builds. Housing estates accounted for 3,627 new units, an increase of 1.5% on last year. There was a 4.7% decrease in the number of single homes to 1,439. In total, 22,443 homes have been built in Ireland this year according to the CSO’s New Dwelling Completions figures, excluding student accommodation. The statistics show that the greater Dublin area is driving the vast majority of new builds. More than four in ten homes (3,569) were built in the capital, an increase of 36.6% compared to last year. The Business Post, 25th October
Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) Report Figures published by the BPFI showed a total of 11,614 new mortgages with a combined value of over €3bn were drawn down in the third quarter of 2023, a decrease of 21.8% in both volume and value compared to the same quarter 2022. While the overall level of new mortgage drawdowns fell in the period compared to a year earlier, demand among first-time buyers remains robust. The BPFI reports that first time buyers are accounting for approx. 80% of mortgages on new homes and 69% of second-hand properties in Q3 2023. Over the course of 12 months, the number of first-time buyers are on a new high with 30,184 mortgages being drawn down between September 2022 and September 2023. For the first time since 2005, the quarterly value of first time buyer drawdowns on second hand properties exceeded €1.3bn. The Business Post, 27th October
Ballincollig, Cork 70 new houses will be built in Ballincollig under a newly launched affordable housing scheme. The development will take place at Heathfield, Carriginarra, and comprise of 54 three-bedroom and 16 two-bedroom semi-detached houses and townhouses. The A2 BER-rated houses, developed by Cork City Council in partnership with Murnane & O’Shea Limited contractors, will be made available for sale approx. 20% below current market prices under Cork City Council’s Local Authority Purchase Scheme. The two-bedroom houses will be made available from €280k and the three-bedroom houses will be made available from €301k. The scheme’s houses will be available to purchase by those who qualify for the Affordable Housing Scheme, generally first-time buyers who do not already own a property, although exceptions will apply for ‘Fresh Start’ applicants. The Irish Independent, 30th October
Tramore, Co Waterford Plans to build a major solar farm near the seaside town of Tramore have been lodged with the County Council. Tornado Electrical Ltd lodged plans on October 17th for planning permission to construct a Solar Photovoltaic Array at Pickardstown consisting of 769,619 sq. ft of solar panels exporting a maximum of 10 megawatts to the national grid. The plans involve the construction of single storey control buildings including an ESB substation, client-side substation, communications building, storage building, and four Inverters, ancillary equipment, fencing and an access road extension. The submissions deadline in respect of this application is November 20th, and a case decision is due by December 11th this year. The Irish Independent, 30th October
Leopardstown, Dublin 18 Leopardstown Race Course is too ¬valuable to the bloodstock industry to redevelop for housing and provides a significant economic boost to Dublin and its surrounding area, according to the head of Horse Racing Ireland’s (HRI) racecourses division. A new report by economist Tony Foley of Dublin City University (DCU) and commissioned by HRI puts the economic contribution of the racecourse at over €60m a year. The report, entitled “Economic Impact of Leopardstown Racecourse”, was commissioned earlier this year and calculates the annual economic value generated by the track at approx. €37.9m in direct on- and off-course spending and €26.5m of indirect value. The report suggests that total could increase to €80m to €90m by 2025. The LDA is known to have expressed an interest in at least some of the 220-acre Leopardstown site over the past year. The racecourse is now one of the biggest State-owned green field properties inside the M50 motorway. The Irish Independent, 30th October
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Sandyford, Dublin 18 Colliers has launched the investment sale of three fully let suburban offices including 15 designated car parking spaces, with a guide price for the lot of €2.3m (NIY 8.78%; WAULT 2.65 years). Unit A is fully let to Allied Pension Trustees Ltd on a 25-year lease from April 2003, at a passing rent of €112k pa. The expiry is April 2028 and the lease contains five basement car parking spaces. Unit B is occupied by licence agreement to ARMD Ltd, on a two-year agreement to expire in December 2023. The licence fee is €58.97k pa. There are five basement car parking spaces included in the licence agreement. Unit D is fully let to Ethos Engineering by way of a ten-year lease from March 2016 and at a passing rent of €51.13k pa and five designated car parking spaces. The Apex Business Centre is a five-storey, modern office building housing self-contained office suites. The office suites are located on the first, second and third floors of the building and are laid out to provide modern open-plan floor plates which extend to a total (all three) of 8,115 sq. ft. The Business Post, 20th October
