Ballyfermot Road, Dublin 10 The former Pat the Baker premises at Unit 25 in Cherry Orchard Industrial Estate has come to the market, with Savills guiding €6.5m. Extending to 55,287sq. ft, the vacant property has been in continuous use as a distribution centre and comes with 5,594 sq. ft of offices. Occupying a prime position on Ballyfermot Road, the premises includes a warehouse of steel frame construction with a clear internal height of about five metres, with two automated dock levellers and three automated roller shutter doors at ground level. Developers may be interested in its 2.1-acre site which is zoned as Enterprise and Employment under the current South Dublin County Development Plan, with the stated objective “to provide for enterprise and employment related uses”. It may also appeal to owner-occupiers or investors. Ballyfermot Road is accessible from the M50 motorway at Junction 7 and is well connected to the N4 and N7 national routes. It is within a 30-minute drive of Dublin city centre, the airport and the Port Tunnel. The Irish Independent, 25th September
Baggot Street, Dublin 2 QRE is guiding €3.5m for a multi-let office investment at 142-143 Baggot Street which comes for sale on the instruction of receivers Deloitte with several tenants already in place and generating approx. €202,000 pa in rental income. The property comprises three floors of office space with dual access off Baggot Street Lower and Rogers Lane. Recent leasing activity includes Ryan & Lamb Architects agreeing a new 10-year lease from September 2025 on the third floor and Sony extending their current agreement, which is now an 11-year nine-month lease from July 2015. The first floor, which extends to 3,600 sq. ft is vacant, with the selling agents quoting €39.50 psf. Should a sale proceed at the €3.5m guide, the new owner would be in line for a NIY of 5.27% based on the current rental income of €202,000. With full occupancy and projected rental income of €347,000, the reversionary yield would be 9%. The Irish Times, 24th September
St Stephens Green, Dublin 2 IPUT is understood to be closing in on the purchase of the former headquarter offices of leading Dublin law firm, Ivor Fitzpatrick & Co, at 44/45 St Stephen’s Green. The property, at the junction of St Stephen’s Green and Hume Street, was offered to market in May with the benefit of full vacant possession by Knight Frank at a guide of €10m. 44/45 St Stephen’s Green extends to a net internal area of 16,830 sq. ft, has a mix of open-plan and cellular offices over six floors, with typical floor plates of about 3,150 sq. ft. The property has 15 car-parking spaces. Should Iput complete its acquisition, it will likely explore the options for refurbishment or a full-scale retrofit set out in the feasibility study prepared in advance of the sale by Reddy Architecture + Urbanism. The Irish Times, 24th September
Ballymount Avenue, Dublin 12 Home Store + More has signed a new long-term lease for the entire top floor of Quadrant House on Ballymount Avenue, 500m from Junction 10 of the M50 motorway. While the full terms of the 20-year lease agreement, handled by Lisney and Colliers, have not been released, the company is understood to be paying approx. €20 psf for the 20,000 sq. ft of office space it will occupy. There is a break option in year 10. Lanthorn, the asset manager for the property, oversaw a comprehensive upgrade of Quadrant House, improving both its sustainability and tenant facilities prior to Home Store + More’s decision to base its office operations in the building. The Irish Times, 24th September
South Mall, Cork City The move by private health insurer Vhi from 70 South Mall is likely to spark interest in a major site assembly for hotel, office, residential or mixed-use development. Vhi House, guided at €1.5m by Cohalan Downing, served for decades as the insurer’s public office. It comes to market this week as Vhi relocates 25 staff to new premises at Horgan’s Quay, after closing its South Mall office earlier this month. The 1980s-built Vhi House sits between two properties with development potential: 67–69 South Mall, including vacant offices, and No. 71, a former NIB bank branch. Planning for a 58-bed boutique hotel valued at €18m was granted several years ago at No. 71. The site later sold with planning permission for €3m. The Examiner, 25th September
South Mall, Cork City Immediately west of Vhi House, at 67–69 South Mall by Cook Street, sits Carbery House. Formerly Irish Life offices, it has full planning permission for conversion into 17 apartments. Carbery House, which spans 15,000 sq. ft across seven floors, also goes to market this week with full vacant possession. It carries a guide price of €2.25m through Frank V Murphy & Co, whose client typically buys and upgrades commercial properties but has decided to sell rather than take on the redevelopment themselves. Carbery House was sold off-market in 2022 by Savills for close to €2m. The buyer was Swiss Property Management Ltd, adding to its expanding Cork property portfolio. The Examiner, 25th September
Charleville, Co. Cork Developed in 2007 at a cost of €20m and sold by receivers to the current owners, Solas Financial, for €2.1m in 2018, Charleville Town Centre is back on the market, seeking €3.5m through Sherry FitzGerald. While just two of its 17 retail units were occupied in 2018, today just three of the scheme’s newly consolidated 15 units remain vacant. Charleville Town Centre extends to 45,177 sq. ft and comprises 15 retail units, nine office units and a two-bed duplex apartment. The anchor tenant, Dunnes Stores, along with Elverys Sports, own their own stores and are not included in the sale. The development has a multistorey car park with 450 car-parking spaces, which serves as the primary off-street car park for the entire town and generates footfall through the centre. The centre has an annual average footfall of more than 750,000, according to the selling agent. Total passing income is €520,000 pa. Existing tenants, which are not affected by the sale, include Insomnia, 5th Avenue Hair Salon and RDF Architects. The WAULT to expiry is 10.8 years. Should a sale of Charleville Town Centre proceed at the €3.5m guide price, the purchaser would be in line for a NIY of 12.2%. The Irish Times, 24th September
Swords, Co. Dublin Iroko Zen has paid €24.5m for two car showroom investments in Swords. The off-market sale and leaseback deal for Bright Motor Campus and Unit 4 at Airside Motorpark represents Iroko’s eleventh investment in the Irish property market. Bright Motor Campus comprises four car-showroom buildings extending to 54,930 sq. ft. Bright Motor Group Ltd will take a new 20-year FRI lease, with a tenant-only break option in year 15. The passing rent is €1.502m pa. Completed in 2023, the Bright Motor Campus buildings are A rated. Unit 4, Airside Motorpark comprises 30,000 sq. ft of accommodation, together with surface and basement parking. The property is also let to Bright Motor Group Ltd on a new 20-year FRI lease, including a tenant-only break option at the end of year 15. The passing rent is €458,000 pa. Together, the two assets generate a total passing rent of €1.96m pa, with both leases CPI linked rent reviews every five years. The Irish Times, 24th September
Donnybrook, Dublin 4 Jefferson House, located on a landmark 0.27 acre site at the junction of Eglinton Road and Donnybrook Road, comes on to the market through Savills at a guide price of €10m, with full planning permission for a scheme of 20 large 2,000 sq. ft apartments. The former Smurfit office block, which dates from the 1980s is being sold on behalf of Silver Bloom, a consortium of investors led by Hong Kong-based businessman Fergus Lynch. Designed by OMS Architects, the approved 12-storey Jefferson House scheme is aimed towards the top end of the owner-occupier market and features large winter gardens, roof gardens, high ceilings and flexible internal layouts customised to meet the individual requirements of its residents. Each unit is dual, triple or quadruple aspect to maximise the sunlight and views available for occupiers. The Irish Times, 24th September
Merrion Road, Dublin 4 The Religious Sisters of Charity is preparing to sell a 16-acre site beside St Vincent’s University Hospital, which could raise €50m for the order. The site is allocated Z15, which allows for the provision of healthcare and community uses but is open to the building of residential accommodation. The Religious Sisters of Charity said the order was “in the early stages of planning the disposal” of the site. For more than 100 years, the site housed St Mary’s, a home for the blind and visually impaired. It was later used as a nursing and convalescent home but closed in 2020 when the operating company went into liquidation. In recent years the buildings on the site have been used to house refugees. In a 2022 submission for the Dublin city draft development plan, Avison Young, on behalf of the Sisters of Charity, sought to have the zoning designation changed to Z12, to reflect “future development potential”. There is a range of buildings on the land, including the two-storey St Mary’s home, the main part of which was built in 1866 and fronts on to Merrion Road. Other structures include a single-storey, 11-bedroom building and a disused swimming pool. The institutional buildings are said to be “physically and functionally obsolete”. Any future development would have to accommodate the 19th-century period building, which is on the list of protected structures. The Sunday Times, 28th September
Drogheda, Co Louth A site just 1.3km from Drogheda town centre and extending to 9.39 acres is being offered to the market with full planning permission for 192 new homes by CBRE for €3.8m. The scheme provides for the construction of 42 houses and 150 apartments distributed across six blocks of up to four storeys. The development at Boyne Road also includes a creche, cafe and gym facility and was designed by Plus Architecture. An alternative feasibility study has also been prepared by Plus Architecture illustrating the potential for 113 homes comprising 69 houses and 44 duplexes, subject to planning permission. The site is zoned A2 New Residential under the Louth County Development Plan 2021-2027, with a specific objective to provide for 40% public open space within any future development. The site is less than three kilometres from MacBride train station, which offers direct rail services to Dublin city centre in about 35 minutes. The Irish Times, 24th September
Enniskerry, Co. Wicklow A 55.5 acre residential development site located 1km from Enniskerry village is guiding €13m, and is being sold on the instruction of Declan McDonald of PwC, in his capacity as receiver for Bluetone Properties Ltd. Kilgarron Hill site, as it is known, has a “strong planning precedent” for more than 300 homes across a number of planning applications, according to Savills, and is one of the largest development opportunities to come to the market in the Greater Dublin Area in recent years. The Irish Times, 24th September
Citwest, Dublin 24 Guiding €1m through Savills, the site on Citywest Village Avenue comprises a ready-to-go residential site of 0.54 acres, with full planning permission for 12 homes, a creche and a coffee kiosk. The site, which is being sold on behalf of listed housebuilder Glenveagh, is well connected thanks to its proximity to the Luas red line. The Irish Times, 24th September
Inflation House prices rose by an average of 0.8% in the three months to September, according to the latest Daft.ie property price report. Daft.ie said the average price of a three-bedroom semi-detached house is now just over €421,000. Asking prices are now almost 6% higher than a year ago, and 39% above their pre-Covid levels. Home values have shot up to such an extent in the last five years that they are now just 10% below their Celtic Tiger peak. Prices in the capital were up by 4.5% in the past year, compared with an average of almost 6% across the rest of the country. In Munster prices were up 5% annually, and rose below the national average in Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford. But there were rises of close to 9% in the area outside Galway city, and a rise of 7.2% outside Dublin. The Irish Independent, 30th September
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Elmpark, Dublin 4 TWM, on behalf of the Aviva Irish Commercial Property Fund, is guiding €18.5m for Block A. That price represents a 34% reduction on the €28m which had had been sought when Block A was offered for sale previously in March 2020. Block A comprises a modern seven-storey office building extending to a NIA of approx. 72,000 sq. ft with an adjoining smaller building (known as the Annex), extending to a gross area of 10,000 sq. ft. There are 76 secure basement car-parking spaces included in the sale. Willis Tower Watson Insurances Ltd has a lease on four floors (60% of the building) and is paying approx. €1.2m in rent. There are two vacant floors extending to 29,000 sq. ft. The entire property is currently generating total annual rental income of €1.32m. The Irish Times, 17th September
Lower Mount Street, Dublin 2 Savills is guiding €9.2m for 1 Grants Row, which extends to approx. 15,125 sq. ft over four storeys and basement. It is fully let to law firm Flynn O’Driscoll at a passing rent of €739,035 pa (NIY of 7.31%) and a WAULT of just under 6 years. It also comes with 10 secure underground car-parking spaces. In 2015, the Irish Times reported that Aviva Life & Pensions Irish property fund bought it for €8.3m. It currently holds a BER rating of B3, with a pathway to achieve an A3 rating. The Irish Independent, 18th September
Citywest, Dublin 24 1012-1014 Kingswood Avenue has come to the market through Savills guiding €7.5m. The campus comprises three two-storey blocks with a combined total floor area of 76,314 sq. ft (less than €100 psf). Individual floor areas range in size from 11,522 sq. ft up to 13,575 sq. ft and their layouts allow for flexible subdivision, by block, by floor, or part-floor, supporting both single-occupier HQ or multi-let asset strategies. Originally constructed in 2001 as a purpose-built HQ for SAP, who occupied it until 2022, the property extends to approximately 4.44 acres. Each block has its own access and they offer a mix of open-plan space, private offices and meeting rooms, anchored by a large canteen with a fully fitted commercial kitchen. The Irish Independent, 18th September
Morehampton Road, Dublin 4 Brenson Lawlor House, a fully fitted HQ office building at Argyle Square, just off Morehampton Road, is being offered for sale or to let by Avison Young at a guide price of €2m and a quoting rent of €200,000. Having served as its home since its construction in 1990, PKF Brenson Lawlor has doubled its staff numbers over the past five years and is relocating to larger offices in Ballsbridge next month. The property comprises a two-storey over-basement office property, extending to 6,410 sq. ft, together with five car-parking spaces. The building is fully fitted and furnished and includes a mix of open-plan and private office accommodation. Avison Young expects to see enquiries from various parties including owner-occupiers, investors, serviced-office providers, refurbishment or repurposing specialists, as well as tenants seeking turnkey office accommodation. The Irish Times, 17th September
