In Short

A round-up of today's other stories in brief...

Louth land at 8,333 per acre

Ross McParland of Lisney is seeking offers around €600,000 for 72 acres of agricultural land at Tullydonnell, Grangebellew, Co Louth, which is to being sold on the instruction of receiver Kieran Wallace of KPMG.

The guide price equates to €8,333 per acre, somewhat less than the going price on the east coast. The farm is 15km north of Drogheda and about 5km from Clogherhead and Dunleer. It is also within a short distance of the M1 motorway.

D4 office suite for 35,000

Brown Corrigan chartered surveyors are quoting an “all in” rent of around €35,000 for a ground floor office suite at Burlington House on Waterloo Lane in Dublin 4. The package includes furnishing and fit out as well as two car parking spaces. Further parking is available nearby. The suite is mainly open plan and also includes a number of cellular offices and meeting rooms. The same agency has leased a retail unit at 236 Harold’s Cross, Dublin 6W, to a fast food operator. The building will require an extensive tenants fitout. The agency had been quoting a rent of around €35,000 for the building which has over 55sq m (592sq ft) of retail space.

German firm targets Irish

GERMAN banks are happy to refinance Irish loans secured on property in Germany, according to Curth Flatow, the managing partner of FAP, a German property advisors firm which has just opened an office in Dublin. The new office, which is headed by Conor Mohan, formerly of Doorinvest real estate group, is targeting Irish investors who are believed to spent around €1.2 billion in Germany.

Mr Flatow said that in most cases Irish investors can expect to make considerable savings by moving their loan to a German bank. “Irish investors were amongst the most active buyer groups in the German property market between 2005 and 2008 with acquisitions which were primarily financed by Irish banks,” Mr Flatow said. “Most of these banks are no longer active as creditors in the German bank which means that investors face possible financing gaps on the expiry of their loans.”

Mr Mohan said they would look at loans valued at over €10 million. “It is simply staggering that so many Irish investors are willing to suffer the relatively penal interest rates being offered by Irish banks at a time when there is considerable value to be gained from German institutions.”

Opticks on South Anne St

TWO shops owned by Royal Liver at 1 South Anne Street and 17 Westmoreland Street have been let by CB Richard Ellis. Opticks, a high-end opticians, has taken a 15-year lease of the four-storey-over-basement premises on South Anne Street, where there is a floor area of 139sq m (1496sq ft), including 44sq m (474sq ft) at street level. The new tenant is likely to be paying a rent of around €90,000.

In Westmoreland Street, Book Value has taken a 15-year lease of the 192sq m (2,066sq ft) building. The rent will be €75,000 per annum. Book Value is a subsidiary of Books Upstairs which has been trading in College Street for 32 years. CB Richard Ellis is now looking for a tenant for the last available shop owned by Royal Liver at 11 Grafton Street. A rent of €260,000 is being sought for the building which has 167sq m (1,798sq ft) of floor space over three levels including 76sq m (818sq ft) on the ground floor.

Dawson St building sold

A DUBLIN retail tenant is shortly to relocate his business to the former Telephone Centre at 32 Dawson Street after buying the building for around €1 million. Lisney had originally sought €1.2 million for the four-storey-over-basement building which has a combined floor area of 139.3sq m (1,464sq ft), including a ground floor retail area of 35.6sq m (383sq ft). The three upper floors are in office use. The building is located virtually opposite the Mansion House and is a few doors away from La Stampa Hotel and bar. It is listed as a protected structure and was sold on the instructions of an executor.

Site near port in Wicklow

A HIGH profile industrial site, above, adjacent to the new access road to the port in Wicklow town is to be offered for sale through agent Dooley Poynton. Eugene Dooley is quoting a guide price of €1,650,000 for the site of 1.21 hectares (three acres) which had been valued at €3.5 million only three years ago. It is fenced and gated and includes a former railway house and a detached bungalow as well as a 204sq m (2,196sq ft) industrial warehouse.

Though it is zoned for a “mixed use” and employment creation, Dooley believes it will appeal to businessmen looking for a substantial yard from which to operate a business.