Marlet ends talks on sale of apartments for €450m

Developer Marlet Property Group has ended talks on the sale of 1,205 apartments in Dublin for a reported €450 million.

The Pat Crean-led group began discussions with multinational real estate investor Round Hill Capital last autumn on the sale of the apartments on four different sites in Dublin.

Marlet confirmed on Wednesday that the company had decided to end the negotiations with Round Hill in relation to the sale and funding of the apartments.

“This is due to an inability to reach an agreement following an extended period of negotiations,” it said. “Marlet will now look at other options for the four sites.”

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Round Hill also confirmed that the talks had ended. “We are continuing discussions in relation to a separate set of land acquisitions,” the group said.

The deal would have involved Round Hill buying and paying for the construction of the apartments – known as forward funding.

Almost 180 of the dwellings, at a site in Mount Argos, Harold's Cross in Dublin, are due to be finished and ready to be occupied next year.

Other locations

Marlet has begun work on the other locations, St Claire’s, also in Harold’s Cross, Carriglea on the Naas Road and a fourth development on Cabra Road. Those three projects are due to be finished in 2020.

Marlet originally put the apartments on the market a year ago with the collective title Dublin Living and a price tag of about €425 million.

The properties drew bids from a number of overseas players, including US-based Greystar, Tristan Capital and Ivanhoe Cambridge.

The developer entered exclusive talks with Round Hill in October. The multinational was reported to be prepared to pay €450 million or more for the apartments.

It is understood that failure to reach agreement on the structure of the deal rather than the price led to the pair ending talks. Marlet may opt to fund the construction itself and sell the homes, or find other partners for the projects.

London-headquartered Round Hill plans to spend more than €1 billion on new homes and student accommodation in the Republic. It is understood to be eyeing a number of specific transactions.

Reports

Recent reports linked Round Hill to other deals in the capital, including Cairn Homes’ sale of 120 apartments on Hanover Quay on the Grand Canal Basin, worth an estimated €95 million.

The company has invested €6 billion in property across Europe since 2002. It owns more than 100,000 homes and is one of the larger private landlords in a number of countries.

Marlet, backed by London-based M&G Investments, the fund management arm of Prudential plc, is working on a number of commercial and residential projects in central and suburban Dublin, including sites on the capital's south docks. They involve offices and up to a further 4,000 apartments.

An Bord Pleanála recently gave Marlet permission to build almost 540 new homes in Raheny on Dublin's northside. Locals and environmental campaigners are challenging the decision in the High Court.