Point Depot, Dublin Docklands Property agents for Dublin’s tallest office building, The EXO, say the block is now 80% let. Yahoo is understood to have taken 35,703 sq. ft of offices in the tower across the first and second floors. Yahoo already occupies a headquarters building at the nearby Point Village. The signing is the largest office leasing deal in the second half of this year so far. A Post, which moved its corporate headquarters to the EXO earlier this year, is the biggest tenant and occupies six of the 17 stories. Architecture and design firm, Corgan, has secured 5,575 sq. ft. on the 11th floor, while Ancestry, the digital family history platform, is set to occupy 5,576 sq. ft. on the 10th floor. The EXO is being funded by SW3 and EPISO 4, a fund managed by Tristan Capital Partners, who bought the site in 2018 from Nama appointed receivers. The Irish Independent, 20th October
BNP Paribas Real Estate Ireland Office Report Declining demand among large tech firms and remote working have fuelled further contraction in the Dublin office market, according to BNP Paribas Real Estate, with office vacancy in the capital rising to 12.5% in the three months to September. New research from the global real estate and financial services company has shown that office take-up in the third quarter of this year declined sharply, down two thirds compared with the same period last year. This was driven by a reduction in average deal size, which fell from 16,253 sq. ft to 7,050 sq. ft. The finding comes amid turmoil in Ireland’s €50bn commercial property market, with owners surrendering properties to lenders in a sign of acute stresses that have emerged in the market over recent months. A growing shift in demand away from tech firms in Q3 fed the trend towards small deals, according to BNP, with tech firms accounting for just 8.4% of take-up between July and September – its lowest share since quarterly records began. The Business Post, 23rd October
Pembroke Row, Dublin 2 Principal Global Investors has agreed a deal to occupy the ground floor (2,392 sq. ft) of Kildress House on Pembroke Row on a new 10-year lease and at a rent of €53.50 per sq. ft. Developed originally by MRP approx. 35 years ago as a three-storey office block, Kildress House has undergone a full redevelopment and been transformed into a six-storey grade-A office scheme of 22,200 sq. ft. The Irish Times, 18th October
South Docklands, Dublin TikTok has told its Dublin-based employees that they will begin working from the company’s new offices at the Sorting Office in the city’s south docklands from December. While the Sorting Office has the capacity to accommodate 2,000 people, market sources believe that the move to occupy the 202,000 sq. ft building will be a gradual process with individual teams taking their places there over a number of months. The news of TikTok’s arrival to the Sorting Office comes just under two years on from its agreement of a new long-term lease of 15 years on the property. The Irish Times, 19th October
JD Wetherspoon, the UK pub chain, has placed its regional portfolio on the market in a move that will halve its Irish presence. The hospitality giant, which has eight trading pubs in Ireland, is seeking in excess of €10m for pubs in Waterford, Cork, Carlow and Galway. Savills and CBRE have been jointly appointed to look after the sale. Three of the properties – An Geata Arundel, Arundel Square, Waterford, The Linen Weaver, Paul Street, Cork and The Tullow Gate, Tullow Street, Carlow – are trading and in “turnkey condition”. The fourth premises – the former Carbon Night Club, 19-21 Eglington Street, Galway – is not currently in business, but has recently been granted planning permission to permit licensed premises and restaurant use. It is understood the group will continue to operate in Dublin, where it currently operates out of five premises. The Business Post, 18th October
Baggot Street Upper and Dundrum, South Dublin Two southside Dublin pubs have come to the market in recent days through Lisney. The most valuable of them is Bar Eile on the corner of Baggot Street Upper and Mespil Road in Dublin 4, which has a price guide in excess of €2m. Formerly known as The Wellington, in 2021 it was bought for approx. €2.3m by investment group Dunmore which also owns Walters pub in Dún Laoghaire and is believed to be refocusing its business. The property extends to over 3,444 sq. ft and has bars at ground, basement and first floor levels. Further south, Ryan’s Arbour House in Dundrum has a €1.75m-plus guide price. It stands on a 0.37-acre site with ‘neighbourhood centre’ zoning. It is being sold by the Ryan family who also own Ryan’s pub in Dundrum village. The property is currently laid out with public bar and lounge bar to ground floor level, former residence to first floor and stores to basement level complemented by on-site car parking. The Irish Independent, 19th October
