Investor seeks €14m for Tesco store

A wealthy Israeli investor, Igal Ahouvi, who pre-funded a new Tesco store in Roscrea, Co Tipperary, before it opened for business in 2011, is planning to sell it on for ¤14 million.

At that ambitious valuation, a purchaser could expect an initial yield of 6.5 per cent once purchase costs of 4.46 per cent are taken into account.

Ahouvi is also the owner of two Aldi stores in Dublin and a shoe shop in Henry Street which cost him more than ¤16 million. Two weeks ago, he was involved in negotiations to buy the A&L Goodbody office investment at North Wall Quay in Dublin's IFSC but later moved aside to allow the Irish Pension Fund Unit Trust to acquire it for more than ¤57 million.

Pedestrian link
Commercial property agent Sean O'Neill of TWM Select, who advises Ahouvi, said the initial rent of ¤950,000 agreed with Tesco had been fixed for a 10-year period but after that it would be adjusted every five years in line with the consumer price index over the previous five years. The yearly movement would not increase by more than 4 per cent and would not drop by more than 1 per cent.

The Tesco format 30 store sits over a ground-floor car park with a travelator providing access between the car park and the supermarket. The building overlooks a plaza with a pedestrian link to the existing Roscrea shopping centre and the town’s main streets.

The ground floor retail area extends to 4,331.89sq m (46,627sq ft) and there are 224 car parking spaces in the basement. The 35-year lease, which is guaranteed by the parent company, provides for break options in years 15,20,25 and 30.