€6m for Avoca store off Grafton Street

Investors competing for heavily discounted commercial properties will have an opportunity to pitch for a city-centre retail investment from today, when the Avoca Handweavers store at 11-13 Suffolk Street goes for sale by private treaty.

Agent Savills is quoting a guide price of €6 million for the mini-department store, which will give a new owner a net initial yield of 7.02 per cent after a fixed rental increase comes into effect next December.

Davy Property is handling the sale for the family of the late Frank O'Kane, founder of Mercury Engineering, who died unexpectedly in 2009 while walking in the Dublin mountains. He left €108 million in his will.

Davy recently sold the former EBS building in Westmoreland Street for the O’Kane family. It made slightly over €4.5 million, a long way short of the €12 million paid for it in 2002 after EBS moved its headquarters to Burlington Road in Dublin 4.

Popular shop
The Avoca store, just off Grafton Street, is frequently cited as one of the most popular shops in the city centre, specialising in fashion, food and home furnishings.

The family-run business has a retail operation on the ground, first and mezzanine level, an extensive café on the second floor and a food hall, delicatessen and coffee shop at basement level. There is also a roof garden.

Avoca operates 11 stores in Ireland.

The four-storey over basement mid-terrace building has an overall floor area of 864sq m (9,303 sq ft) and is let to Avoca on a 25-year lease from 1999.

There are 11 years remaining on the lease without a break option. The current rent of €430,000 will increase to €440,000 from December.

Diane Crean of Savills said the sale would allow an investor to get complete control of a landmark city centre building with a fantastic rental profile.

“The attractive lot size and the strength of the covenant should appeal to a wide range of investors,” Ms Crean added.

Abercrombie & Fitch
The retail area around the bottom of Grafton Street has greatly benefited from the opening of the Abercrombie & Fitch fashion store on College Green.

The area is set to get another major boost with the planned opening of fashion giant H&M in the former National Irish Bank building, which extends from College Green back to Andrew Street.

It is one of the busiest tourist areas in the city because of its proximity to Trinity College.