Smithfield, Dublin 7 The operators of the Hampton by Hilton in Dublin’s Smithfield have said they will be “forced to close” their on-site café due to a six-figure loss since it opened in 2022. The JMK Group, which has proposed replacing the café with four additional hotel rooms, said it could boost the hotel’s after-tax profits by €86k and avoid the café space becoming vacant. The three-star Hampton by Hilton hotel in Smithfield opened in July 2022. The development on Chancery Street contains 249 rooms spread across seven floors. A subsidiary of the JMK Group, which runs the hotel, has now applied for permission to convert its Guud Day Café on the ground floor of the hotel into four extra hotel rooms and two meeting rooms. Dublin City Council will now rule in the coming weeks over whether the hotel operator can convert the café into extra meeting rooms and hotel bedrooms. The Business Post, 19th October
North Dublin CBRE, on behalf of Dublin City Council, has brought five light industrial units to the market in North Dublin on a leasehold basis by way of assignment. Three of the properties are located within the established North Ring Business Park, which benefits from easy access to both the M50 motorway and Dublin Airport. Unit N4 is a modern end of terrace unit extending to a total gross external area of 3,520 sq. ft. Units M4 and M5 are adjoining units of 5,715 sq. ft and 5,790 sq. ft respectively. Unit F2 Eklad Park, Malahide Road Industrial Estate is a mid-terraced unit extending to a total GEA of 4,510 sq. ft. Unit E1-5 Carton Way, Ballymun Industrial Estate extends to 6,253 sq. ft and includes two-storey office space of 2,680 sq. ft. Dublin City Council has recently completed its new build-to-suit HQ facility in North Dublin and will be offering each of the subject properties to the market on a leasehold basis by way of assignment. The remaining unexpired lease terms on each range from three to six years. The Business Post, 21st October
Trim, Co Meath Plans have been lodged for a €17.5m mixed-use development in Trim. The project for Marina Quarter Limited calls for the construction of 102 residential units, a two-storey commercial building, crèche and medical centre. The development is expected to have a planning decision made in late November. The Business Post, 21st October
Dooradoyle, Co Limerick Planning permission has been sought from Limerick Council for a €27m mixed-use development in Dooradoyle. The project for Can2 Investments will see the construction of 104 apartments, in a mix of one, two and three-bedroom units, a childcare facility, gym, library and retail units. The scheme proposes a link to the existing South Court Hotel. A decision is expected in November. The Business Post, 21st October
Dublin and Waterford An Bord Pleanála has decided not to contest two High Court challenges to its planning permissions for 749 homes in counties Dublin and Waterford. The board told the court it is no longer defending its approval for the development of 531 build-to-rent apartments in Dundrum, south Dublin, and 218 dwellings in Dungarvan. The proposed €316m development at Marmalade Lane, Wyckham Avenue, Dundrum, includes a 10-storey block, an outdoor cinema, a yoga studio and a rooftop garden allotment. The April 2022 decision to approve the five-block scheme came before the High Court by way of a judicial review challenge by a local group, Residents WBC CLG. The board is understood to have conceded on the ground that it failed to publish an environmental impact assessment on its website. This is the second time permission granted to developer 1 Wyckham Land Ltd for a large residential scheme on the site has been challenged in the High Court. The previous approval, for 446 apartments, fell after the board consented to an order quashing its decision. The Irish Times, 23rd October
Monkstown, South Dublin Greystar is contesting Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council’s decision to refuse planning for a 488-unit scheme on grounds around Dalguise House on Monkstown Road in south Dublin. Greystar subsidiary GEDV Monkstown Owner Limited has appealed the council’s planning refusal to An Bord Pleanála. The refusal came after more than 70 objections were lodged against the scheme. It would comprise 488 new-build units and three two-storey, three-bed terraced units across ten blocks. One of the blocks would reach to nine storeys. The Irish Times, 18th October