Maynooth Business Campus, Co Kildare Sherry FitzGerald Brady O’Flaherty is guiding €4m for unit K8 at Maynooth Business Campus. The entire building is let to two international companies, on two 10-year leases from Q3 2022 and is generating a current combined annual rent of €356,608, which equates to a gross yield of 8.9%. Developed by Montane, the office building extends to 17,294 sq. ft over two floors and was completely refurbished to a very high energy efficient standard in 2022. It comes with 28 surface car parking spaces. The Irish Independent, 18th September
Grand Canal Square, Dublin 2 Having paid €230m in 2015 to acquire Meta’s original headquarters at 4/5 Grand Canal Square, Union Investment has commenced work on a substantial redevelopment of the south docklands scheme. The construction works, which are being led by Walls, are expected to take 18 months to complete, and will cost approx. €70m. The redevelopment is getting under way just over two years after Meta vacated the building. Upon completion, 4/5 Grand Canal Square will comprise some 250,000 sq. ft of office and amenity space, all of which will target an A3 BER rating. The German investor estimates that the Grand Canal Square project will result in an 80% reduction in carbon emissions on that of a comparable new build. This will be achieved through the reuse of the existing structure and materials. The completed redevelopment will be powered entirely using wind power. 4/5 Grand Canal Square is currently the only speculative office scheme due to be completed in 2027. The Irish Times, 17th September
Clonskeagh, Dublin 14 Cushman & Wakefield is guiding a price of €1.85m for 2B Clonskeagh Square, a self-contained office building on Clonskeagh Road. The property comprises a two-storey block, extending to a gross internal area of 8,290 sq. ft (€223 psf) along with 33 dedicated surface car-parking spaces. The office is laid out in an open-plan configuration, with canteen and WC facilities on the ground and first floor, along with a number of offices. Clonskeagh Square backs on to UCD’s main Belfield campus and the area is home to a number of big employers including the EPA, Flutter Entertainment, Sims Fertility Clinic and Smurfit Westrock. The Irish Times, 17th September
South Docklands New filings for Claypole Limited, Axa’s holding company for its commercial property interests in Ireland, show it booked a €12.2m loss last year linked to volatility it has faced in the market. The company recorded a 10% valuation hit to its office portfolio in 2024, which has fallen down to a value of €50.7m. At the end of 2021, the firm’s office assets had a peak value of more than €96.6m. A note in the directors’ report for the company said the losses for 2024 were linked to State Street’s plans to vacate the Sir John Rogerson’s Quay block. Axa’s asset management business controls close to 400,000 sq. ft of office space in Dublin with joint partners Kennedy Wilson. Properties in the portfolio include 78 Sir John Rogerson’s Quay, which spans close to 174,655 sq. ft, and offices which form part of the mixed-use Capital Dock development Kennedy Wilson built with Nama. The Business Post, 20th September
Fade Street, Dublin 2 Number 17 Fade Street is guiding €2m through Knight Frank. Extending to approx. 3,000 sq. ft, the four-storey-over-basement redbrick has undergone a restoration, including roof works and new timber sash windows. Its ground and basement levels are occupied by Sitstil, a hair salon on a 25-year lease producing €52,000 pa while the upper floors comprise two spacious two-bedroom apartments and a one-bedroom loft apartment with vacant possession. With a projected total rental income in the region of €155,000, the property offers investors a potential NIY of approx. 7%. The Business Post, 16th September
Drury Street, Dublin 2 33 Drury Street is on offer through Knight Frank, guiding at €675,000. The compact, three-storey-over-basement premises spans approx. 1,050 sq. ft and is home to John Farrington Antiques. The business is secured on a lease running until 2038, generating €42,000 annually and reflecting a NIY of 5.7%, with room for rental growth. The Business Post, 16th September
Naas Road, Dublin 12 The former headquarters of John Sisk looks set to be demolished and replaced by hundreds of new homes following the sale of the property by BNP Paribas for €5.25m to an Irish developer. The Wilton Works site contains the original two-storey office building occupied by John Sisk since 1964, along with an interlinked, modern three-storey Grade A office building which was constructed in 2002. The total combined floor area extends to a gross internal area of 38,578 sq. ft together with 96 on-site car parking spaces. The development has a C3 BER rating. Although the office buildings remain suitable for use, any occupation is likely to be on a short-term basis while the new owner seeks planning permission for a residential development on the 2.43 acre Wilton Works site. The Irish Times, 17th September
Shankhill, Dublin 18 Lurganbrae, a period residence on a 1.7 acre site located on the Old Dublin Road, is guiding €2.25m through Lisney. The site offers the potential to accommodate between 26 and 41 new homes (subject to planning permission), according to a feasibility study prepared by EML Architects. The site is zoned “Objective A” under the Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Development Plan 2022-2028. The aim of this designation is to “provide residential development and improve residential amenity while protecting existing residential amenities”. Lurganbrae is located about 1.5km from Shankill village. The Irish Times, 17th September
Terenure, Dublin 6 An Coimisiún Pleanála (ACP) has granted planning permission to Granbrind Terenure Ltd for a 60 unit apartment block scheme despite opposition from local residents. The 1.18 acre site on Rathfarnham Road houses an Orthodox Jewish synagogue, which has occupied the plot since 1952. ACP has granted planning permission after concluding that the scheme “would provide for a compact and sustainable form of urban development at a highly accessible location”. A letter lodged with the application on behalf of the Dublin Hebrew Congregation stated it fully supported the application. The ACP inspector said that the synagogue building “is not a protected structure and has not been assessed as being of architectural or historical significance and is unsuitable for repurposing and reuse”. The Irish Times, 17th September
Dublin City Council The Peter McVerry Trust (PMVT) is transferring dozens of apartments and houses, worth almost €8m, to DCC under a deal to repay €15m of Government funding that kept the charity afloat when it was struck by financial crisis. The properties, some of which already have residents living in them, will be used for social housing. PMVT properties, used for its housing and homeless services, were valued at €162.33m at the end of 2022. The rescue package was agreed on the basis that the Government would recover the value of the €15m with the transfer of “unencumbered” properties to local authorities from the PMVT. The Department of Housing said: “PMVT own 54 such properties and 27 of these properties, with a total value of €7.9m, are in the process of being transferred to DCC.” The remaining 27 properties were being prepared for transfer to local authorities elsewhere, the department added. “When all such properties are transferred from PMVT to the local authorities the State will have recovered the €15m of emergency funding,” the department said. “For privacy reasons we do not give specific address identifiers but I can advise they are located in Dublin 3, 8, 12, 7, 11,” according to a spokesperson. The Irish Times, 17th September
Q2 Planning Permission There was a decrease of 12.5% (8,513 to 7,447) in the total number of dwelling units approved for planning permission in the second quarter, according to new data from the Central Statistics Office. Houses accounted for 63% of all dwellings granted permission, while apartments made up the balance. The number of houses granted permission fell by 6.4% when compared with last year, while apartment approvals – seen as a crucial element in solving the housing crisis, decreased by 21.4%. The number of multi-development houses that got planning permission declined by 7.5% annually, from 3,852 units to 3,565. Across the four local authorities in Dublin, there was an annual decline of 35.5% in the total number of dwelling units approved. The Irish Times, 16th September
Blarney Business Park, Co. Cork Merck, the German science and technology company, has opened a new €150m filtration manufacturing facility at Blarney Business Park. The site is Merck’s first manufacturing facility designed for full climate-neutral operations, powered entirely by renewable electricity. The approx. 33,000 sq. ft facility, which will produce filtration products used in the manufacturing of therapies including vaccines, monoclonal antibodies, and new modalities such as cell and gene therapies, will create up to 200 jobs by 2028.The Blarney facility is part of Merck’s largest life science investment to date in Ireland, with €440m committed across its Cork operations in Blarney and Carrigtwohill. The Business Post, 18th September
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Dublin Landings, Dublin 1 IPUT, the biggest office landlord in Dublin, said it had leased approx. 80,000 sq. ft at No 3 Dublin Landings. This includes 47,000 sq. ft on the second, third and fourth floors to Mediolanum International Funds, who will move its Irish headquarters to the new location in January 2026. No. 3 Dublin Landings is 119,000 sq. ft in total. Bought by IPUT in 2020, it holds a LEED Platinum accreditation and a BER A3 energy rating. Mediolanum originally took 8,000 sq. ft in IPUT’s Shelbourne Buildings in 2014, before moving to The Exchange in 2019 where they occupied 20,000 sq. ft and the company is now again more than doubling its leased space at No 3 Dublin Landings. The company also said that an additional 30,000 sq. ft of available workspace has been reserved at No 3 Dublin Landings, with details of lease agreements to be announced shortly. Rte.ie, 15th September
Cabra, Dublin 7 A neighbourhood retail centre in Cabra has been launched on the market with Savills guiding €7.3m. Known as The Maple Centre, it is located on a corner site on the Navan Road/N3 and next to Tesco. It is fully let and produces €526,500 pa in passing rent (6.55% NIY). It is anchored by fast-food retailer McDonald’s and Polonez, the Polish supermarket. Both have recently signed new long-term leases so the weighted lease term averages 4.6 years to break option. Other tenants are: EuroGiant, Maple Pharmacy, Café Enzo, O’Brien’s Wines and Millennium Chinese restaurant. The private vendor purchased the centre after it was offered for sale in 2021 with a €7.1m asking price. At that time, during the Covid pandemic, it was generating €550,023 in annual rent, including from a former ATM. The current vendor succeeded in attracting Polonez and Café Enzo as tenants. The Irish Independent, 11th September
Parkmore West Business Park, Co. Galway French investor Atland Voisin has purchased Building 1 in Galway’s Parkmore West Business Park for €7.2m. The price paid represents a discount of 4% on the €7.5m which had been guided by Cushman & Wakefield when it offered the property on behalf of M7 Real Estate in March of this year. The asset was originally acquired by M7 in early 2022 as part of its EREIP VI fund. Building 1 comprises a modern manufacturing and warehouse unit with a total gross external area of 61,903 sq. ft. Loading access is provided by one dock leveller and one grade-level door. There are 70 car-parking spaces located to the side of the building, which sits on a 2.25 acre site. The subject property is fully let to electronics manufacturer Celestica Inc until July 31st 2030, and is generating a passing rent of €519,812 a year. The Irish Times, 10th September
City Gate, Co. Cork City Gate Park has added three new tenants to its line-up this year, with a total of 44,000 sq. ft being signed for across the scheme. City Gate, which is owned by ILIM, comprises a mix of offices, medical accommodation and retail space distributed across a total area of 300,000 sq. ft, along with more than 500 car-parking spaces. It occupies a suburban location next to the Mater Private, Mahon Point Shopping Centre and Mahon Retail Park. Veonet, a provider of comprehensive ophthalmology services, has signed for 13,000 sq. ft of space in Block A. Block B has also seen significant office letting activity, with John Sisk & Son having recently completed a fit-out of 11,000 sq. ft on the first floor to facilitate the establishment of their Cork HQ. Infineon, a provider of automotive, power management and energy-efficient technologies, is also set to open for business in Block B, having recently signed a long-term lease for the fourth floor of the building. Infineon’s new office will extend to 20,000 sq. ft and fit-out works are in train. The Irish Times, 10th September
Connacht/Ulster Disposals The HSE is stepping up its campaign to dispose of properties around the country. In order to accelerate the process, it is offering eight of them for auction on September 19th through auctioneers O’Donnellan & Joyce. Located across six counties in Connacht and Ulster, they include former town centre buildings as well as residences in Galway, Mayo, Sligo, Leitrim, Donegal and Cavan, some of which could appeal to homebuyers seeking opportunities to convert them to residential properties with the help of government grants. The most valuable of them is a three-storey building on Main Street, Loughrea, Co. Galway with a €280,000 guide price which could have commercial potential. The Irish Independent, 11th September
Killarney, Co. Kerry The Coyne family has engaged CBRE to find a buyer for the International Hotel, which is guiding €18m to €20m. It has been over a decade since a major Killarney hotel last came to the market. In 2014, the 172-bedroom Malton Hotel was sold by Nama to the owner of Cork’s five-star Hayfield Manor for over €15m (€87,209 per key). The recovery in the wider economy and more specifically in the tourism sector since then is reflected in the price per key expected to be paid for the 98-bedroom International Hotel. Should a sale proceed at the guide of €18m to €20m, the price per key would come in between €183,673 and €204,081. The four-star property has benefitted from substantial investment and is recognised for its consistently strong trading performance, with year-round occupancy at a high level. The hotel also features Hannigan’s Bar and Restaurant, along with a range of event and lounge spaces. The Irish Times, 10th September
MacCurtain Street, Cork City Cork is set to get its second Premier Inn, after it was given planning permission for a new hotel on the Leisureplex complex site on the northside of the River Lee. The city council has granted permission for the development, which had seen Premier Inn seek the green light for a 173-room hotel along with a public bar and licensed restaurant on site on the corner of MacCurtain St and Brian Boru St. Its parent company Whitbread PLC acquired the Leisureplex site in February 2024, shortly after it opened its first Cork City hotel on Morrison’s Quay. That site south of the city centre comprised a €30m 187-bed hotel with this new development set to employ a further 40 staff. The Irish Examiner, 15th September
