Over €10m for three-shop Square portfolio

RetailInvestments:As the Square gears up for major expansion, there should be plenty of interest in a three- shop portfolio at the shopping centre, writes Jack Fagan

Another three shops at the Square in Tallaght, Co Dublin, have come on the market in advance of a major extension getting under way.

CB Richard Ellis is seeking over €10 million for three shops - one of them vacant - owned by the Hibernian Group which has held the investments in Tallaght for many years. The decision to sell at this stage is prompted by a desire to concentrate on larger lot sizes.

A private investor also offered seven retail investments for sale in the same shopping centre last June and, although agents Jones Lang LaSalle apparently got offers in excess of the €23 million guide price (including one from property developer Noel Smyth), the vendor has now decided to retain the portfolio.

The largest of the three Hibernian shops - 85.01sq m (915sq ft) - is let to Health Express at a current rent of €112,000 per annum. The second unit of 53.42sq m (575sq ft) is rented by the Camera Centre at €90,000 per annum. The largest shop of 102.93sq m (1,108sq ft) is unoccupied but, according to CBRE, the "total immediate potential rental income" is €367,000 from all three shops.

Noel Smyth now effectively controls the Square after buying in 68 shops from Quinlan Private for €320 million. His company, Alburn, already owned another 20 shops. The developer and solicitor now owns a 56 per cent shareholding in a planned major extension of the centre which is expected to get under way later this year.

Planning permission has been granted for another 75,000sq m (807,292sq ft) of space which will include 373 apartments, 23,232sq m (250,067sq ft) of retail, 4,108sq m (44,218sq ft) of offices, 3,690sq m (39,719sq ft) of leisure facilities, 1,617sq m (17,405sq ft) of space for a multi-storey car-park and 15,755sq m (169,585sq ft) of ancillary accommodation.

It is estimated that the final phase of the development could possibly extend to 99,000sq m (1.066 million sq ft).