A round-up of today's other stories in brief
Shankill shop for over €1.85 million
Hooke & MacDonald Commercial is suggesting a price of over €1.85 million for a retail investment at Osprey Court, a small residential development completed last year at Shankill, Co Dublin. The investment combines a modern shop with a top class tenant, Paddy Power Leisure Bookmakers. The 154sq m (1,658sq ft) ground floor unit is let to the company on a 20-year lease from 2005 with upwards-only rent reviews and no break clauses. The current rent is €83,400. Paddy Power has 150 outlets and a turnover last year of €1.37 billion. Profits after tax came to €26.9 million. Osprey Court is located between Spar and Brady's just off the main Dublin to Wexford route. The village has grown rapidly in recent years.
Over €2.75m for D1 Georgians
Hamilton Osborne King is suggesting a price of over €2.75 million for two four-storey over basement Georgian buildings at Upper Gardiner Street, Dublin 1, which go to tender on November 9th. The mid-terrace houses have two-storey extensions and rear access for car-parking. The agent suggests that they could be refurbished as offices.
Galway school makes €6.3m
Galway continues to lead provincial cities for strong property prices. Agent O'Donnellan & Joyce secured €6.3 million at auction for the former boarding school at the Dominican Convent at Taylors Hill in Galway which has planning permission for conversion into 16 apartments. Bidding opened at €2.5 million and, with several developers chasing the property, bidding increased in increments of €100,000 until it reached the reserve of €3.7 million. Auctioneer Colm O'Donnellan eventually knocked down the property at €6.3 million - putting a value of over €400,000 per unit once stamp duty is taken into account. This is easily a record price for Galway.
Aldo opens in Newry
The leading Canadian footwear and accessories trader Aldo has opened its first Northern Ireland franchise store at The Quays in Newry. It already has four outlets in the Republic at Dundrum, Blanchardstown, Drogheda and William Street in Galway. The Newry store has a floor area of 148sq m (1,600sq ft). Geraldine Swarbrigg, who holds the Aldo franchise in Ireland, said they viewed the Northern market as a perfect opportunity for Aldo to continue with its growing success.
Also opening in The Quays is Diamond Jewellers which has a number of stores in the Republic. Ann-Marie Murphy of Hamilton Osborne King, advised the landlords, Parker Green International.
Business park for Kilbride
Plans for a business park in Kilbride, Co Meath, are in the pipeline. Businessman Robin Rennicks of Rennicks Manufacturing Ltd is due to apply for planning permission to construct a 58,500sq m (629,688sq ft) business park on a 23-hectare site in Kilbride. Rennicks intends to build 61 warehouse units on the site and provide 1,248 car-parking spaces if he gets the go-ahead from Meath County Council.
Retail performs strongly
The retail market continues to surge ahead, according to a new survey. Returns rose to an annual rate of 28.3 per cent based on figures to June, the highest rate in seven years. Autumn Review from DTZ Sherry FitzGerald argues that the sector's strong performance is being driven by the strength of the economy. CSO figures had pegged growth in the first quarter at 7 per cent, following on growth during 2005 of 5.4 per cent. This pace is expected to continue, according to economic forecasters, with 5.6 per cent growth expected by the end of this year and 5.1 per cent during 2007.
The retail sector has matched this growth pattern, the DTZ Sherry FitzGerald review notes. The review points to the level of completions in both the retail park and shopping centre markets with a total of 150,000sq m (1.6 million sq ft) of new space developed since the beginning of the year. This brings the total stock of accommodation to 820,000sq m (8.8 million sq ft) of retail park and 1.5 million sq m (16.145 million sq ft) of shopping centre space.
The company expects that the pace of construction activity will remain strong in the medium term, again tracking the expected economic growth patterns. There is a "relatively large quantity" of space in the development pipeline, the review says.
At the end of August there was more than 230,000sq m (2.475 million sq ft) of shopping centre space and 200,000sq m (2.15 million sq ft) of retail park space under construction, it says.
Planning permission had been granted for a further 300,000sq m (3.229 million sq ft) of shopping centre space and almost 200,000sq m (2.15 million sq ft) of retail park space.
"With growth in the economy expected to moderate in 2008, consideration must be given to the viability of some of these schemes currently in planning in order to avoid potential oversupply in certain areas of the market," the review states.
For the future, the review warns of a moderation in growth by 2008 and also highlights the "large variations" in the concentration of shopping centres and retail park space across the State.
Any slowdown by 2008 "is expected to impact the retail market, with growth in rents and capital values anticipated to moderate to more sustainable levels", the review suggests. "This highlights a growing necessity for a more detailed evaluation of retail requirements before commencing new developments, particularly in order to avoid oversupply in certain areas of the market."
It argues that the variations in the spread of shopping accommodation "are likely to increase in the future given the spread of retail accommodation currently in the development pipeline".