Stoneybatter, Dublin 7 Cushman & Wakefield, on behalf of Marlet Property Group, is selling The Residence, a purpose-built 193-bedspace scheme. Located on Prussia Street and in close proximity to TUD’s Grangegorman campus, the complex is guiding €42m (€217,000 per bedspace). Arranged across seven low-rise buildings, the A2 BER-rated development comprises a mix of single (4%), double (87%), and twin ensuite rooms (9%) arranged across 33 own-door clusters. The scheme’s amenities include a gym, games area, study spaces, lounge room, and landscaped courtyard gardens. The Irish Times, 10th September
Amiens Street, Dublin 1 Sea Strand Properties is seeking a buyer for the site of the well-known Top petrol station on Amiens Street. Having failed to secure a sale of the 0.4-acre property at a price of €12m in 2022, when it had full planning in place for a 177-bedroom hotel, the company sought and secured approval earlier this year from DCC for a 246-bed-space PBSA scheme on the site. The property has now returned to the market and is guiding at a price of €11.5m through Knight Frank. The approved scheme comprises a building ranging in height from six to nine storeys over a lower ground floor. The bed spaces comprise 204 single bedrooms within 27 cluster model units, and 21 twin studio units incorporating 42 bed spaces, all with en suites and shared kitchen/living/dining areas. The grant also allows for the scheme to be used for short-term tourist or visitor accommodation outside of academic term times. The Irish Times, 10th September
Global Student Accommodation (GSA) Portfolio GSA has paused the sales process for five Irish assets due to uncertainty surrounding the government’s changes to rent control laws, according to senior executives at the company. The company, which entered the Irish market in 2014, has developed a portfolio of 4,000 student bedspaces across 11 assets following an investment of nearly €1bn. Earlier this year, the company started a process to sell or recapitalise part of its Irish portfolio valued at €500m. GSA told the Business Post that in the middle of that process, the government came out with their announcement on rent pressure zones (RPZs), but unfortunately, they didn’t say anything about PBSA, and it created uncertainty. The changes by government expanded RPZ rules nationwide, which means rent increases will be limited to 2% or the rate of inflation, whichever is lower. James Browne, the housing minister, also announced relaxed rent caps for new-build apartments, but no guidance has been issued on how student housing would be impacted. The Business Post, 14th September
Santry, Dublin 9 Ardstone has agreed a deal to acquire a 180 build-to-rent apartments in Birchwood Court. The company has confirmed it has paid €79m (5.25% NIY). The 180 apartments are currently vacant with Ardstone planning to bring the units to market for letting in November. The sale of the development has come after Castlehaven Finance appointed Receivers over the project earlier this year. The appointment of Receivers was made after Urbeo, the housing investor, sought a High Court order to wind up Linbiz Limited. Urbeo previously agreed to acquire apartments in the Birchwood Court complex, but the €82m deal was terminated. The latest two deals by the company now mean Ardstone has control over a portfolio of more than 3,000 residential homes, both houses and apartments, across the greater Dublin area. The Business Post, 10th September
Dawson Street, Dublin 2 The Royal Irish Automobile Club (RIAC) has instructed JLL to seek expressions of interest for its longstanding home at 33/34 Dawson Street. While a guide price has not been set, offers are expected to be in the region of €10m. The Irish Times understands that the RIAC is open to a range of deal structures including joint ventures. Located directly across from the Mansion House, the subject property comprises two five-storey over-basement Georgian buildings extending to a combined area of 19,871 sq. ft. The overall site meanwhile extends to 0.45 acres, with both buildings listed on DCC’s Record of Protected Structures. Two feasibility studies prepared in advance of the sale suggest the site offers scope for the development of either a five-storey over-basement, 54-bedroom hotel with two rental suites extending to 32,500 sq. ft, or a five-storey office development 27,500 sq. ft. The Irish Times, 10th September
Rathmines, Dublin 6 Developed by Bain Capital in partnership with Lugus Capital, and with Grayling Properties currently acting as operator, Rathmines House comprises a 110-unit co-living scheme complemented by a range of on-site amenities including a large gym, co-working space, communal lounges and roof terraces. Located on Lower Rathmines Road, the seven-storey property is guiding €37.75m through Knight Frank. The building, which opened for business as a co-living scheme in 2023, is now fully occupied and generating a gross annual income of €2.7m (NIY of 5%). Almost 60% of the building’s residents are under 30 years of age. The Irish Times, 10th September
Balbriggan, Co. Dublin Ballymore has agreed a deal with the LDA to deliver hundreds of affordable, cost-rental and social homes in Balbriggan, with construction set to get under way within weeks. Located on a site of 62.6 acres on the southern edge of Balbriggan, the Hampton Demesne development will, upon completion, comprise 817 homes along with a range of amenities. These will include a new public park with a playground, multi-use games areas and landscaped green areas for residents and the wider Balbriggan community. The first phase of the Hampton Demesne development has a timeline of three years and will involve the construction of 259 homes along with necessary infrastructure works. The Irish Times, 10th September
North Wall Quay, Dublin 1 Greystar is considering the sale of Quayside Quarter. The US residential sector investor moved into the Irish market in 2019 and now has a portfolio of close to a thousand rental homes in Dublin. Greystar’s first move into Ireland was its €175.5m deal to acquire Quayside Quarter from Ballymore, six years ago. The Business Post understands that the company is now considering the sale of the 268-unit apartment complex, located beside the Central Bank’s headquarters. Property industry sources said Greystar has appointed JLL to advise the company on the sales process. They added that the process for Quayside Quarter is at a very early stage. It is understood the property could be listed for a guide price of close to €180m and Greystar is not exploring a recapitalisation but would be open to staying in place as operator of Quayside Quarter post-sale. A source familiar with the matter said the potential deal to sell the apartment block is not part of plans by Greystar to exit the Irish market. The Business Post, 10th September
Bishopstown, Co. Cork Plans have been lodged for nearly 250 new homes near Bishopstown, across the road from where another large housing scheme has been constructed. Bridgewater Homes has submitted a bid for planning permission to Cork City Council for 143 houses and 103 apartment units on 12.7 acres at Waterfall Road in the townland of Ardarostig. The mix of one, two, three and four-bed housing units would be accompanied by a creche for up to 140 children in the envisaged Waterfall Manor development. While it is opposite the Waterfall Heights development where permission for 276 homes was granted by An Coimisiún Pleanála in 2021, it is also located near another Waterfall Road site where plans for 164 new homes were declined by the council earlier this year before the planning board later granted permission. The Irish Examiner, 10th September
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Rathcoole, Co. Dublin Kennedy Wilson has engaged CBRE to find a buyer for Units 502 B & C at Greenogue Business Park. Extending to a total area of 43,551 sq. ft and sitting on 1.75 acres, the site comes to market guiding €10.5m (5.2% NIY). The two units are leased to Capital Switchgear Limited, a data centre industry specialist, on two co-terminus 20-year FRI leases from March 2025, with break options in year 10. The investment is generating annual rental income of €598,827, which equates to €13.75 psf. Post a recent extensive refurbishment programme, the two units each come with a 12.5m clear internal height, three dock levellers, two grade-level doors, 40m yard depths and 71 car-parking spaces in total. The wider Dublin logistics market meanwhile continues to perform strongly with prime rents now being forecast to reach €14.50 psf by the end of 2025. Prime yields remain stable at 5%. The Irish Times, 3rd September
East Wall, Dublin 1 The Beckett Building has returned to the market. Having first been offered for sale on behalf of receivers Grant Thornton in May 2024 at an already heavily discounted price of €35m, the building was on the verge of being acquired by London-based Roundstone Capital. That transaction fell through in late August however. Roundstone’s withdrawal comes more than one year after another party, Irish-headquartered real estate and investment manager BCP Capital, reversed its own decision to buy the Beckett Building for approx. €35m. The property is now being brought for sale by Colliers at an even lower price of €25m. The figure represents a reduction of 69% on the €80m that had been mooted when CBRE first offered the building for sale in January 2023, and an even steeper discount of 75% on the €101m South Korean Kookmin Bank paid when they acquired it in 2018. Although Meta has now vacated the property, the social media giant remains responsible for its annual €5.75m rent until the break option of its lease on July 31st, 2027. The Beckett Building extends 188,228 sq. ft and is laid out as modern grade A office accommodation over six floors, together with 400 designated bicycle spaces and 77 car parking spaces. The Irish Times, 3rd September
Limerick City The Talbot Collection hotel group is the frontrunner to buy the four-star Absolute Hotel in Limerick city, in a deal that could be worth in the region of €15m. The acquisition of the 99-bedroom Limerick property will bring the number of hotels under the Talbot Collection’s ownership to seven. The group is owned by Wexford’s Pettitt family. Hotels in its stable already include the Talbot Hotel in Wexford town, as well as five other Talbot-branded hotels in locations including Cork, Dublin, Clonmel and Carlow. It also owns the Talbot Suites self-catering apartments in Wexford town, and Newbay House in the county. The Absolute Hotel was put up for sale earlier this year alongside its sister hotel, the Kilkenny Ormonde Hotel. Estate agent JLL was guiding a total of €50m for the two hotel properties, which were being sold either individually or as a pair. The Irish Independent, 5th September
Ballsbridge, Dublin 4 DCC has refused planning permission for a planned luxury boutique hotel on a site at 166a Shelbourne Road, as the scheme would constitute over-development of the site. The scheme by Badlands Developments Ltd for the six-storey 24-bedroom Windjammer Hotel resulted in widespread local opposition, with concerns being expressed over the scheme by 4 different associations. In response to the planned hotel on the site of a former Ulster Bank branch, the Council has refused planning permission as the scheme “would have an unreasonable overbearing and visually dominant effect on adjoining sites”. The council has also refused planning permission as the development “is located on a heavily trafficked road” where several roads converge at the junctions of Pembroke Road, Shelbourne Road, Merrion Road, Ballsbridge Terrace and Elgin Road. The Irish Independent, 4th September
Little Britain Street, Dublin 7 Hospitality giant Eurostars Hotels has reached a deal to open its first Irish venue on a site which is on the corner of Little Britain Street and Little Green Street. The company controls six hotel brands operating worldwide including Aurea Hotels, Exe Hotels and Ikonik Hotels. The firm has agreed a deal to open its first Irish location near Jervis Shopping Centre on a site which currently contains a disused warehouse but has planning permission for a 195-bed hotel. An Irish subsidiary of the Gold Tree Group, a Swiss property investment firm that owns the site, has said Eurostars Hotel Group has committed to operating a hotel from the site when construction has been completed. Last week, Gold Tree Group’s Irish subsidiary Gold Tree Hotels Dublin 2 Limited applied for permission to DCC to make internal reconfigurations to floor layouts of the approved hotel project that would result in a reduction in the number of bedrooms from 195 to 149. The Business Post, 6th September
Donnybrook, Dublin 4 European-wide tech-powered hospitality provider Bob W is set to make its first foray into the Irish market where it is planning to operate a 143-bedroom aparthotel. Planning documents lodged by Red Rock Donnybrook Ltd with DCC show the firm is seeking to construct a seven-storey aparthotel at the Circle K petrol station at the junction of Donnybrook Road and Brookvale Road. The move comes almost one year since the then An Bord Pleanála refused planning permission to Red Rock Donnybrook for a 10-storey 225-bedspace student accommodation on the same site. In a letter of support lodged with the application, Bob W requests the city council to grant planning permission, and confirmed that Bob W seeks to become the long-term operator of the proposed aparthotel. The Irish Times, 9th September
Finglas, Dublin 11 A mixed-use investment is being offered for sale on Jamestown Road through Ray Cooke Auctioneers with a €1.6m guide price. Located at Gofton Court, it is currently generating €110,900-a-year in rental income (6.3% NIY). The rental income could be increased by converting two vacant first-floor office units to residential apartments. This would boost rental income to between €179,300 and €185,300 pa. The total floor area of the combined units extends to 8,970 sq. ft. It has three ground-floor retail units which are currently occupied by Expert Home Renovation Centre, Dream Hair Salon and Finglas Vape Store. These range in size from 653 sq. ft to 2,927 sq. ft. The first floor extends to 2,829 sq. ft in size. The Irish Independent, 4th September
Clonskeagh, Dublin 14 St Brigid’s Novitiate, a 35-bedroom property of 31,405 sq. ft on a site of 3.5 acres on Roebuck Road and adjacent to UCD has come to market through Avison Young guiding €10m. The site is being sold by Little Sisters of the Poor, who intend to remain on site in their house and to continue operating the Holy Family Residence Nursing Home, which is to the front of the campus. The St Brigid’s Novitiate building and its site are zoned Objective A – Residential with an institutional tag in the DLRCC Development Plan 2022-2028. A feasibility study prepared in advance of the sale by Henry J Lyons Architects and CJ Falconer & Associates suggests the property has the potential to accommodate a PBSA scheme comprising approx. 460 bed spaces across four blocks, including the renovation and extension of the Novitiate building. This property comprises 35 bedrooms on the first and second floors, with potential for expansion. The ground floor includes a variety of spaces, such as reception rooms, offices, dining rooms, a chapel and a library, offering scope for a range of uses. The Irish Times, 3rd September
