Eight bidders chase Wicklow Street shop up to €2m

A private Dublin investor has outbid seven other parties to buy a retail investment at 19 Wicklow Street for just over €2 million – more than €100,000 above the guide price.

The high level of interest in the investment (it attracted no fewer than 27 inquiries) underlines the pent-up demand for relatively low-priced retail properties in Dublin’s south inner city.

Many of those bidding for these investments had obviously decided to avail of fast-improving retail rents and the prospects of capital appreciation rather than relying on minuscule bank interest rates.

In this instance the new owner of the Wicklow Street property will collect a rent of €103,100, equating to a net initial yield of 4.8 per cent.

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Net yield

From this month onwards, the rent is expected to move to at least €120,000/€130,000 per annum, pushing the net yield out to around 5.5 per cent.

Christopher Belton of Lisney,who handled the sale, said the high level of interest stemmed not only from the reversionary nature of the rents, but also because of the excellent location of the property within 130m of Grafton Street.

The fact that the building was occupied by long-standing tenants also proved important.

Vegetarian restaurant Cornucopia has traded for the past 30 years out of the ground floor of No 19 as well as No 20, which are interlinked at street and basement levels.

No 19 has 68sq m (732sq ft) at street level and an overall floor area of 289sq m (3,111sq ft) on five levels, including the basement.

The restaurant is paying €80,000 for the ground, basement and office on the second floor.

Separate access

Louis Copeland has a separate access to the first floor and also rents part of the second and third floor floors for €23,100.

Cornucopia’s leasehold interest in No 20 is not affected by the sale, nor is Louis Copeland’s additional lease of the adjoining building, No 18.