French investor pays €28.6m for Dublin and Kilkenny investments

Iroko Zen acquires fully let property on Suffolk Street and Kilkenny Retail Park

Iroko Zen has completed its ninth and 10th acquisitions in the Irish property market, paying €3.635 million for No 24 Suffolk Street, a prime investment off Grafton Street in Dublin city centre and €24.97 million for Kilkenny Retail Park.

Twenty-four Suffolk Street comprises a mid-terraced period building constructed in 1919, extending to 6,793sq ft (631sq m). The ground-floor retail unit is occupied by the popular UK & Ireland Italian restaurant chain, Zizzi, which accounts for 74 per cent of the building’s rental income. Zizzi signed a 25-year lease, running to January 2042 and currently have a passing rent of €200,000 annually following a strong rent review. Landscape architects, Cunnane Stratton Reynolds, signed a 20-year lease from the August 8th, 2023 for the first-, second- and third-floor office accommodation, at a rent of €70,000 annually. Iroko Zen stands to secure a net initial yield of 8 per cent on its investment. Michele McGarry of Colliers advised Iroko on the transaction while Sandra Walsh and Max Reilly of JLL represented the vendor, Aviva.

Number 24 occupies a strong trading position just off the bottom of Grafton Street, the city’s principal shopping district with an estimated footfall of some 25 million people annually. The surrounding area is home to an abundance of amenities, including various food-and-beverage offerings, along with a number of high-profile retailers including Brown Thomas, Marks & Spencer and Avoca. The area is well served by public transport including the Luas Green Line at St Stephen’s Green and Dawson Street, Pearse Street Dart station and a number of Dublin Bus routes.

Iroko Zen’s €24.97 million purchase of Kilkenny Retail Park meanwhile will see it secure a net initial yield of 8.18 per cent based on the scheme’s overall rental income of €2,246,156 per annum. Michele McGarry of Colliers represented Iroko Zen along with Fiona Kennedy of joint acquisition agent CBRE while Michele Jackson of TWM acted on behalf of the vendor, Aviva’s Irish Commercial Property Fund.

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Kilkenny Retail Park is a purpose-built, fully let retail park comprising 144,989sq ft of space excluding units 6 and 7 which are held under separate ownership. The development is anchored by Woodies with a strong mix of tenants that includes EZ Living, DID Electrical, JYSK, Costa Coffee and KFC along with parking for 650 cars. The weighted average unexpired lease term (WAULT) to break is 5.35 years.

Ronald Quinlan

Ronald Quinlan

Ronald Quinlan is Property Editor of The Irish Times