Croí Cónaithe Scheme The state’s scheme to subsidise the construction of apartments for sale has received applications from developers to build close to 6,000 homes this year. The Croí Cónaithe Cities scheme provides subsidies of between €25,000 and €144,000 per unit to bridge the gap between how much it costs to build an apartment and the price people can afford to pay. In June, James Browne, the housing minister, issued a fresh call for applications to the scheme. Martin Whelan, chief executive of the Housing Agency, recently told the Beauchamps Housing Conference that the Housing Agency has received close to 40 compliant submissions under the latest call for expressions of interest, which closed on August 15th. He said the submissions contained plans to deliver more than 5,800 apartments. The bulk of these applications were for the Dublin region (4,600). The remainder have been mainly in Cork (600), Galway (200) and Waterford (200). The Business Post, 2nd September
Purchasing Managers Index Irish construction activity continued to fall last month, according to AIB’s latest Construction PMI. The headline seasonally adjusted figure fell to 45.9 in August, down from 47.1 in July. It is the fourth successive month where the Construction Total Activity Index was below the key breakeven level of 50. The report said output was down across the housing, commercial and civil engineering categories. Purchasing activity was also scaled back, but AIB said companies continued to increase employment, “in part due to positive expectations for the future”. The report said the latest fall was “marked and the sharpest since January 2024” and for the first time in a year and a half, all three categories of construction saw a drop in activity last month. Rte.ie, 9th September
Cork Airport PJ Hegarty has won the contract for the DAA’s €200m Cork Airport development plan. Work on the new mezzanine floor will begin this month and will house an expanded security screening area and a larger executive lounge. The new mezzanine floor will extend over the existing arrivals concourse and feature a larger passenger security area equipped with the latest C3 EDS technology. It will allow passengers to keep liquids, gels, pastes and large electronic items in their cabin baggage. A dedicated fast-track lane will also be added. The arrivals area will include a new café-bar and upgraded car hire facilities. The mezzanine will also accommodate a new executive lounge with 30% more capacity and an expanded Cork Airport Duty Free shop. The Business Post, 5th September
Greater Dublin Drainage Project The €1.3bn Greater Dublin Drainage Project will be delayed after Wild Irish Defence filed a judicial review challenge against An Coimisiun Pleanála (ACP) and several others, in an attempt to block the development. The case is due to come before the High Court on September 15th. It comes after ACP granted Uisce Éireann planning permission for the project in July. Once operational, it will have the capacity to provide wastewater treatment to around half a million people. The Business Post, 5th September
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Dungloe Bay, Co. Donegal The Waterfront Hotel, a four-star, 65-bedroom hotel on the west coast of Donegal, is up for sale for €4.9m through Savills and TDL Horizons. The hotel has 49 newly refurbished en-suite bedrooms and 16 suites, which will have to be refurbished by the new owners. The site also features a function room, a gym, and extensive grounds with parking and a playground. Dungloe, within the Gaeltacht region, is 13km from Donegal Airport. The hotel was previously known as the Óstán na Rossan, when it was bought by Chicago-based businessman Kevin Boyle in 2015. The Business Post, 27th August
Aston Quay, Dublin 2 Willie Aherne, owner of the Palace Bar on Fleet Street, has bought Fitzgerald’s Bar on Aston Quay. Aherne bought the Victorian-style bar, which overlooks O’Connell Bridge, for an undisclosed sum. The pub was put on the market by Lisney in February with a guide price of more than €2.5m. The four-storey over-basement premises extends to approx. 5,500 sq. ft, including a lounge bar and public bar at ground-floor level serviced by kitchen facilities. The property was sold by Lennie Fitzgerald who ran the bar since the early 2000s, although the business has been trading since the 1880s. The Business Post, 26th August
Aughrim, Co. Wicklow Two of the founders of the BrookLodge & Macreddin Village resort in Wicklow are set to check out, as hoteliers Ray Byrne and Sheila O’Riordan buy into the business. Brothers Bernard, Evan and Eoin Doyle put the spa hotel and wedding venue on the market in September last year through JLL with an asking price of €17.5m. The deal will see Eoin Doyle retain part ownership of the hotel, with Byrne and O’Riordan coming on as co-owners through a new entity, Wicklow Hotel Opportunities. Byrne owns Wineport Lodge in Glasson, Co Westmeath, and is already a business partner of Eoin Doyle. BrookLodge is an 86-room, four-star hotel on 16 acres. Macreddin village has a pub, café, Italian restaurant and Macreddin chapel. The Sunday Times, 31st August
Drury Street, Dublin 2 Balrath Investments Unlimited has received planning permission for a 273-bed city centre tourist hostel despite local business objections. Maryland House sits in the city’s South William entertainment quarter on Drury Street. It was previously reported that it was sold for over €10m in the early 2020s. Dublin City Council has now given the green light for the 44-bedroom hotel which will have capacity for 273 bedspaces. The council also gave permission for a new restaurant and basement bar in the building. The Currency, 1st September
Dawson Street, Dublin 2 54 Dawson Street is guiding €2.85m through Colliers. The 4,882 sq. ft four-storey over-basement property is fully let and generating €189,650 in annual rental income from four tenancies. It has a WAULT of 2.46 years to break and 7.82 years to expiry. The ground floor and basement level are let to Carebrook Partnership Ltd, trading as Pret A Manger, on a 15-year lease commencing February 2022, at €110,000 pa, with a tenant-break option in February 2029. The first floor is occupied by Fusion Recruitment on a five-year lease commencing July 2021 at €27,000 pa. The second floor is let to Paulson Management Ireland Limited with annual mutual-break options at €27,000 pa. The third floor is home to Deighton Infrastructure Management Limited on a five-year lease commencing March 2024 at €25,650 pa, with a tenant-break option in March 2027. The Irish Times, 27th August
O’Connell Street, Dublin 1 Colliers is guiding €3.1m for 30-31 Lower O’Connell Street. The property, a four-storey over-basement building of 8,617 sq. ft comes for sale fully let to two tenants and is generating overall annual rental income of €270,000 (7.67% NIY). The property sits three doors down from the redeveloped Clerys Quarter and almost directly opposite the GPO. The ground floor and basement, comprising a total floor area of 5,598 sq. ft, is let to Mountain Warehouse on a 10-year lease commencing September 2019, at a rent of €215,000 pa with a tenant break option in May 2027. The upper floors, which extend to approx. 3,019 sq. ft over three floors, are in office use and fully let to Element Pictures, on a 20-year lease commencing November 2018, at a rent of €55,000 pa, with a tenant break option in October 2028. The property has a WAULT of approx. 2.07 years to break and 5.92 years to expiry. The Irish Times, 27th August
IFSC, Dublin 1 JLL is guiding €24m for Macken House on Mayor Street Upper. The property, which is owned and managed by Tetrarch ICAV on behalf of the ESB Pension Fund, comprises a six-storey building of 51,347 sq. ft with 42 basement car-parking spaces. The first to fifth floors comprise office accommodation and are let to Italian luxury jewellery brand, Bulgari, and FM104 owner, the Wireless Group. The ground floor includes an office unit of 15,635 sq. ft let to Virgin Media, along with two retail units with a total combined space of 3,717 sq. ft. The retail space is fully leased to Insomnia and Mulligans Chemist. The three office leases account for almost 90% of the total passing rent of €2m. Following various regears, Macken House now provides a WAULT of 5.7 years to earliest break. The guide price of €24.5m reflects an initial yield of approx. 7.5% and a capital value of approx. €477 psf. The Irish Times, 27th August
IFSC, Dublin 1 Susquehanna International Group is set to purchase La Touche House. The company is already the owner-occupier of the office block next door, having purchased the former AIB treasury building for close to €35m in 2013. La Touche House was placed on the market by Axa Investment Manager Alts in May for just over €25m with Susquehanna believed to be paying close to the asking price. The approx. 110,000 sq. ft property was one of the first buildings to be completed in the IFSC, in 1993, and was once the headquarters of Bank of Ireland, which paid IR£32m for the offices as a new build. The seven-storey office is in need of refurbishment. Axa bought the building for nearly €84m in 2020, with BCP Capital acting as its local partner. A number of potential buyers are thought to have run the rule over the building, including one party that considered turning it into a hotel. The Sunday Times, 31st August
Dublin Residential Portfolio The Georgian Collection, a portfolio of 13 residential rental properties, is being offered to the market by Savills guiding €30m. The portfolio is fully let and generating a total of €2.145m in annual rental income (6% NIY). It comprises 91 dwellings consisting of a mix of studio, one-bed, two-bed, three-bed and four-bed units located in areas such as Clontarf, Glasnevin, Drumcondra, Phibsborough and Stoneybatter. Numbers 25 and 27 North Circular Road in Dublin 7, two adjoining period houses close to the entrance to the Phoenix Park, comprise a total of 16 residential units. These produce an annual rent roll of €420,060, or an average of €2,188 per unit per month. In terms of their sustainability, the units carry a mix of A and B BER ratings. The Irish Times, 27th August
The Liberties, Dublin 8 German asset manager MEAG has agreed to acquire the 18 Newmarket Square BTR project for close to €80m, according to Green Street News. MEAG, which is the asset manager for reinsurance giant Munich Re, is in exclusive talks to acquire the asset from the development joint venture of Revelate Capital and Valpre Capital. The German investor is advancing the deal for one of the few BTR complexes to come to market in Dublin this year, which had been expected to attract widespread investor interest, and the purchase price reflects a NIY in the region of 5%. Newmarket Square totals 134 apartments and includes 79 one-bed units, 46 two-bed homes, seven three-bed homes and two studios. The asset will be a nearly zero-energy building. CBRE is advising Revelate Capital and Valpre Capital. Bisnow, 1st September
Dungarvan, Co. Waterford A large scale development of 155 residences and a creche have been given the green light in Dungarvan, following a decision by An Coimisiún Pleanála, who upheld a decision by Waterford City and County Council granting permission to S&K Carey Ltd for the project. The site extends to over 10 acres and is located at Duckspool to the northeast of Dungarvan town centre. The development consists of detached, semi-detached, and terraced houses, along with 42 apartments in four three-storey apartment blocks. It was given the green light by Waterford planners on April 16th, subject to conditions. The site is accessed via a link road between the N25 Waterford to Cork road and the R675 Clonea road between Abbeyside and Clonea. The Irish Independent, 29th August
Waterford/Kilkenny Border Permission has been granted for a new Dunnes Stores-led project at Ross Road, Ferrybank, on the northern outskirts of Waterford City. Better Value Unlimited Company applied to Kilkenny County Council on July 1st for planning permission, which is to be constructed in Ferrybank Shopping Centre. The development consists of the change of use and amalgamation of the centre’s unoccupied car showroom and adjacent fire service corridor. The reconfigured anchor unit will have 32,000 sq. ft of convenience floorspace. The total gross floor area of the anchor unit will be over 81,000 sq. ft, including basement and ground floor levels. The first floor of the retail anchor unit, approved for the sale of comparison goods, will be repurposed into a separate leisure unit measuring approx. 34,000 sq. ft, marking a change of use from retail to leisure use. The Irish Independent, 28th August
Boreenmanna Road, Cork City A former Cork private school that sold for just over €2m in May as a development site is being offered on a short, three-year span. The former Rockboro School, pitched as being ideal as an educational facility, language school, a training base or other similar use given its layout, currently in 14 classrooms. It is understood the undisclosed buyer is a developer who will seek planning permission for a medium/high density residential development on the approx. 1.55 acre one-time quarry site. ERA Downey McCarthy are quoting a rent of €15 psf/€145,000 pa. It comprises a solid main building of 7,400 sq. ft, with adjacent 2,230 sq. ft prefab structure. It is likely the new owner will seek permission to develop 40 or more units, in several blocks, subject to planning approval. The former school was sold by BidX1 with a guide price of €1.2m, finally selling for €2.01m. The Examiner, 28th August
Kinsale Road, Cork City Dairygold has sold its Creamfields development property in Cork to Cairn Homes for €25.6m. The sale of the site comes after Dairygold received full planning permission for the development of 606 residential units and multiple commercial units in 2022. According to the co-operative, Cairn Homes is set to commence work on the development in Q4 2025, and it’s expected that it could take three years to complete. Dairygold had already partnered with Cairn Homes to deliver the residential element of the development prior to the sale, while both parties collaborated with Respond to deliver social and cost rental units. When completed, the development will be comprised of 225 social and 381 cost-rental apartments on the site, which sits opposite Musgrave Park. The Business Post, 26th August
Housing Commencements The average number of housing commencements across Ireland has been steadily declining since the end of last year. Department of Housing data published by the Central Statistics Office has shown that the number of residential starts recorded between January and July were down 80% on the same period in 2024, with just 7,384 commencements over the seven months this year, compared to 36,320 in 2024. The most significant decline was recorded in April, with 1,027 commencements, down 95% on the 18,700 starts in the same month a year prior. March was also a weak month with an 85% drop in commencements year on year, followed by February, when the figures were down 73%. The Business Post, 1st September
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Fitzwilliam Place, Dublin 2 French investor Atland Voisin has paid approx. €11m (€694 psf) for Kingram House on Dublin’s Fitzwilliam Place. The price paid represents a slight uplift of 2% on the €10.75m value market sources had ascribed to the office block when it was put up for sale. Kingram House briefly comprises a four-storey office block of 15,850 sq. ft. The building is fully let to the Irish Medical Council with approx. eight years remaining on the lease which has upward-only rent reviews. The property is generating €827.5k in annual rental income. The Irish Times, 18th September