Residential Zoned Land Tax (RZLT) Several landowners, including a university, have brought legal challenges against findings that their properties are eligible for RZLT. The High Court judicial review actions all centre around An Bord Pleanála’s decisions to uphold earlier findings by local authorities that properties should be included on maps of sites where the ‘land-hoarding tax’ applies. One of the parties taking the actions, property developer Kinwest Ltd which owns land in Malahide, Dublin, claims that the sections of the Taxes Consolidation Act that underpins the RZLT is unconstitutional and is also contrary to the European Convention on Human Rights. The tax, introduced last year and is due to come into being in 2025, is set at 3% of the properties’ market value. Dublin City University (DCU) obtained permission from Ms Justice Niamh Hyland to challenge the board’s decision to include two sites, one at Griffith Avenue, Glasnevin in Dublin 9 and the other at Albert College Park, close to DCU’s campus at Glasnevin. The Irish Independent, 24th October
Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) The median income of working households dependent on HAP last year was less than €20k, with single parents with one child the most common household type to enter a HAP tenancy. The latest HAP data from the CSO also shows the growing concentration of HAP properties in the ownership of large landlords and decreasing among smaller ones. In its analysis of the HAP scheme for 2022, the CSO finds there were 68,180 “unique HAP households” – up from 65,590 in 2020. The CSO reports the median gross household earned income for working HAP households was €19,341 last year – up slightly from €18,867 in 2021. The proportion of HAP properties owned by landlords with 50 or more properties has increased every year from 1.3% in 2015 to 19% in 2022. The increase in the number of HAP properties owned by these larger landlords is mirrored by a decrease in the proportion of landlords with just one or two properties, with this decreasing from close to three-quarters (74%) in 2015 to just under a half (48.7%) in 2022. The Irish Times, 20th October
Foxrock, South Dublin Knight Frank is guiding a price of €1.695m for a residential development opportunity in the South Dublin suburb of Foxrock. Located within the existing Knocksinna residential scheme, the subject property currently comprises a detached house known as Windrush. The house sits on a 0.55-acre site. Windrush is zoned “Objective A” under the terms of the Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Development Plan 2022-2028. This designation allows for residential development and for the improvement of residential amenity while protecting the existing residential amenities of the area. The Irish Times, 18th October
Tralee, Co Kerry Plans are in the pipeline for a €41m residential development in Lisloose, Tralee. The development, for Ned O’Shea and Sons Construction, proposes more than 250 residential units in a mix of apartments and houses. A decision is expected in late 2023/early 2024. The Business Post, 21st October
Tullamore, Co Offaly An Bord Pleanála has upheld Offaly County Council’s decision to grant planning permission to Daingean Road Residential Limited for a €20.4m large residential development application in Tullamore. The project will see the construction of 102 residential units in a mix of apartments and houses. The Business Post, 21st October
Adamstown, South Dublin Plans have been approved by South Dublin County Council for a new phase of Quintain Developments’ Adamstown project. This new phase will see the construction of 205 residential units in a mix of houses, apartments and duplexes. The Business Post, 21st October
Tullamore, Co Offaly Works have commenced on a €31m residential development in Arden, Tullamore. The project for Whitebox Property Developments will see the construction of approx. 80 residential units and a 90-bedroom nursing home. This first phase will see the construction of 61 houses. The Business Post, 21st October
Tullow Road, Co Carlow Work is expected to commence imminently on a €16m residential development on the Tullow Road. The project for Nesselside Builders will see the construction of more than 80 residential units in a mix of apartments and houses. The project is estimated to reach completion in the next two-three years. The Business Post, 21st October
Duke Street, Dublin 2 The sale of the last remaining period house on Dublin’s Duke Street is expected to attract interest from a range of parties including high-end retailers, restaurateurs, cafes and boutique hoteliers. No. 17, the current home of the Duke Street Gallery, is being offered to the market by Finnegan Menton with the benefit of vacant possession at a guide price of €2m. The subject property briefly comprises a four-storey over-basement building with a net internal area of 2,675 sq. ft and a gross internal area of 3,550 sq. ft. The Irish Times, 18th October
Bray, Co Wicklow A 16.4-acre site on Bray’s southern fringe has been brought to market. Located off the Vevay Road and immediately adjacent to the existing Giltspur residential scheme, Oldcourt House, its castle and extensive grounds are being offered to the market at a guide price of €5m. The subject property is primed for development, with zoning objectives of new residential, existing residential and open space. The Irish Times, 18th October
