THE COSGRAVE Property Group looks to have turned a nice profit on the investment properties it acquired on Oxford Street in London in 2006 for about £175 million.
Property Weekreports that Amancio Ortega, the founder of Spanish retailer Zara, is buying Jubilee House from the family for about £165 million, having earlier agreed to buy their building at 215-219 Oxford Street for £55.1 million, meaning they will have earned about £220 million from the deals, if and when Jubilee House is signed off.
The buildings’ tenants include Zara and it has been a trend in London in recent years for the owners of retailers to buy the buildings that their companies occupy – this is in part to protect their presence on the street and in part to benefit personally from rental growth in the areas.
Joe, Peter, Michael, Willie and Helen Cosgrave’s main project in Ireland at present is the redevelopment of Dún Laoghaire golf course. In March they were given the go-ahead to develop more than 380 new homes on the northern side of that site. Prior to commencing the work they have to pay a financial contribution of more than €5.76 million to Dun Laoghaire Rathdown county council to help cover the cost to the local authority of public infrastructure and facilities that benefit the development. After their London windfall, that won’t be a problem.
About 1,500 homes are eventually planned for the redeveloped golf course, and planning permission has now been granted for nearly 1,000 of them.
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