Other commercial property stories in brief
€ 200,000 key money for lease
The reputation of Cruises Street as a prime retail venue in Limerick city will be greatly enhanced by River Island's decision to pay key money of €200,000 for the lease of the adjoining Next store on the street. It is one of the highest premiums paid in the city and it will give River Island a double frontage and twice as much space on a street that has been trading well. River Island will now have about 697sq m (7,500sq ft) on two levels. Next's decision to move out of Cruises Street is part of the company's policy of settling for larger and more cost-effective units in retail parks. Next is already trading out of Childers' Road Retail Park where Dunnes Stores is the anchor tenant.
Ready-to-go site makes €3.4m
Naas auctioneer John O'Reilly of Sherry FitzGerald O'Reilly hit the jackpot last week when he got a record €3.4 million at auction for a two-acre commercial site in Naas. There is full planning permission for an industrial unit of 3,600sq m (38,750sq ft) though the zoning allows for a car sales outlet and service station. The site had a stated reserve of €1.57 million but at auction the opening bid was €1.8 million and it was knocked down at €3.4 million.
D20 industrial makes over €9m
A private investor has settled for a net initial yield of less than 5 per cent when paying €9.125 million for an industrial investment at Fonthill Business Park in Dublin 20. The 4,240sq m (45,639sq ft) including 740sq m (7,965sq ft) of offices is let to the French multinational Lafarge under a 20-year lease from 2004 at a rent of €506,500. The yield will be 4.98 per cent. Patrick Curran of Atisreal Harrington Bannon, who handled the sale, said that Fonthill, together with Citywest, "are probably the two most prime business parks in the country".
Over €2.3m for freehold building in Blackrock village
It is seldom that freehold buildings come on the market at Main Street, Blackrock, Co Dublin. For that reason, Ben Pearson of Douglas Newman Good Commercial is expecting strong interest in 39 Main Street which is expected to make over €2.3 million at auction on March 29th. The shop has traded as the Greenwich Bar up to recently and previously as the Mad Hatter but the owners are now selling it without the licence because of the level of interest in it from investors and owner-occupiers. The three-storey over basement building has 232.17sq m (2,499sq ft) including 68.26sq m (735sq ft) at street level.
Famed Westport hotel ripe for conversion to make over €5.5m
One of the best known hotels in the west of Ireland, the Old Railway Hotel in Westport, is expected to be converted into apartments and shops when it is sold at auction on April 6th. Tuohy Real Estate Alliance expects to secure between €5.5 million and €6.5 million for the 27-bed hotel built as a coaching inn in 1780 by the Marquis of Sligo. The name was changed to the Railway Hotel when the railway arrived in Westport in the early 1900s. Westport has 11 hotels in all and another one, the Westport Plaza with 80 bedrooms, is to open next week close to the Old Railway Hotel, a listed building.
€75,000 rent for retail unit
Lisney is quoting a rent of €75,000 for a large retail unit on the ground floor of a new six-storey office block being built for solicitors Dillon Eustace at 33/34 Sir John Rogerson's Quay, Dublin 2. The unit of 195sq m (2,098sq ft) is available on a 20-year lease and will be ready for fit-out in June.
Over €650,000 for Limerick bar
One of the best traditional bars in the south-west of Ireland, Paddy Drury's, at Athea, Co Limerick, is expected to make over €650,000 when it is sold shortly by private treaty through Listowel auctioneer Mary Horgan. The bar has twice won a "Better Environment" award for the best kept business premises in west Limerick and has most of its original features intact, including oak beams, flagstone floor, natural stone fireplace and Stanley range. Paddy Drury's bar is a well known social venue and has potential for all day food. There is also a comfortable three-bedroom, two-storey house at the rear with comfortable accommodation. Athea is a rapidly expanding village on the Kerry border within close proximity of Listowel, Abbeyfeale and Newcastlewest.
Zara sister firm for Whitewater
A sister company of Zara is to join the fashion retailer in Whitewater shopping centre when the large complex opens in Newbridge in April. Stradavarios, which specialises in women's wear, will add an element of international style in its two-level store. It will be the first such outlet in the Republic. The joint letting agents are Hamilton Osborne King and Colm McEvoy.
Bag Shop opens three new shops
The Bag Shop, Ireland's largest independent bag retailer, has opened three new shops in Dublin, Cork and Drogheda, bringing its number of outlets to 15. The retailer's latest openings are in the Pavilions shopping centre in Swords, Mahon shopping centre in Cork and Scotch Hall shopping centre in Drogheda. "The Bag Shop is still looking for suitable premises to continue its expansion around the country, particularly in Waterford, Wexford, Limerick, Dundalk and Kilkenny," says James Hardy of Jones Lang LaSalle.
Shops for sale in Wicklow town
Two shops on the ground floor of an attractive infill apartment scheme at the South Quay in Wicklow town have come on the market through the Phillips Partnership. The agency is seeking €415,000 and €425,000 for the units which will form part of a developing marine setting.