Construction Price Inflation The latest House Rebuilding Guide, published by the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI), shows that national average rebuild costs, which include demolition and site clearance, have increased by an average of 12% over the past 12 months. The SCSI welcomed the figure as moderation on last year’s rate, which showed that home rebuild costs increased by 21% in the 12 months to September 2022. The society estimated that the minimum base cost of rebuilding a three-bed semi is now €303.2k in Dublin, while the minimum base cost of rebuilding a similar house in the northwest is €225.2k – a difference of more than €78k. The Irish Times, 20th October
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Temple Bar, Dublin 2 The Clarence hotel site in Dublin, which was owned by a consortium that includes members of rock band U2, has been purchased by Dean Hotel Group. Specialist lender Leumi UK has supported the acquisition with a €43m loan, facilitating the purchase of the property’s freehold interest by Dean Hotel Group. Leumi’s facility will also provide additional financing to develop another 43 rooms at the site. Press Up Hospitality, who also own Dean Hotel Group, has owned the Clarence’s leasehold since 2019. Dean Hotel Group’s refurbishment will combine the hotel with an adjacent building, which the company is also purchasing. This will boost the hotel’s total rooms to 102. One of the best-performing hotels in Dublin, the site has a typical occupancy rate of more than 90%. React News, 17th October
James Street, Dublin 8 Colliers has been instructed to sell 180-184 James Street, Dublin 8 – a city centre site with planning permission for the development of 145 hotel bedrooms. The price on application sale is augmented by a recent Agreement For Lease (AFL) that has been signed by Radisson Hotels, which has identified their Prizeotel brand as the most appropriate for this location. The site was purchased by the Dublin Loft Company in May 2019 with a view to developing it as an aparthotel and was guiding €6.5m at that time. It is an irregular-shaped site extending to approx. 0.44 acres and has frontage along James’ Street on the southern side. The applicable grant of planning relates to the new-build 145-bedroom hotel development, which will offer a gross floor area of 52,355 sq. ft over six levels above ground on the property which is held under a freehold title. A long-term FRI agreement for lease has been signed and executed. The Business Post, 14th October
Donnybrook, Dublin 4 Six months since the Hampton Hotel in Donnybrook, Dublin 4, closed to the public, the former Sachs Hotel has been put up for sale through Colliers with a guide price of €12.5m. The entire sits on a large site measuring approx. 0.83 acres, with outdoor dining area and parking for 16 cars at the front of the hotel and a large secure service yard with the option of additional residents’ car parking at the rear. The period buildings house 29 en-suite bedrooms, including three large suites; the main hotel reception and a large bar/restaurant. The two-storey extension was constructed in the 1980s and comprises the function room and a former nightclub on the lower ground floor, now converted to six additional bedrooms. The Business Post, 13th October
3-4 South Frederick Street, Dublin 2 With several parties already understood to have expressed an interest in the sale of New Ireland Assurance’s offices at no. 5-9 South Frederick Street, the arrival to the market of the building’s immediate neighbour just one week later opens up a range of possibilities for redevelopment. The properties are being offered for sale individually and in processes managed respectively by agents CBRE and Savills. No. 3-4 South Frederick Street briefly comprises a stand-alone office building dating from the 1940s and extending to 7,118 sq. ft distributed across four storeys over a concealed basement. Occupied for many years by General Investment Trust, a subsidiary of New Ireland Assurance and Bank of Ireland, the property is being offered for sale with the benefit of vacant possession at a guide price of €2.6m. The Irish Times, 11th October
Colliers Report Take-up in the Dublin office market reached 355,000 sq. ft in the third quarter, down from 411,000 sq. ft the previous quarter, although the number of deals remained relatively stable at 52, according to Colliers. The average deal size also remained broadly stable at 6,800 sq. ft but well below the long-term average. Professional services was the top sector, accounting for 37% of Q3 take-up, followed by industrials at 14%. The largest deal of the quarter saw Sisk/Capwell purchase the 35,000 sq. ft 3007 Lake Drive, Citywest, for its own occupation. The overall rate of vacancy increased to 15.8% in Q3, an uptick from 15.4% in Q2 and a jump from 10.4% a year ago. Grey space remains a key feature of the market and accounts for 30% of total availability, Colliers said. Bisnow, 13th October
