Grafton Street values rise

Property values are rapidly recovering on Grafton Street, according to the latest sale of a prominent retail building on the street.

Irish Shell Trust's pension fund is believed to have secured in excess of €6.5 million – more than €1 million above the guide price – for the Carphone Warehouse building which has apparently been bought by a private investor. The underbidder was Hibernia REIT. Dublin agent North's declined to comment on the off-market sale which will show a yield of no more than 4.5 per cent.

Meanwhile, the Bus Stop newsagents at 6 Grafton Street, also for sale at the moment at a guide price of €3 million, has been priced to show an initial return of 7.3 per cent.

The 3G Hutchinson building on the same street showed a return of 7.1 per cent; the €7.2 million paid for Avoca reflected a yield of 5.7 per cent; while the earlier sale of River Island on Grafton Street for €40 million showed a return of 7 per cent.

Carphone Warehouse is locked into a 35-year lease on the building from 1993, subject to the usual upwards-only rent reviews.

The contracted rent of €485,000 has been abated by agreement to €310,000. The five-storey building extends to 324sq m (3,490sq ft) including a ground floor retail area of 76sq m
(818sq ft).

Carephone Warehouse, Europe's largest independent mobile phone retailer, is in merger talks with Dixon Retail, the electrical retailer.