Today's other stories in brief

Homebase to open in Navan

The much delayed opening of Navan’s second retail park is finally to proceed following the decision by Homebase to open for business next month. The completed park has had only Halfords and Petmania open for the best part of a year. Homebase is renting a unit of 2,322sq m (25,000sq ft) to allow it go into direction competition with Woodies which trades from another park in the town at the former Navan Carpets site. Lagan Developments and Blackrock International Land are understood to have invested up to €40 million in the latest park which has been badly affected by the sharp fall-off in consumer spending. Raymond Potterton and Co is the letting agent along with Colliers CRE in Belfast and Colliers Jackson-Stops.

Bank to offload office leases

Bank of Scotland is attempting to offload two leases of office space at 71/74 Harcourt Street, Dublin 2, which is currently occupied by the Department of Justice. The public servants are due to move out at the end of March next. Bank of Scotland holds two five-year leases on 3,914sq m (42,000sq ft) and 50 car-parking spaces. DTZ Sherry FitzGerald, which is handling the assignment of the leases, is quoting a rent in the mid-€20s per sq ft (€215 per sq m).

No to seating outside Bewley's

Plans for seating each evening outside Bewley’s on Grafton Street have been blocked by An Bord Pleanála. Dublin City Council refused the seating as it would restrict pedestrian movement and set an undesirable precedent. The fire service and the Garda also objected. Bewley’s had sought permission to place four tables and eight chairs in two screened areas on either side of the entrance to the café. It argued that the council’s refusal was based on the incorrect assumption that Grafton Street was congested with high volumes of pedestrian traffic in the evenings.

UK capital values up 10.5%

UK commercial property has posted the third consecutive monthly capital growth in October at 1.9 per cent, says IPD. The year to date capital growth is now 10.5 per cent. Since the market began to recover in August, UK commercial property has produced a compounded 3.2 per cent capital growth. This has reduced the fall since the trough in July, 2009, to -42.4 per cent, says IPD. Malcolm Hunt of IPD said that, while there had been appreciation across the three main property sectors, capital growth in retail had been the driving force, gaining 2.6 per cent in September – the second highest figure since December, 1993.