South Docklands, Dublin TikTok has pulled back from its plan to locate hundreds of its employees in offices at the Tropical Fruit Warehouse in Dublin’s south docklands. While the social media platform had committed to a long-term lease of the property in August 2022 and was in the process of having it fitted out for use by up to 800 workers, a decision has now been made to bring all of the company’s Dublin-based staff together at its European headquarters in the Sorting Office on nearby Cardiff Lane. The Irish Times, 19th September
Sandymount, Dublin 4 The Tram Shed, an office building on Gilford Road in Sandymount, is guiding at a price of €2.15m (€255 psf) through Sherry FitzGerald. The office accommodation extends to 8,434 sq. ft and is arranged over two floors comprising a mix of open-plan and glazed cellular offices together with other ancillary accommodation. The Irish Times, 18th September
Wexford Dalata Hotel Group is selling the Maldron Hotel Wexford near Rosslare to The Neville Park Hotel Group. The sale price for the Maldron was not disclosed but based on the €85.3k per bedroom seen in the sale of the Crowne Plaza Dundalk, the 108-bedroom Maldron may have fetched approx. €8m to €9m. The deal is scheduled to complete by November 5th The Irish Independent, 19th September
Killiney, Co Dublin The Graduate pub in Killiney is being offered for sale as a going concern by Lisney at a guide price of €7m. Located within the grounds of Killiney Shopping Centre and overlooking the Graduate roundabout, The Graduate comprises a three-storey premises over basement stores. Internally, the pub consists of a large lounge bar which is laid out in four sections on the ground floor and two first floor function rooms. The Irish Times, 18th September
Blackpool Shopping Centre, Cork Lugus Capital and London-headquartered Patron Capital have acquired Blackpool Shopping Centre in Cork. The price paid (approx. €49.5m) represents a 57% discount on the €115m Varde paid to secure ownership of the scheme a decade ago. The Irish Times understands the overall rent roll is closer to €6m, with €3m of this being generated from the centre’s retail park. The other €3m of income comprises €2m in rents from the shopping centre and €1m in rent from the office accommodation. The asset comprises approx. 300,000 sq. ft of retail and retail park space, along with 108,513 sq. ft of offices and approx. 1,800 car-parking spaces. The Irish Times, 18th September
Paul Street, Cork Holren Properties Ahall Limited has lodged a planning application with Cork City Council seeking to revamp part of Paul Street Shopping Centre. The plan seeks permission for a change-of-use of the existing first-floor retail area for future use as a food court. The space has been vacant since March 2023. The proposal seeks permission to create a food court, including four new food kiosks and kitchen areas, a moveable food kiosk, staff toilets, and dining areas. Planners at Cork City Hall will issue a decision on the plan by early November. The Irish Examiner, 23rd September
Winthrop Street, Cork Sprout & Co Kitchen Ltd has applied for permission to revamp No. 17 Winthrop Street, which has been vacant since the closure of Ulster Bank in April 2023. This planning application seeks permission for the change of use of the ground and first floors of the Winthrop Street building from financial services to cafe use, and also includes the addition of new signage. The Irish Examiner, 18th September
Bray, Co Wicklow Harvey is the sole agent of the former Radius Communications facility at the Ballywaltrim Business Centre in Bray, which it has just brought to market with an asking price of €1.95m. The unit extends to 18,858 sq. ft and sits on a gated and fenced site with the managed business park, which is located approx. 2.5km south-west of Bray. The Business Post, 20th September
North City Business Park, Dublin 11 A prime industrial property, Unit E7 at North City Business Park, is being offered for sale through Savills for €1.95m. With an internal area of 11,065 sq. ft, it also features two-storey office accommodation. The warehouse benefits from an additional non-structural mezzanine level totalling 6,910 sq. ft spread over three floors. The Irish Independent, 19th September
Naas, Co Kildare Pizza company Domino’s is opening a new supply chain centre in Naas Enterprise Park after a €16m investment and over two years of construction. The new facility uses state-of-the-art equipment to produce, store, and ship fresh dough and ingredients to Domino’s stores across the country. The pizza company says the new facility will increase capacity in Ireland by approx. 40%. RTE, 24th September
Grand Parade, Cork Sherry FitzGerald has brought No. 8-10 Grand Parade to the market with a guide of €2.5m. The property extends to a total floor area of 6,051 sq. ft (€413 psf). Lloyds Pharmacy occupies the entire ground and part of the first floor based on a 35-year lease from 2008 and the passing rent is €100k pa. A dental surgery occupies part of the first floor and part of the second floor. There is a one-bedroom apartment and four two-bed apartments laid out over the remainder of the upper floors (total rent of €92.3k). The property is fully occupied and the total current passing rent is €215k pa (NIY 7.45%). The Business Post, 20th September
Dublin City Centre Hines has bought Scape Dublin near Grafton Street and St Stephen’s Green in Dublin 2. The price was not disclosed but it was believed to be close to its €80m guide. The 135,959 sq. ft site comprises 246 single en-suite rooms, 16 twin en-suites and 20 self-contained studios. The asset includes total guaranteed income of €5.2m for the 2024/25 academic year, based on a 51-week lettings agreement with the RCSI. Scape generates a further €625k rental income from the Lidl supermarket on the ground floor. Hines said it will be rebranded Aparto Dublin Stephen’s Quarter. The Irish Independent, 18th September
Inchicore, Dublin 8 Located on Emmet Road in Inchicore village, a portfolio of 32 apartments is being offered for sale on behalf of the Martin Property Group by Cushman & Wakefield with the benefit of full vacant possession at a guide price of €10.5m (NIY 6.16%; approx. €328k per unit). The portfolio comprises 32 two-bedroom apartments distributed across four storeys with eight apartments per floor all extending to a floor area of approx. 484 sq. ft. The Irish Times, 18th September
Rathgar, Dublin 6 Sherry FitzGerald is guiding a price of €1.8m for a portfolio of eight rental apartments in Rathgar. The units form part of Newtown House at Eaton Brae. The eight units comprise two one-bedroom apartments and six two-bedroom apartments with 10 designated car-parking spaces on a site of 0.25 acres. Five of the eight apartments are currently leased and producing a gross annual passing rent of €18.54k (approx. €309 per unit per month). Three of the apartments are currently vacant. The Irish Times, 18th September
Rathgar, Dublin 6 A 0.64 acre site with full planning permission for eight luxury houses at The Barn on Riversdale Avenue off Bushy Park Road is being brought to market by DNG for approx. €3.8m. Nos. 1 to 5 are part three-storey and part single storey mid and end-of-terrace houses. Nos. 6 and 7 are part two-storey and part single storey semi-detached houses and No. 8 is a part two-storey and part single storey detached residence. According to DNG, it has been advised that, under the current planning permission, the site is exempt from Part V. The Business Post, 20th September
Planning Permissions An Bord Pleanála has refused planning permission for approx. 900 homes in south Dublin. The authority turned down plans by Cairn Homes for 355 BTR apartments for Cross Avenue, Blackrock. The decision comes approx. 2½ years after the planning application comprising six blocks up to eight storeys in height was lodged in April 2022. In a second planning blow to Cairn the appeals board has also refused planning permission for 534 BTR apartments across eight blocks on a site at Winterbrook and Barrington Tower, Brennanstown Road, Dublin 18. The Irish Times, 19th September
House Prices According to data from the CSO, the median house price in the 12 months to July 2024 stood at €340k, 9.6% above that reported for the year before. Irish house prices in July were 12.4% higher than their Celtic Tiger-era peak in April 2007, according to the CSO figures. Dublin prices were 0.6% higher than their February 2007 peak, while prices in the rest of Ireland stood 13.3% above the level reached in May 2007. House prices in Dublin soared 10.9% in the year to July, with apartment prices growing 8%. The Business Post, 18th September
Housing Construction New research published by a state-commissioned task force (called 4Dublin Housing Supply Pipeline Task Force) has found there were more than 17,500 private market homes under construction in Dublin in the second quarter of the year, compared to 16,600 in the first quarter. This represents an improvement on the level of residential building in Dublin in the middle of 2023 when just 15,300 new homes were being built. In 2022, however, there were more than 18,000 private homes being built during each quarter. Data released by the housing department earlier this year showed that construction had begun on more than 21,800 homes between April and June, with more than 7,500 new homes started in Dublin alone. The Business Post, 22nd September
Glenveagh Properties is set to acquire lands belonging to Gerry Gannon as part of a deal that will mean the developer exits NAMA. As part of deal, Glenveagh would take over lands at Belcamp Hall site. The identity of Gannon’s private equity backer is not widely known, but speculation centres on Oaktree Capital Management. DRC Savills has also been linked to a refinancing of the Gannon lands. At the end of 2022, Gannon Homes owed Nama €157m. The private equity refinancing will also take out the Nama debt secured on another Gannon asset: the QuickPark car park near Dublin airport. The Sunday Times, 22nd September
Rathbride, Co Kildare Joint agents Coonan Property and Raymond Potterton are guiding €4.7m for Rathbride Stud, a 206-acre stud farm in Co Kildare. For sale with the benefit of a fully refurbished and modern three-bedroom single-storey cottage, the lands at Rathbride are of the highest quality according to the selling agents and have been developed into a modern stud farm. The Irish Times, 18th September
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Killeen Castle, Co Meath Killeen Castle golf resort has been put on the market by CBRE. Offers for the entire estate are expected to range between €25m and €30m. Killeen Castle’s original castle residence and golf course are complemented by an extensive golf clubhouse of 30,000 sq. ft. The wider estate has seen significant investment in recent years with the addition of high-end luxury residential houses, extensive restoration work to the castle, garden and ground upgrades, and the development in 2023 of six self-catering lodges with 24 bedrooms. There is full planning permission for a further 16 lodges (to provide 64 bedrooms) adjacent to the existing six lodges. The Irish Times, 11th September
Parnell Street, Dublin 1 A sports-oriented licensed premises with three separate bars in Dublin city centre is being offered for sale with a guide price of €2.5m. The Wool Shed is a substantial two-storey venue which can accommodate over 500 patrons. CBRE are handling the private treaty sale on behalf of the owner. The Wool Shed is located within the Parnell Centre with extensive frontage to Parnell Street and has a total floor area of 8,500 sq. ft. The Irish Independent, 12th September
Drury Street, Dublin 2 The Brooks Hotel on Drury Street in Dublin will close at the end of October for three months to allow the property to undergo a €6m refurbishment. It will reopen at the end of January 2025, it’s owners have said. The four-star property was acquired by MHL Hotel Collection in June 2023, having originally opened in 1996. The Irish Times, 16th September
Sandyford, Dublin 14 Colliers has sold Millbank House on Arkle Road in Sandyford for €3.4m (guiding €3.9m) at a yield of 7.4%. The office building in Sandyford Business Park comprises a modern four storey over basement office building extending to 22,848 sq. ft (€148.8 psf). The property is currently leased to two tenants. Pro Rugby Championship DAC holds a 10-year lease from 2017. The passing rent is €141.5k pa. Mundipharma Pharmaceuticals holds a 20-year lease from 2007. The passing rent is €134.8k pa. The Business Post, 14th September
Lower Mount Street, Dublin 2 Newmount House on Lower Mount Street, a five-storey building of 18,178 sq. ft is being offered to the market by agent Savills at a guide price of €7m (€385 psf). Newmount House is currently multi-tenanted and generating a rental income of €638k pa (GIY 9.11%). The WAULT is 1.21 years. The Irish Times, 11th September
Camden Row, Dublin 8 Avison Young is guiding a price of €1.5m (NIY 5.2%) for Nos. 20 and 20A Camden Row. The property, a protected structure, served up until recently as the home of the City and County of Dublin Conservative Workingmen’s Club. While the club is now vacating its premises at basement level, the building’s upper floors continue to generate total rental income of €87.5k pa from a strong tenant line-up. Taken together, the buildings comprise a net internal floor area of 9,291 sq. ft (€161.4 psf). The Irish Times, 11th September
Finglas, North Dublin Knight Frank is launching a warehouse facility in Finglas to the market to let from next month. The logistics warehouse at No. 8 Century Business Park extends to 20,677 sq. ft and is being let on the instructions of M7 Real Estate. The property will be available to let on a new flexible lease upon completion of the works in October. The Business Post, 13th September
Ireland has secured none of a more than €35bn wave of investment in Europe by Amazon Web Services (AWS). Last week AWS said it plans to invest £8bn (€9.47bn) in the UK over the next five years on building, operating, and maintaining data centres. Since May, AWS has announced a combined €35bn of new investment in its European cloud infrastructure, mostly to build new data centres in Britain, Germany, Spain and France. The Irish Independent, 16th September
Baggot Street Upper, Dublin 4 No. 20 Baggot Street, a four-storey commercial building, which has come to market for sale with Colliers is seeking offers of €1.5m (NIY 7.05%) for it. The entire building comprises a total of 3,024 sq. ft and the ground floor is let to a Mexican style restaurant under a ten-year lease from February 2023 and is subject to a reserved rent of €72.5k pa exclusive. The upper floor offices are all let on a number of short-term leases and generate a combined annual income of approx. €43.9k. The Business Post, 14th September
