Tristan Capital Partners seeks €200m for south Dublin apartments

Vert platform comprises 382 units at high-end Honeypark and Elmfield schemes

European real estate investment specialists Tristan Capital Partners and its Irish operating partners, SW3 Capital, are seeking offers in excess of €200 million for a portfolio of 382 rental apartments distributed across two high-end developments in south Dublin.

Agent CBRE is understood to be targeting a number of institutional investors in a confidential sale process for the Vert platform, an established and fully-operational private rented sector (PRS) portfolio comprising of 197 units at Honeypark in Dún Laoghaire, and 185 units at the Elmfield scheme in nearby Leopardstown.

Should Tristan secure the €200 million price being guided by CBRE, it would represent a signficant premium on the €141 million it paid to assemble the Vert portfolio .

In 2016, the company paid €72.5 million to acquire 197 apartments at the Neptune block at the Cosgrave Group’s Honeypark scheme. The completion of the transaction was notable for being the first of its kind where an entire multi-family development aimed at the rental market was sold when it was still under construction. Tristan and its Irish operating partners, SW3, moved to secure the units in advance of their scheduled February 2017 completion, with a view to offering them for rent under the Vert platform once they were delivered.

READ MORE

Standalone buildings

Located within the wider 1,400-home Honeypark development, the Neptune block includes 129 two-bedroom apartments, 41 three-bedroom units, and 27 one-bedroom units.

In October 2017, Tristan and SW3 added to Vert platform completed the first of two purchases at Dwyer Nolan Developments’ Elmfield apartment scheme in Leopardstown, paying €51 million for 138 private rented sector (PRS) units distributed across three standalone buildings . In June 2018, the company paid €17.5 million for a further 47 apartments at Elmfield, bringing its overall investment at the development to €68.5 million.

While CBRE declined to comment on the sale of the Vert portfolio, it should appeal strongly to prospective purchasers owing to its location, and the fact that its existing owners have already established it as a successful rental platform within Dublin’s fast-growing PRS market.

Outside of their current interest in Dublin’s residential sector, Tristan and SW3 have invested in a number of commercial developments in the capital. The most notable of these saw the partnership acquire the Exo development site at Point Square in the city’s north docklands from Nama-appointed receivers in December 2017. Upon completion in 2020, the Exo will be Dublin’s tallest office block, rising to 73m (239 ft). The building will comprise some 169,150 sq ft of Grade A office space, capable of accommodating 2,000 workers.

Ronald Quinlan

Ronald Quinlan

Ronald Quinlan is Property Editor of The Irish Times