In Short

A roundup of today's other commercial property news in brief

Motor firms in Merrion move

TWO companies in the motor industry have leased a vacant yard at the junction of Fosters Avenue and Roebuck Hill in Mount Merrion, Co Dublin. Mount Merrion Tyres is to pay around €30,000 per annum for part of the site while Mount Merrion Car Sales is taking the remainder of the space as well as an office building at a rent of €40,000 per annum. Browne Corrigan chartered surveyors handled the lettings.

Pandora opens on Grafton St

A FRANCHISEE for the jewellery chain Pandora has leased the former Tie Rack building at 35 Grafton Street, Dublin 2 . A headline rent of around €210,000 has been agreed for the four-storey building which has a ground floor retail area of 41.53sq m (447sq ft). The lease is understood to include a rent-free period.

Pandora, one of the three largest jewellery brands in the world, has 260 branded stores, including one recently opened in Cork. Simon Cooper of Savills, who handled the letting, said that despite the difficult retail environment, Pandora had to compete against two other leading retailers for the well-located store. Knight Frank advised the Pandora franchisee who plans to open for business in the first week of December.

Global media firm moves here

GLOBAL business media company United Business Media has transferred its corporate head office from London to Dublin, where it is to rent a penthouse in the Henry J Lyons office block at 51/54 Pearse Street.

The company is understood to be paying in excess of €269 per sq m (€25 per sq ft) for the 227sq m (2,443sq ft) office under a 10-year lease with a break option in year five.

Yvonne Fitzpatrick of DTZ Sherry FitzGerald advised the media company. Deirdre Hayes of HT Meagher O’Reilly acted for the landlord.

Zeiss plants back on market

AN industrial plant and an adjoining site at Whitemill Industrial Estate in Wexford town, due to be sold three years ago at just under €3 million, is back on the market with an asking price of €1,035,000.

Kehoe Associates is handling the sale of one of the two plants operated by Carl Zeiss Vision which has a floor area of 3,251sq m (35,000 sq ft).

There are two adjoining sites of 1.6 and 1.25 acres which may be sold separately.