Vacancy Rates The latest report from GeoDirectory found 30,046 empty commercial units across Ireland at the end of June. Rates of dereliction are highest in small towns in the west of the country and drastically lower in prosperous parts of the eastern seaboard. The report, which was published in partnership with EY, found that the national commercial vacancy rate in Ireland rose to 14.4% in the period from April to the end of June, up 0.3% from the same period last year. This is the highest vacancy rate recorded by the organisation since reporting began in 2013. In Dublin, the commercial vacancy rate rose 0.2% to 13.3% in the second quarter of this year. The Irish Independent, 17th September
Bishopstown, Cork Dwellings Developments Bishopstown Limited has lodged a planning application for 164 new homes in Bishopstown. Cork City Council is assessing the plan, which would be developed on lands at Ardarostig and Ballinaspig Mór on Waterfall Road if approved. The development includes 64 three-bed semi-detached and terraced dwellings, 54 apartments in two blocks, and 46 duplex units. The Irish Examiner, 11th September
Swords, Co Dublin A site with planning permission for a petrol filling station next to the M1 and M50 motorways has come to the market near Swords. Cushman & Wakefield is guiding €1.2m for the triangular parcel of land which spans 0.56 acres. It is located approx. 1.4 km east of Swords town centre and has a planning permission that includes a forecourt area with three fuel pump islands, an amenity building featuring a convenience store and a restaurant/café area for food offering purposes. The Irish Independent, 12th September
Cherryhound, Co Dublin Fingal County Council is seeking expressions of interest through Savills from owner-occupiers for sites of five acres and upwards at a 92.2-acre landbank at the Cherryhound/M2 junction just north of Junction 5 on the M50 motorway in Dublin. While a formal guide price has not been set at this stage of the process, the lands, which are zoned entirely for general employment, are expected to command between €500k and €600k per acre, giving the landbank a potential overall value of between €46.1m and €55.32m. The Irish Times, 11th September
Newcastle, Co Dublin Joint agents Knight Frank and Raymond Potterton are guiding a price of €6m for Skylark Hill, a period-style residence on 68.8 acres of lands in Newcastle. Built in 2002, the house extends to 8,560 sq. ft of living accommodation and comes equipped with a large indoor swimming-pool complex and triple-car garage, on private grounds of 6 acres. The holding also includes a partially built hotel structure and double-level basement, the majority of which was constructed in 2008. The Irish Times, 11th September
Delgany, Co Wicklow Stylebawn House and its 13.9-acre site in Delgany are being offered for sale by CBRE on behalf of receiver PwC at a guide price of €4.75m. In April of this year, An Bord Pleanála upheld the refusal by Wicklow County Council of an application by RGRE J&R Stylebawn Ltd for the development of 42 apartments on part of the Stylebawn site, the conversion of the house itself and its gardener’s cottage into two houses, along with a second application for the construction of 99 apartments elsewhere on the lands. The Irish Times, 11th September
Foxrock, Dublin 18 Located at the junction of Torquay Road and Golf Lane, Foxrock Villa, a substantial five-bedroom house on a 0.93-acre site, is being offered to the market in one or more lots by agent Savills, with the entire guiding at a price of €4.5m. Lot 1 comprises the development site with planning permission for four high-specification, detached homes. The guide price is €2.75m (€687.5k per plot). Lot 2 comprises the existing Foxrock Villa, a five-bedroom house, with a guide price of €1.75m. Lot 3 comprises the entire. The Irish Times, 11th September
Dunboyne, Co Meath Dublin-based construction company Carroll Estates Ltd has submitted a €38m planning application for a 171-unit residential project in Dunboyne. The development on approx. 15 acres in Bracetown includes landscaped public spaces, a childcare facility, and private gardens or balconies for each unit. The Business Post Construction Information Services (CIS) Round-Up, 14th September
Navan, Co Meath Construction is underway on a 97-unit residential development, consisting of 53 houses and 44 duplex units at Commons Road, Navan. The Cairn Homes project includes creating two new road junctions, delivering a 210-metre section of the LDR2(a) link road, and developing infrastructure. The Business Post CIS Round-Up, 14th September
Capreit The chief executive of Capreit has vowed never to invest in Ireland again, blaming the “untrustworthy environment” of the residential rental sector. Mark Kenney, whose company Capreit sold its 18.7% stake in Ires this year, blasted the government for its rent cap policies, saying they had driven up the cost of apartments, choked off new supply and chased away international capital. A significant headwind to profits at Ires is the rent cap, which limits annual increases to 2%. With little prospect of rent controls being removed, Kenney opted to sell Capreit’s stake, taking approx. €100m back to Canada. The Sunday Times, 15th September
Rental Market Large increases in rents beyond the cap of 2% were recorded in a new research, which has prompted the RTB to write to up to 32k landlords who have potentially breached rental sector rules. The findings were included in a new report by the ESRI that assessed rent changes in more than 152,000 individual tenancies during the two-year period between the second quarter of 2022 and first quarter of 2024. The research by the ESRI, commissioned by the RTB, showed 65.3% (100,300 tenancies) faced no increase in rent, while 6.6% (10,100 tenancies) faced rent increase of more than 8%. The Business Post, 12th September
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Ballyconnell, Co Cavan The Brady Group, one of Australia’s largest private property development companies, is set to buy the four-star hotel Slieve Russell. Sources say the deal is below the asking price of €35m. Slieve Russell’s latest accounts, to the end of June 2023, show revenues of more than €19m and a pre-tax profit of €9k. A note in the accounts said the balance sheet showed a net liability at the end of June 2023 of €41.7m resulting from the debt owed to Irish Bank Resolution Company. The Sunday Times, 8th September
Stepaside, South Co Dublin The Step Inn in Stepaside village is being offered for sale with Lisney guiding €3.25m for the gastro pub. It is being sold by Declan Kelly and John McCluskey who bought it in 2004 for a sum believed to be more than the current guide price. Sitting on a site of more than 0.5 acres, the building itself extends to over 8,643 sq. ft of gross internal accommodation. The Irish Independent, 5th September
Blackrock, South Dublin Block 2 at Blackrock Business Park has been sold to a private Irish investor for €8.75m (€316 psf) and was guiding €10.25m. The property’s contracted rent is €920k pa (NIY 9.5%). Block 2 briefly comprises a standalone three-storey office building extending to 27,678 sq. ft with 71 car-parking spaces. The tenant line-up comprises Identigen and Becton Dickinson, with a WAULT of approx. four years to break and 10 years to lease expiry. The Irish Times, 4th September
Lower Hatch Street, Dublin 2 French investor Atland Voisin has paid approx. €24m (€537 psf) for “20 on Hatch”, a prime office building on Lower Hatch Street in Dublin. While the price paid by Atland represents a 9% discount on the €26.5m price the property had been guiding when it was offered to the market on behalf of Davy Real Estate in April 2024, it is a full 40% below the valuation ascribed to it by its outgoing owners in 2018. The subject property comprises a six-storey-over-basement office building of 44,735 sq. ft, with MetLife occupying five floors. In 2018, the company extended its existing lease term for 10 years, at an agreed rent in excess of €50 per sq. ft. The Irish Times, 4th September
Dundrum, Dublin 14 Lisney has been instructed to find a buyer for John Paul Construction’s former offices in Dundrum Business Park. John Paul’s former base comprises 21,822 sq. ft of office accommodation and 36 dedicated car-parking spaces. The building is available for sale with full vacant possession at a guide price of €5.25m (€240 psf). The Irish Times, 4th September
Eyre Square, Galway A retail unit investment in Eyre Square Shopping Centre is being offered for sale and TWM is seeking in excess of €1m for it. Unit 216 is let to Now Newsagents Ltd trading as The Card Shop and it has a contracted annual rent of €131.9k (NIY 12%) under a 35-year lease which commenced in May 1991. Located on the second floor of the centre, Unit 216 extends to 1,249 sq. ft, most of it retailing space with some office/storage accommodation to the rear. The Irish Independent, 5th September
Nutgrove Avenue, Dublin 14 Agar is handling the long-lease let of a new retail/retail warehouse unit of approx. 5,920 sq. ft at the popular Nutgrove Retail Park in Nutgrove Avenue in Dublin 14. The ground-floor unit with a 7,049 sq. ft mezzanine will be available in Q2 2025 in a ‘grey box’ shell format. The Business Post, 7th September
Talbot Street, Dublin 1 English-language school, ICOT College, has agreed a deal to lease the entire of Block A at Joyce’s Court on Talbot Street in Dublin city centre for its new headquarters. The college will occupy the building on a new 25-year lease with a break option at year 15 and will pay a rent of approx. €27 per sq. ft with tenant incentives. The Irish Times, 4th September
Naas, Co Kildare TWM has launched the sale of two parcels of industrial zoned land totalling approx. 19.26 acres along the M7 Corridor at Jigginstown in Naas at a guide price of €7.2m (€375k per acre) for the entire. The two sites are flexibly offered in lots including 16.3 acres in Lot 1; the second lot comprises 2.96 acres; and Lot 3 covers the entire. The Business Post, 7th September
Arklow, Co Wicklow Four industrial units at Knockanrahan Industrial Estate, Arklow, Co Wicklow have come to the market and agent Knight Frank is quoting a combined guide price of more than €1.35m (€38 psf). The properties offer a total of 35,451 sq. ft gross external floor area and are situated on a 2.65-acre site. Units 1 A, B and C have their own entrance and are vacant. Unit 2 is a detached building with separate access to the front and is let on a short-term lease expiring on June 30, 2025 at an annual rent of €40k. The Irish Independent, 5th September
Athlone, Co Westmeath Harvey has launched a 79,000 sq. ft warehouse facility in Athlone to the letting market. The Flancare Facility in the Blyry Business and Commercial Park is available for immediate occupation. The three-storey offices provide a mix of small and large offices, a canteen, boardroom and reception. The Business Post, 7th September
Queen Street, Galway Elkstone has teamed up with Harrison Street, a global institutional investor, to develop an eight-storey, 345-bed purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) scheme in Galway. The development on Queen Street, Galway City, is the second PBSA project developed by Elkstone and Harrison Street. It follows the recently opened 142-bed Stoneybatter Place in Dublin. The Galway project is due for completion in 2026. The Business Post, 5th September
Aungier Street, Dublin 2 Lisney is guiding a price of €2.75m for No. 16 Aungier Street. The subject property comprises a ground-floor restaurant unit and six bedrooms within a four-storey mid-terrace building of 3,555 sq. ft. No. 16 comes to the market fully let with an overall rent roll of €188.42k pa. The ground-floor unit is let to the Chinese restaurant Bigfan, producing an income of €50k pa. The residential units produce an annual rental income of €138.42k. The Irish Times, 4th September
Grattan Street, Dublin 2 Nos. 8/9 Grants Row and 14 Grattan Street are being guided at an overall price of €5.75m through Lisney. The subject property comprises a total of 17 bedrooms, all of which are being sold with the benefit of vacant possession and with no rental cap in place. The subject property comprises two buildings. 8/9 Grants Row is a vacant three-storey building currently in residential use, with a total area of approx. 7,004 sq. ft. The building has 17 bedrooms, six kitchens, nine bathrooms and 18 storage units. 14 Grattan Street briefly comprises a two-storey period terrace house extending to approx. 861 sq. ft. The Irish Times, 4th September
Donegal A residential development site with potential for 194 houses in Donegal town is being offered for sale by a local businessman and the joint selling agents Cushman & Wakefield and Anderson Estates are guiding more than €2.75m for it. Situated 1km south-east of the town centre, the site extends to just under 22 acres. The Irish Independent, 5th September
Merrion Road, South Co Dublin Joint agents Knight Frank and CBRE have just launched a waterfront development opportunity located on the Merrion Road in South Co Dublin at a guide price of €5m. The 4.8 acre site is situated beside the Merrion House office building and lands opposite the entrance to the Elm Park office and residential development. An Bord Pleanála granted permission in July 2023 for a unique recreational development. The development has a proposed internal area of approx. 68,135 sq. ft, which includes a large restaurant of 4,865 sq. ft. The Business Post, 6th September
Kilbarry, Cork An Bord Pleanála has granted planning permission for the development of more than 319 homes in Cork city on land owned by the GAA. The GAA bought the 36.5 acres site in the 1960s on the northside of Cork city. It has since been zoned as residential for housing. The proposed development is located next to the Old Whitechurch Road in Kilbarry and includes 319 homes and a créche. The Irish Times, 10th September
BNP Paribas Ireland Report Construction activity in Ireland remained stable in August despite emerging labour constrains in the sector, according to new figures. According to the August construction activity index from BNP Paribas Ireland, commercial construction grew for the first time in three months, while housing activity registered a slight contraction following a five-month sequence of expansion. The Business Post, 9th September
Stamp Duty The rate of stamp duty on the bulk purchase of new homes by so-called vulture funds should be doubled to 20%, according to Fine Gael, amid mounting pressure on the coalition to tackle the housing crisis. The proposal places housing firmly at the centre of the forthcoming general election campaign and will be viewed as an attempt by Fine Gael to outflank Fianna Fail before the budget next month. Earlier this year Michael McGrath, as the Fianna Fail finance minister, ruled out increasing the rate. The Sunday Times, 8th September
Housing Investment The head of one of Ireland’s biggest landlords has said uncertainty surrounding the upcoming general election is one of the major hurdles facing institutional investors in housing. John Keegan, managing director of Kennedy Wilson in Ireland, said many investors are also put off investing in the Irish market due to the 2% cap on increasing rents. The Business Post, 6th September
Rental Market The lack of supply in the “dysfunctional” Irish housing market is feeding to an increasingly adversarial dynamic between landlords and tenants, according to an industry body for chartered surveyors. In its pre-budget submission, the SCSI called for the establishment of a dedicated rental adjudication body, or “rental court”, within the RTB. The Business Post, 9th September
