German investor Deka Immobilien Investment has returned to the acquisition trail in Dublin with a deal for a new hotel in the city’s historic Liberties area. While the price being paid for the hotel at Newmarket Yards has not been disclosed, The Irish Times understands Deka has agreed to pay about €36 million on a forward-commitment basis to secure ownership of the property.
Upon completion in 2023, the new hotel will comprise 151 bedrooms along with three retail units. The hotel, which has been pre-let on a long-term lease to Premier Inn, forms part of the wider Newmarket Yards mixed-use scheme. The development will also include 413 apartments along with associated amenities and a landscaped public area, and is targeting an overall BER rating of A3, a “very good” BREEAM rating and nearly zero energy building accreditation.
Newmarket Yards is being delivered by Carey Issuer, a company owned by Bain Capital, with the development managed by Carrowmore Property and a project team led by BAM Ireland as main contractor.
Dan O’Connor of JLL brokered the sale of the new hotel on behalf of Bain, while George Stratton of Savills represented Deka on the acquisition.
Deka Immobilien has been among the most active purchasers in the Irish office and hotels market in recent years. Last year it acquired Block A, Riverside IV in Dublin – a prime office building located at Sir John Rogerson’s Quay in Dublin’s south docklands – from Irish Life Investment Managers (ILIM) for about €164 million.
In 2020 it paid Kennedy Wilson €165 million for the Baggot Plaza office scheme, which Bank of Ireland has been renting since 2015. In the same year it also agreed the purchase of the Clayton Hotel Charlemont from Dalata Hotel Group in a sale-and-leaseback deal for €65 million.
In 2019, Deka acquired the Marker hotel in Dublin for €134 million, adding to its collection of other Irish hotel assets, which includes the Clayton Hotel Burlington Road and the Gibson Hotel. The German-headquartered investor entered the Dublin office market in late 2019 with the purchase of the Reflector office building in the city’s south docklands for about €155 million.