Sandyford Industrial Estate, Dublin 18 CBRE has brought 25 Corrig Road in the Sandyford Industrial Estate in Dublin 18 to the market by way of assignment/sub-lease. Previously occupied by Hewlett Packard, the two-storey commercial and warehouse space extends to 15,715 sq. ft and comes with 40 secure car parking spaces. The agent is quoting a rent of €15 per sq. ft, which works out at approx. €235k. The property offers an occupier fully fitted/turnkey accommodation in a prime south suburban business district. The Business Post, 14th October
Dundalk North Business Park According to market sources, Dundalk North Business Park is being developed for the Irish-headquartered international retail giant Smyths Toys. The new Dundalk warehouse is one of the largest logistics units (401,375 sq. ft) to have been developed in Ireland over recent years. To put the size of the unit in perspective, Amazon’s recently opened e-fulfilment centre at Baldonnell Business Park in Dublin is, at 654,000 sq. ft, the largest single “build-to-suit” pre-let warehouse ever constructed in the State. The news of Smyths Toys’ arrival at Dundalk Business Park represents a significant coup for the scheme’s promoters, the McWilliams Group, coming as it does almost at the same time as the decision from Louth County Council to grant permission for the development of a further 771,062 sq. ft of industrial and logistics space distributed across 14 units. The approved units will range in size from 20,548 sq. ft to 107,338 sq. ft and can be combined to cater for requirements of up to 250,000 sq. ft. The Irish Times, 11th October
Bray, Co Wicklow Harvey is guiding a price of €4m for a five-acre site with planning in place for two logistics units on Southern Cross Road in Bray, Co Wicklow. Block A will have 60m of frontage to Southern Cross Road and will comprise 34,003 sq. ft of 12m-high warehousing with ancillary offices, loading access via three dock levellers and two level-access doors leading to a 35m-deep gated service yard. Block B comprises 50,149 sq. ft and is to be finished to a similar specification as Block A but with an additional dock leveller reflecting its larger size. The Irish Times, 11th October
Northwest Business Park, Dublin 15 Harvey is now offering Unit 200 Northwest Business Park, Ballycoolin, Dublin 15, with exceptionally large yard space for letting on flexible lease terms. The facility is situated on a 5.34-acre site and comprises a warehouse and office building totalling 70,266 sq. ft. Building 1 extends to 58,329 sq. ft and Building 2 extends to 11,937 sq. ft. Harvey Press Release 16th October
Cherrywood, South Dublin Property developer Quintain Ireland has secured planning permission for what it says will be Cherrywood’s first village centre. The €65m mixed-use scheme will include 148 build-to-rent apartments, a large supermarket, and other retail and commercial units with construction due to begin next year and be completed by late 2026. Called Cherrywood Village Centre, the plan for the South Dublin suburb has been approved by Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council. It will be located on a 2.7-acre site and includes a 29,062 sq. ft supermarket, eight retail units, five food and beverage outlets, three business units and 2,152 sq. ft of indoor community space. It also includes 148 one and two-bedroom apartments, and retail and residential car parking. The approval comes with a number of conditions, including financial contributions from the developer of €4.2m for various local services and infrastructure, including a contribution of at least €487k towards the cost of the nearby Luas line. The Irish Times, 16th October
Merrion Row, Dublin 2 Dublin restaurateur Gina Murphy is objecting to new plans for a five-storey, mixed-use development on Dublin’s Merrion Row. The owner of Hugo’s restaurant at 6 Merrion Row, Ms Murphy has told Dublin City Council that the mixed-use plans “would have significant adverse effects on the businesses and neighbouring premises in the surrounding area”. Last month, Aviva Life & Pensions Ireland DAC lodged plans to demolish buildings at 13 and 13a Merrion Row and 12 and 5 Merrion Court and in their place construct a four- and five-storey mixed-use scheme that would include mainly office use along with retail and restaurant use and three residential town houses. The mainly vacant site formerly housed the Unicorn restaurant. A decision is expected next month. The Irish Times, 13th October
North City Centre, Dublin BDM Property is guiding a price of €4.5m for the “Dublin One Collection”, a sizeable “pre-63″ residential investment distributed across three centrally located properties in Dublin’s North City Centre. The properties, which are available for sale in their entirety or in three individual lots, are fully let and generating a rental income of €323.3k pa. The Dublin One Collection comprises 16 residential units and a commercial unit located at no. 3 Lower Ormond Quay, nos. 83/84 Capel Street and no. 2 Gardiner Place, Dublin 1. The breakdown of the units are 10 one-beds, five two-beds and one three-bed apartment, along with one commercial unit. The Irish Times, 11th October