Housing Shortfall Ireland’s housing deficit has widened drastically in the last two years, with the country’s housing shortfall standing at up to 290,000 homes in 2024, according to Cairn Homes. The homebuilder estimated that population growth and insufficient housing delivery had driven Ireland’s housing deficit to a minimum of 248,980 homes to a maximum of 292,480. This is a marked increase on the Housing Commission’s estimated deficit based on Census 2022 figures, which ranged from 212,500 to 256,000 homes. The company’s interim results noted that Ireland’s annual housing need “far exceeds” the current 50,000 a year target pledged by the government. The Business Post, 5th September
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East Wall Road, Dublin 3 BCP Capital is closing in on the purchase of the Beckett Building on Dublin’s East Wall Road for approx. €35m (14.9% NIY; €185 per sq. ft), which had been guided by Colliers when it offered the property to the market. The expected sale price represents a reduction of 56% on the €80m figure that had been mooted when CBRE first offered the building for sale in January 2023, and a discount of 65% on the €101m Kookmin Bank paid when they acquired it. Meta remains responsible for its annual €5.75m rent and all outgoings until the break option of its lease on July 31st, 2027. The Irish Times, 29th August
Dublin Vodafone is weighing up a move from its headquarters in Leopardstown in south Dublin. The telecoms giant has gone to the market in recent weeks with a requirement of between 48,437 sq. ft and 69,965 sq. ft. Such an office size could accommodate 500 to 700 people. It would be considerably smaller than the company’s current base at Central Park, which is approx. 263,715 sq. ft. The lease is due to expire in 2026. The Sunday Times, 1st September
Office Portfolio New financial accounts for Henderson Park’s main Irish operation show it recorded a €215.1m impairment on its investment in subsidiaries in 2023. This resulted in the value of its property portfolio in Ireland falling from more than €1.14bn to €930.3m in the year to the end of November 2023. The records for Hpref Dublin Office Bidco Limited, which is the main operating vehicle for Henderson Park in Ireland, also showed income from its subsidiaries fell from €219.5m to €131.9m and the company booked an after-tax loss of €178.4m. The Business Post, 31st August
Valentia Island, Co Kerry The Royal Valentia Hotel on Valentia Island in south Co Kerry has come to market with a guide price of excess €3m. The hotel is being sold by CBRE on the instructions of its Dublin owners, the Kidd family, who acquired the hotel in 2006 and are now retiring. The venue has 30 rooms and was recently granted planning for an additional 21 bedrooms. The Business Post, 29th August
Galway The Sleepzone Hostel in Galway city has been rebranded and has begun trading as The Dawson Hostel following the sale of the business on behalf of Ronan Garvey to a consortium of private Irish investors. While the value of the deal has not been disclosed, the Galway hostel is understood to have sold for the €5m price that had been guided by CBRE last January. Located on Bóthar na mBan, The Dawson Hostel Galway comprises a purpose-built four-storey accommodation facility with 180 bed spaces distributed across 35 rooms. The Irish Times, 28th August
Citywest, Co Dublin JLL and Harvey have been jointly appointed to lease Unit 34 Magna Business Park in Citywest on behalf of real estate investment manager, EQT Exeter. The prime, Grade A unit is under construction and will span approx. 149,403 sq. ft when completed to the latest ESG standards in Q4 2025. The development is a collaboration between EQT Exeter and the Irish-owned firm Sandymark. The Business Post, 31st August
Investment One of the world’s biggest student accommodation providers has warned that it is actively diverting investment out of Ireland amid a sharp row with the government over new laws to regulate the sector. GSA Group, which operates approx. 4,000 student beds in Ireland through the Yugo brand, has said it is choosing to build in other European locations. The company has threatened to launch legal action against the government after it passed emergency legislation that stops operators from operating 51-week leases. The Business Post, 1st September
Ringaskiddy, Cork Plans for 24 student apartments in Ringaskiddy have been rejected after a referral to An Bord Pleanála. Cork County Council had initially blocked the development, which had been proposed by PByrne Partnership for a site at Rose Lodge Main Street in Ringaskiddy. The proposal included plans for 24 student houses, comprising 192 study bedrooms and additional communal amenities. The houses would be two-storey dormer-style houses, purpose-built for the student population of the area. The Irish Examiner, 27th August
College Green, Dublin 2 The former Ulster Bank premises on College Green has gone back up for sale, with a guide price of €14m, according to agent Cushman & Wakefield. The property listing, which is currently listed as ‘sale agreed’ on its website, is up from the previous guiding price of €13.5m when it was first put up for sale in September last year. Located at 33 College Green, the building has a total floor plan of 62,861 sq. ft and it sits on a site of 0.3 acres. The Business Post, 28th August
Blackpool, Co Cork The developers of a €30m apartment scheme in Blackpool plan to break ground before year end, having reached agreement with an approved housing body. Cork city-based Bellmount Developments Ltd plan to build 114 apartments on Redforge Road, the former site of Millfield Service Station. The government-backed scheme, which will range in height from four to nine storeys, will be a mix of cost rental and social housing, with an approx. 50/50 split. The development will include 79 one-bed and 35 two-bed apartments. Bellmount’s directors expect the building work to be completed by the end of 2025. The Irish Examiner, 29th August
Deansgrange, South Dublin Ten residents have won their High Court challenge against planning approval for a proposed development of 299 housing units on a site adjoining Clonkeen College. Permission was sought for 299 units, comprising 60 duplexes in six three-storey blocks, 239 apartments in four six-storey blocks, and a single storey childcare facility on a site owned by the Christian Brothers but subject to a contract for sale to Clonkeen Investments, the completion of which depended on planning permission. The Irish Times, 1st September
Mortgage Activity A total of 5,313 home loans were approved by Irish lenders during July, up 11.9% on a year earlier, according to BPFI. Approvals rose 18.6% MoM in July. The value of mortgages approved in the month rose 18.8% on the year to €1.61bn. It increased by 20.2% on June. First-time buyers accounted for approx. 63% of approvals, by value, during July, while people moving to another home made up a further 27%, the BPFI figures show. The Irish Times, 28th August
Housing Policy Sinn Féin has pledged to spend €39bn on housing over the next five years to deliver 300,000 homes, if the party is elected to government. Housing spokesman Eoin Ó Broin and party leader Mary Lou McDonald unveiled the new housing plan in Dublin, which promised to end subsidies for home buyers, reduce rent subsidies, deliver affordable homes for between €250k – €300k, strengthen tenants’ rights and freeze rents for all existing and new tenancies for three years. The full cost of the Sinn Féin plan over a five-year period, it says, would be €39bn, comprised of €37bn for a programme of new building and €2bn for housing acquisitions. The Irish Times, 2nd September
Residential Construction Financing There has been a 200% growth in financing approvals for social and affordable homes in the first six months of 2024, the State agency with responsibility for lending to local authorities and AHBs has said. The Housing Finance Agency said that a total of €861.5m was sanctioned for AHBs to facilitate the delivery of a planned 3,194 new homes between January and June this year. It also said that a total of €455m was drawn down by AHBs to contribute to the development of 1,328 homes in the first half of the year. The Irish Times, 28th August
Sherry FitzGerald Report Development land transaction activity in the Greater Dublin Area and the regional centres of Cork, Galway and Limerick, rebounded during the first half of 2024 to reach approx. €411m, according to Sherry FitzGerald. The figure is more than double the €146m recorded for the same period in 2023. It is also higher than the long-term first-half average of €318m, according to the report’s authors. Overall, the volume of development-land transactions remained stable, with 43 sales closing during the first six months of this year, compared with 40 deals for the same period in 2023. The Irish Times, 28th August
Savills Analysis A new analysis by Savills Ireland identified an average of 5.9 properties for rent or share for every 10,000 people, less than a quarter of the number of homes for sale (24.2). Dublin had the highest availability of rental properties, at 15.3 per 10,000 people. However, it warned that supply of rental stock is significantly falling off, with a 27% drop anticipated for this year, and a further 58% collapse expected in 2025. The analysis also extended to the market for homes to purchase and found that Dublin had 19.5 homes on the market for every 10,000 people. The Business Post, 28th August
JLL Report According to JLL’s Dublin Living Report, the living investment sector in Ireland has plateaued over the last four quarters after nearly a decade of rapid expansion. This is due to weaker market fundamentals, particularly around the economics of development and higher costs of borrowing, along with the 2% rental cap. In the opening half of 2024, the number of deals are down 55.4% on the 10-year H1 averages and volumes are down 71% in the same period. Despite the challenges presented, there has not been the more extreme repricing that has been experienced in some of the other sectors. Strong occupier fundamentals, rental growth, and overall operational performance have underpinned values. JLL Report, 3rd September
Non-Performing Exposure Banks could begin to move more aggressively in the coming months with an expected sharp rise in non-performing exposures in Ireland’s commercial property market, a Grant Thornton insolvency expert has warned. A number of high-profile property sales are expected to close at approx. 15% below asking price soon and this could lead to technical defaults on other loans in the market, sparking action by the banks, said Colm Dolan, a director in the accountancy firm’s restructuring department. The Irish Independent, 1st September
Offshore Wind Energy Codling Wind Park, Ireland’s largest phase one offshore renewable energy project, will submit its planning application to An Bord Pleanála. The project is a joint venture between offshore wind developer, Fred Olsen Seawind and energy company, EDF Renewables. Codling Wind Park will have a capacity of up to 1,300 megawatts and will be able to supply over 1 million Irish homes with clean renewable energy. It will be located between 13 to 22 km off the Wicklow coast and will connect to the Irish grid at Poolbeg in Dublin. The Business Post, 29th August
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Middle Abbey Street, Dublin 1 Turley Property Advisors is guiding a price of €3.75m for 94-96 Middle Abbey Street, a four-bay, five-storey-over-basement mixed-use building in Dublin City Centre. The ground floor and basement are currently laid out as retail at ground level and retail/storage at basement level and as apartment accommodation on the upper three floors. The first floor was formerly occupied by a long-established retail jeweller. The six existing apartments comprise one three-bedroom unit and five two-bedroom units. The upper floors of the property are being sold with vacant possession expected by March 2024. The ground floor and basement are let to a strong covenant, the electrical product supplier City Electrical Factors on a 20-year lease from February 2015. The current rental income is €210k pa with asset-management potential to increase that to more than €300k pa. The Irish Times, 20th September
Ballycoolin, Dublin 11 Savills is quoting a combined rent of €1.405m for a large office headquarters and warehouse facility at Huntstown Business Park in Ballycoolin, Dublin 11. The property comprises a detached two-storey office extending to 30,774 sq. ft and a detached warehouse premises of 78,114 sq. ft, providing a total of 108,888 sq. ft of accommodation. The buildings are available to let in one or more lots. The Irish Times, 20th September
Lower Mount Street, Dublin 2 Businessman Laurence Goodman jnr has completed a €30m deal for Nos. 73 – 83 Lower Mount Street. The price paid by Mr. Goodman represents a 20% discount on the €37.5m Savills had been guiding when it brought the building to the market on behalf of Irish property company Iput last February. The €30m sale price equates to a capital value of just under €500 per sq. ft and will provide the purchaser with a 7% return on his investment based on the property’s current rental income. The purchaser will have the guarantee of 100% government income for just under five years to break and eight years to lease expiry as the building is fully let to the Office of Public Works on FRI leases. Existing tenants include the Revenue Commissioners. Currently the property, which has two separate entrances, is split by way of Timberlay and Ballaugh House. The offices are arranged over lower-ground and four upper floors, extending to a total net internal area of 60,207 sq. ft. Iput secured planning permission from An Bord Pleanála in 2021 for the demolition and redevelopment of the property to incorporate a five-storey over-basement office building extending to 117,177 sq. ft (GIA). The Irish Times, 20th September
Sandyford Business District, Dublin 18 Millbank House, which is occupied by two tenants at present, is being offered to the market by Colliers at a guide price of €3.9m (NIY 6.44%). This would equate to a capital value of €170 per sq. ft, which is substantially below the building’s replacement cost. Millbank House comprises a four-storey over-basement office building extending to a gross internal area of 22,848 sq. ft, along with 40 basement car-parking spaces. The building has open-plan floor plates which range in size from 4,000 sq. ft to 5,500 sq. ft. The building is currently occupied by two tenants. Pro Rugby Championship DAC hold a 10-year lease from 2017, expiring in December 2027. The passing rent in this case is €141.48k pa. The second tenant, Mundipharma Pharmaceuticals, hold a 20-year lease expiring in October 2027. The passing rent here is €134.87k pa (with an outstanding rent review from 2022). The Irish Times, 20th September
Dame Street, Dublin 2 WeWork plans to open its new flexible office space in the old Central Bank building on Dame Street in May 2024 – approx. five years after the initial deadline set for the project’s completion. The co-work space provider has confirmed that the fit-out of One Central Plaza has now commenced ahead of opening the 73,000 sq. ft space next year. The announcement comes weeks after WeWork announced that “substantial doubt exists” over the future of the company and revealed plans to engage with many landlords globally to renegotiate its leases. The Business Post, 19th September
