In Short

A roundup of today's other stories in brief.

D2 Georgians for over €4.25 million and €4.5 million

Two adjoining Georgian houses in the traditional office area of Upper Mount Street in Dublin 2 are to be sold by private treaty through CB Richard Ellis. Paddy Conlon of that agency is quoting over €4.25 million and €4.5 million for numbers 26 and 27, respectively, which are occupied by the Farm Media Group. Both buildings have what the agents claim to be "ample car-parking" to the rear and both are interconnected to provide a floor area of 684sq m (7,363sq ft). The houses are believed to be in good condition.

Ballymore buys building in London business park for €18.5m

Sean Mulryan's Ballymore group continues to be more active in the UK than in Ireland. Earlier this week it bought a commercial building in Battersea Business Park in south London for £12.5 million (€18.5 million). The building has 5,067sq m (54,540sq ft) of space. The Kilmartin Property Group, which owned the investment, also sold a unit of 3,146sq m (33,860sq ft) to Cadbury Schweppes Pension Fund for £11.6 million (€17.162 million).

GameStop opens outlet at St Stephen's Green centre

GameStop, the world's largest computer game and hardware store, has completed a letting of Unit 004 at the St Stephen's Green shopping centre. With over 4,400 stores worldwide and over 40 stores in Ireland, this letting secures a prime pitch in the south city centre for GameStop.

According to Stephen Murray of letting agent Jones Lang LaSalle, interest in the centre has improved in recent months following confirmation of the secured lettings to H&M and Zara in South King Street in the immediate vicinity, and is one of a number of other transactions in the pipeline.

Ready-to-go D1 residential and retail site for around €2.6m

A ready-to-go site for 11 apartments at St Mary's Abbey, off Capel Street, Dublin 1, is expected to make in the region of €2.6 million when it is sold by private treaty through Knight Frank Ganly Walters.

The site of 0.037 of a hectare (0.091 of an acre) has full planning permission for a three-storey over basement building which will also include two retail units with basement storage. The permission dates from November, 2005, and provides for three one-bedroom apartments, three two-bedroom units, four two-bedroom duplex homes and one three-bedroom apartment. The site is within 300 metres of the nearest station on the Luas red line and is also within easy walking distance of both Henry Street and Liffey Street.

€480,000 for small retail investment in Rathmines

A small retail investment at 108 Lower Rathmines Road, Dublin 6, has come on the market through Douglas Newman Good with an asking price of €480,000. The single storey lock-up shop with 33.91sq m (365sq ft) is let as an internet café to The Orbit Centre at a rent of €25,000 per annum.

€247.50 per sq m rent for office space at East Point

The second floor of Block P6 at East Point Business Park is available on a short lease through Jones Lang LaSalle which is quoting a rent of €247.5 per sq m (€23 per sq ft) and €1,050 per car-parking space. The floor has 1,325sq m (14,262sq ft) of office space and parking spaces for 20 cars and is available by way of a sub-let on a short lease running until May 2016. It is available fully fitted and includes work stations, reception area, training room, six meeting rooms and a kitchenette.

"Its location is only a single Dart stop from the city centre and its frontage to Dublin Bay provides excellent views to the occupiers," says Trish Byrne of Jones Lang LaSalle. East Point Business Park, which is off Alfie Byrne Road at Fairview, also has a private shuttle bus running to the city centre and is beside the entrance/exit point of the Dublin Port Tunnel.

Homes in Kildare retirement village with tax incentives

Fifty units at a retirement village in Co Kildare which come with a five-year rental guaranteed have come to the market. Colm McEvoy Auctioneers is handling the sale of Clonmullion Retirement Village, Athy. Adjacent to the Cloverlodge Nursing Home, the scheme comprises 40 two-bedroom bungalows, 10 two-bedroom apartments and a day centre.

Billed as the first retirement village in Co Kildare, the units will be rented through the nursing home and are in turn-key condition. The developer, a Kilkenny-based company, is guaranteeing a rental income of €7,000 per annum for the first five years of the scheme. The properties range in price from €321,750-€353,500 including Vat. The units will attract capital allowances of 91 per cent and investors can write off up to €31,750 against all income and the remainder against Irish rental income, says the selling agent. The properties must be held for 10 years in order to avoid any claw back of allowances.

At the end of the 10 years the purchasers will have the option of re-letting the unit to the nursing home, letting it privately, occupying it or selling it on.