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Charlemont Quarter, Dublin 2 Bannon is marketing an infill site in Charlemont Quarter, Dublin 2 with planning granted for a residential scheme of 19 apartments. The property is for sale by private treaty with a guide price of €1.8m. The site, which is one of the last remaining greenfield sites in the south city centre, is a ‘ready to go’ parcel of land with a full grant of planning permission for 19 apartment units obtained from An Bord Pleanála in May 2023. The proposed development will comprise three studios, ten one-bedroom units and six-two bed units. The Business Post, 13th October
Phibsborough, Dublin 7 The conversion of the old Phibsborough shopping centre in Dublin into a 300 bed co-living development cannot now go ahead. While planning permission granted to MM Capital for the shared accommodation scheme lasts until 2026, the expiration of permission for an earlier development on the site has toppled the co-living plan. The ban was not signed into law until December 22nd, 2020, and in the intervening weeks MM Capital, owner of the Phibsborough shopping centre, submitted an application to An Bord Pleanála for a shared accommodation scheme with 321 single rooms. In April 2021 the board granted permission for the shared accommodation scheme, reducing the number of rooms from 321 to 297, with an expiry date of May 25th, 2026, for construction to start. However, changes to planning legislation meant that as the new permission was for alterations to the permitted student complex, “substantial works” would have to be carried out on the new co-living scheme before the original permission ran out. The legislation, which came into force in 2021, also meant MM Capital couldn’t seek an extension of planning permission unless substantial works were started before the original permission ran out. Permission for the student complex expired at the start of this month, with no work yet commenced on the co-living development.
While applications for more than 2,700 co-living bed spaces were lodged before the ban took effect in Ireland, fewer than half of these secured planning permission, with many still the subject of legal proceedings. Only a few hundred co-living apartments have been completed. MM Capital already had planning permission to redevelop the 1960s complex for student accommodation. This development, granted in 2018, would have provided accommodation for 341 students at the site. The Irish Times, 17th October
Cork The future of the proposed €20m glass Prism building in Cork City is back in the spotlight as the developer has yet to apply to Cork City Council to extend the hoarding licence. The current licence expires on November 14 and until then Deane Street, next to the site, will remain closed. A spokesperson for Roads Operation said the Council is engaging with the developer, Tower Holdings Group (THG), in relation to the licence, which is required to facilitate building works and to ensure public safety. The planned 15-storey block, inspired by New York’s Flat Iron building, was originally due for completion last August. The Irish Examiner, 13th October
Vacant Land Tax Dublin city developers and landowners have lost every appeal against the new land hoarding tax so far determined by An Bord Pleanála, new figures show. Owners of approx. 50 sites in the city have failed in their bids to have lands excluded from the new Residential Zoned Land Tax (RZLT), charged at 3% of the market value of the lands. The tax was due to be levied for the first time next February but was postponed for a year by Minister for Finance Michael McGrath in Budget 2024. Prominent sites which the board determined are liable for the tax include parts of the O’Connell Street/Moore Street redevelopment lands owned by UK property group Hammerson, former RTÉ lands owned by Cairn Homes in Dublin 4, and two sites owned by DCU. Landowners had until September 1st to lodge appeals with the board against local authorities’ decisions to include their sites on the county’s RZLT maps. The Irish Times, 12th October
Clongriffin, Dublin 13 Dublin City Council has approached Nama about buying a building in Clongriffin for the construction of a new library. According to market sources, the council wants to buy the 35,000 sq. ft building beside the Dart station on Station Road, which has been built by the developer Gerry Gannon. Gannon’s loans were transferred to Nama in the property downturn. However, it is thought that the local authority and Nama have clashed over the price being offered for the property, which has lain vacant for nearly a decade. Ultimately the decision is Gannon’s on whether he wants to sell to the council. The Sunday Times, 15th October
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