Temple Bar block of 12 retail units for €7.8m

One of the key retail blocks in Dublin's Temple Bar area with a range of restaurants including Elephant & Castle is to be offered for sale as part of the ongoing disposal of distressed assets held by Treasury Holdings before it was wound up in 2011.

Savills and DTZ Sherry FitzGerald are guiding €7.8 million for the 12 retail buildings which run along three sides of Crampton Buildings and are producing a rent roll of €583,000. New owners can bank on a net initial return of 7.16 per cent.

The high-profile investment will be of interest to a range of Irish investors as well as overseas funds because of Temple Bar’s continuing success in attracting large numbers of visitors through most of the year.

Crampton Buildings were developed by Dublin Artisan Dwellings in the 1890s and consist of a three-storey over basement block with retail and restaurant uses at ground and basement levels.

The apartments on the two upper floors, accessed from Asdills Row, were bought in the late 1990s by Dublin City Council around the same time as Treasury Holdings acquired the shops with funding from Bank of Scotland (Ireland).

The council is currently refurbishing the apartments and amalgamating some of them to provide 28 residential units instead of the original 54. An internal courtyard is also being remodelled to enhance the residential enclave.

There are 10 retail tenancies – some double units – along the three street frontages on Temple Bar, Bedford Row and Crampton Quay, and three units currently vacant.

The range of retail buildings has an overall floor area of 1,602sq m (17,239sq ft) with 865sq m (9,311sq ft) at street level and a further 736sq m (7,928sq ft) in the basement.

Elephant & Castle is the best known of the tenants because of its consistent popularity. It is paying the largest rent, €160,000 for 133.70sq m (1,439sq ft) on the ground floor and a further 79.70sq m (858sq ft) in the basement.

Gallagher's Boxty House is next in line, paying €120,000 for a slightly smaller premises, while the other tenants include Abrakebabra (€65,000), Gondola (€58,000), Pablo Picante (€50,000), Forbidden Planet (€45,000), Mark Cheung (€40,000), Eden Recruitment (€30,000) and Irish Citylink (€15,000).