Navan, Co Meath Athlumney House, which is better known as the headquarter offices of the Garda Human Resources Directorate, is being offered to the market by Colliers at a guide price of €5.7m (NIY 7%). The building is leased in its entirety to the Office Public Works (OPW) under a single, FRI 20-year lease from 2008 and is subject to an outstanding rent review from October 2022, which is on upwards-only terms. Extending to a gross internal area of 29,500 sq. ft, Athlumney House comprises an original two-storey over-basement period property that interlinks with a modern office extension extending to 20,506 sq. ft over ground and first floor. The property sits on a 4.23-acre site and has 112 car-parking spaces. The Irish Times, 20th September
Fenian Street, Dublin 2 TikTok is set to take over the majority of the Dublin office of X (formerly known as Twitter), having agreed a sublease on the Fenian Street premises for up to five years. The Chinese-owned social media giant has signed heads of terms to take four of the five floors at Cumberland House, and aims to take up occupancy by early 2024, it reported. X has dramatically downsized its office space in the past 12 months, following job cuts imposed by new owner Elon Musk last year. The Irish Times, 24th September
Blackrock, South Co Dublin Aviva Life & Pensions Ireland DAC (Aviva) has secured DunPort Capital Management as the second tenant for its recently refurbished offices at Blackrock Village Centre in the south Dublin suburb of Blackrock. DunPort Capital Management has agreed a deal to occupy the second floor of office accommodation (4,316 sq. ft) on a new 10-year lease. The Irish Times, 20th September
Naas, Co Kildare Microsoft is in the early stages of planning for a new data centre in Naas, Co Kildare. The tech giant, which already has 15 data centres in Ireland, confirmed the move in a statement. The company said it has commenced initial pre-planning consultation with authorities for a site that has been specifically zoned for data centre use by Kildare Co Council in its 2021-2027 Naas local area plan. Microsoft said its preferred solution is to use 100% renewable energy to power the planned facility. The Business Post, 21st September
Booterstown, South Dublin Developers Paddy McKillen jnr and Matt Ryan have secured planning permission from An Bord Pleanála for the development of a luxurious wellness facility, spa and interpretative centre on the lands adjacent to Booterstown Marsh and bird sanctuary in South Dublin. The approved scheme will, upon completion, comprise a five-storey building rising to a height of 61 ft and extending across a total area of 68,114 sq. ft. The Irish Times, 20th September
Ballycurreen, Cork A Cork site is up for sale with planning permission for a 158-bed hotel recently secured on the Kinsale Road at Ballycurreen, between the city and the international airport. The hotel site of 2.15 acres is part of an approx. 7-acre mixed use land parcel at Ballycurreen which also include plans for approx. 130 apartments and duplexes in 12 blocks of three storeys each as well as other neighbourhood uses. The Irish Examiner, 21st September
Portumna, Co Galway The site containing the burned down Shannon Oaks Hotel in Portumna, which is owned by the Comer brothers, has been removed from Galway’s derelict site register. The hotel, which was ravaged by a fire in 2011 and went into liquidation soon after, was acquired by Galway brothers and property developers Luke and Brian Comer in 2016. In January of this year, Galway County Council added the lands to its derelict site register. Owners of sites on the register are required to pay a 7% levy on the value of the property to the local council. A spokeswoman for Galway County Council has now confirmed that the site has been removed from the derelict sites register. She said “works were satisfactorily carried out” on the site, but the owners will still face a levy for 2023, with a demand for payment due to be issued to the Comer brothers soon. The Business Post, 25th September
Ballsbridge, Dublin 4 Richmond Homes, the house building arm of real estate investment firm Avestus Capital Partners, is looking to dispose of the former St Mary’s nursing home at Pembroke Park in Ballsbridge, Dublin 4. Having paid in excess of €6m to acquire the property in 2018, Richmond Homes has, since then, secured planning permission for two potential residential schemes on its 0.85-acre site. With approval now in place for the development of either 23 owner-occupier apartments or 64 build-to-rent units, joint agents Cushman & Wakefield and Sherry Fitzgerald Commercial are guiding a price of €7m for the site. The first planning permission was granted to Richmond Homes’ vehicle, the Pembroke Road Partnership, in 2020 for 23 apartments, comprising three one-bedroom apartments, 15 two-bedroom apartments and five three-bedroom apartments over basement car parking for 25 spaces. The second, more recent planning permission meanwhile was granted in May of this year and allows for the development of a basement-free 64 unit BTR scheme, comprising 19 studios, 41 one-bedroom apartments and four two-bedroom apartments. The Irish Times, 20th September
Balgriffin, Dublin 17 Knight Frank is guiding a price of €2.95m for a residential development opportunity at Carr’s Lane in Balgriffin, Dublin 17. The subject site currently comprises a single-storey house with adjoining lands extending to a total of 6.45 acres. The lands are laid out in two divisions separated by a band of trees, with two existing access points off Carr’s Lane which connects to the Malahide Road. The Irish Times, 20th September
Kilkenny Joint agents Cushman & Wakefield and FitzGerald Auctioneers are inviting residential developers to submit expressions of interest to partner with Tesco in the development of the former mart site in Kilkenny city by providing a significant residential element within the site. The brownfield site is located less than 1km north of the city centre and benefits from ample profile onto the Castlecomer Road, New Road and Old Mart Street. Those interested are requested to submit expressions of interest by November 1. The Business Post, 23rd September
Donabate, North Co Dublin A fresh planning application for a housing development of 1,020 residential units, a 32-acre nature park, crèches and links to the Broadmeadow Greenway has been submitted to Fingal County Council. Set to replace the previous SHD application granted by An Bord Pleanála in November 2022, the current proposal represents a significant reduction in the number of apartments in favour of houses with their own back garden. The number of 529 houses proposed in this plan is scheduled to increase by 160 units compared to the original plan. Own-door duplex and triplex units now stand at 356, an increase of four; however, apartments see the greatest change down from 592 units to just 84, a drop of 508 units. The overall plan sees a reduction of over 345 units in total when compared to the original SHD application. The proposed construction period will be over ten years. The site at Corballis, Donabate is being developed by Aledo Donabate, part of the Cannon Kirk Group in conjunction with Lioncor. The Business Post, 22nd September
An Bord Pleanála is now refusing as many homes under fast-track planning rules as it is approving. Since April, when the board was brought up to a full complement of 15 members, it has refused developers permission to build more than 2,200 homes. In that five-month period, the same number were approved. The homes refused permission had applied under the Strategic Housing Development (SHD) scheme, which was created in 2016 to allow developers to bypass local authorities and apply directly to An Bord Pleanála for permission to build large housing projects. An Bord Pleanála has typically approved approx. 80% of SHD cases. The rate of approval has now dropped to 50%. The Irish Times, 24th September
The Irish Property Owners Association (IPOA) has recommended the government introduce a 25% income tax for landlords to help address the housing crisis. In its pre-budget submission, the IPOA has also sought an extension of CGT and a reduction in CAT. The recommendations come ahead of next month’s budget, which has the government divided over tax breaks for landlords. In its submission, the landlord representative group said this recommendation would “encourage the retention of landlords in the residential property market while ensuring adequate availability of stock for rent.” The body is seeking the 25% income tax rate to be inclusive of USC and PRSI charges. The recommendation on CGT was based on property owners committing to retaining rental properties for a minimum of seven years, which it said would ensure stability in the market. The Business Post, 20th September
Residential Rents New renters are paying on average €214 each month more than existing tenants nationwide, according to research by Economic and Social Research Institute. A new study conducted by the institute has found that while the highest difference in rents between new and existing tenancies was in Dublin, at €233 on average, it was the northwest and west of the country which recorded the biggest differences in percentage terms. The percentage difference between new and existing tenants was highest in Waterford on 28.6% and Limerick on 27.4%. Dublin while having the largest euro difference only showed a 13.6% difference in prices. The average rent in Dublin rose to €2,102 in the first quarter of this year, according to the Residential Tenancies Board. The Business Post, 20th September
Harolds’s Cross, Dublin 6 A shovel-ready site in Harold’s Cross, Dublin 6 has been brought to the market. Agent Cushman & Wakefield is guiding over €2m (€100k per unit) for the 0.2-acre site at 146-156 Harold’s Cross Road which currently comprises a terraced block of five mixed-use derelict properties which were previously in residential and commercial use. Last December it was granted planning permission for 20 residential units including 13 one-bed apartments, three two-bed units and four two-bed duplexes. The Irish Independent, 21st September
Rochestown Road, Cork Sherry FitzGerald, jointly with Sherry FitzGerald Reynolds, are guiding the bungalow property called The Orchard near the Fingerpost at €1.75m. It has two sections of frontage, 45m and nine meters, to the Rochestown Road, with a separately owned house also on the road, on the village side of the Rochestown Park Hotel, facing some of the road’s premier private houses behind high stone walls. The joint agents describe it as “the Grade A well-established desirable area of Douglas/Rochestown Road,” and say there’s good access, a range of adjacent services plus a bus stop. The Irish Examiner, 21st September
College Green, Dublin 2 Dublin City Council is considering buying one of the most prominent buildings on Dublin’s College Green, the former Ulster Bank, so it can be converted into social housing. The bank was put on the market in recent weeks with a guide price of €13.5m, as part of the portfolio of sales of the bank’s former branch network following its closure earlier this year. More than 12k homes and commercial properties are vacant across Dublin, with 40% empty for more than four years – putting them at significant risk of dereliction. The Irish Times, 25th September
Monkstown, South Dublin Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council has refused planning permission to US group Greystar for a 488-unit build-to-rent BTR scheme on grounds around Dalguise House on Monkstown Road in South Dublin. Greystar subsidiary GEDV Monkstown Owner Limited’s application was refused after more than 70 objections were lodged against the scheme. The refused scheme comprised 488 new-build units and three two-storey, three-bed terraced units. Ten blocks were to be constructed, with one block reaching nine storeys. The scheme as planned included 288 one-bed units with an estimated average monthly rent of €2.5k, or €30k annually. The Irish Times, 21st September
New Land Tax House buyers could end up paying more for their homes because of the costs incurred by developers seeking to exclude sites from a new land tax, property developer Michael O’Flynn has warned. Mr. O’Flynn, who faces approx. €1m annual tax bill on land he plans to develop off Dublin’s Naas Road, as a result of losing an appeal to An Bord Pleanála, said an “unintended consequence” of the new tax is that it will “add to the cost of housing”. Moreover, when the tax itself – known as the Residential Zoned Land Tax (RZLT) – is aimed specifically at lands which have benefitted from investment in services and are capable of being developed for housing but remain idle. Where lands are taxed, that cost is also likely to be passed on by developers to the end-purchaser. The Irish Examiner, 21st September
Dublin Airport An unnamed Saudi investor is in the hunt for strategic lands at Dublin Airport, as bidders press for reassurance about access to the runways and the road network. Vendors led by brothers UIick and Des McEvaddy have told prospective buyers they will take second-round bids in November, delaying a process that had been expected to culminate in early autumn. As talks continue, bidders have urged the vendors to provide comfort about the right to access to the DAA’s runways and roads in North Co Dublin. In the opening phase of the sale, the vendors provided a senior counsel’s opinion on runway access that they commissioned. That paper cited a European case that underlined the right of private landowners to access State infrastructure if it is deemed necessary for the public interest. An updated legal opinion is now said to be in preparation. The Irish Times, 25th September
Francis Street, Dublin 8 Funding of €9m for essential conservation work to halt the structural decline of the Iveagh Markets in Dublin’s Liberties has been approved by the Government. The Edwardian building on Francis Street, which is at the centre of a legal dispute over its ownership, has been vacant for 30 years and has over the last decade declined into a ruinous condition. Dublin City Council has agreed to undertake structural safety works to the building and said it is currently evaluating tenders for a design team to oversee “essential stabilisation works”. The Irish Times, 21st September
EY Survey According to a survey conducted by EY, 75% of real estate companies are actively preparing to raise or refinance debt in the coming year despite facing macroeconomic headwinds. More than half of these firms are keenly eyeing potential buying opportunities in distressed assets within the same timeframe. Domestically, bank debt remains the preferred funding source for the majority, followed closely by international debt funds. Margin considerations hold significant sway, particularly in the context of rising interest rates. A noteworthy 60% of respondents have already implemented sustainability plans, which could potentially translate into improved access to capital and more favourable terms. Effective debt planning is becoming increasingly paramount in the current dynamic environment, where an ever-changing lending landscape and evolving lender expectations require precise alignment for successful finance raising. EY Real Estate Borrowers Outlook Survey 2023, 25th September
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