Other commercial property stories in brief
Esprit to open at retail park in Blanchardstown
Leading fashion retailer Esprit is to open one of its largest Irish stores at WestEnd Shopping Park in Blanchardstown, Dublin 15. Esprit, in partnership with the Ark Retail Group, is to rent a store of 650.3sq m (7,000sq ft) at the fashion-led shopping park owned by the Cosgrave Group. It will be Esprit's first store in a retail park in Ireland when it opens in mid-October beside Laura Ashley. Other traders there include Next, Borders, Burtons, Dorothy Perkins, and Ladybird.
Letting agent Savills HOK says that rents are running at over €484 per sq m (€45 per sq ft).
Galway bar makes €8.1 million
One of the best known bars in Galway city, Cullinane's on Eglinton Street, has been sold at auction for €8.1 million. The property also included the adjoining Eglinton Bookmakers with eight townhouses overhead. Joint agents Galway Real Estate and O'Donnell & Joyce handled the sale of the complex which was bought in trust by a local accountant.
Top price for Sandyford industrial
CB Richard Ellis has secured a particularly strong price for an industrial building at Corrig Road in Sandyford, Co Dublin. An adjoining company has paid €4.3 million at tender for the building of 578sq m (6,221sq ft), equating to €6,221 per sq m (€578 per sq ft). The guide had been €3.25 million.
Agent Atisreal has also got a strong price for a modern warehouse at Citywest Business Campus in Dublin 24. An owner-occupier has paid €1.575 million for the 577sq m (6,210sq ft) building. The price breaks down at €2,730 per sq m (€225 per sq ft).
Phibsboro offices for over €1.5m
The Society of St Vincent de Paul is to sell its national office at 7 New Cabra Road, close to the junction with the North Circular Road in Phibsboro, Dublin 7. HT Meagher O'Reilly is seeking over €1.5 million for the two-storey over garden level building which has a floor area of 478sq m (5,145sq ft).
Dun Laoghaire office building for around €1.6 million
Bogle Estates is seeking in the region of €1.6 million for a small office building at Mulgrave Street in Dún Laoghaire, which is for sale by private treaty. It has seven different rooms and a floor area of 105sq m (1,131sq ft) over three levels. The agent says it would be ideal as a doctor or dentist's surgery or as offices for a solicitor or accountant. There is parking for six cars at the rear. The building is about 100 metres from Dún Laoghaire's main street.
€125,000 key money sought for lease of Terenure newsagents
DNG Commercial is looking for key money of around €125,000 for the lease of Noel's newsagents at Terenure Road East, Dublin 6. The lease has another 11 years to run and the rent is €18,000 per annum. The owner, who is retiring, has built up a substantial business over the years.
Strong prices for Celbridge sites
Coonan Real Estate Alliance has hit the jackpot again with two sites in Co Kildare. A two-storey house at Main Street, Celbridge, standing on a site of 0.6 of an acre running down to the river Liffey, was sold at auction for €3.5 million - €2.25 millionabove the guide. Auctioneer Will Coonan was equally successful with the auction of a one-acre site with permission for six detached houses at Weirgate, Celbridge. The guide here was €1.7 million but it made €1 million above that figure. There were five bidders for the latter property and four at the first auction.
Appointment at legal firm
BCM Hanby Wallace solicitors has appointed Mary Dunne as a partner in its construction and projects department. She joins the firm from the National Development Finance Agency where she was head of legal. She is an experienced practitioner in the area of PPPs and has negotiated many of the most significant projects in this area.
Shaws for Drogheda centre
Competition for retail business in Drogheda continues to intensify with the decision by Shaws Department Stores to open a large unit in the newly developed Laurence Town Centre. A store of 3,344sq m (36,000sq ft) will open on October 25th. Anchor tenant M&S is reported to be trading exceptionally well in the centre. Kevin Sweeney of Bannon Commercial advised Shaws on the Drogheda deal.
Board opens new D6 HQ
The International Education Board is opening a new HQ at Sandford Lodge, Ranelagh, D6. The agency has taken a 10-year lease on 250sq m (2,691sq ft) at a passing rent of €105,000 per annum. The Education Board will be joined by The Advisory Council of English Language Studies in Ireland to allow for one governing authority on English studies. The new body will be known as Education Ireland.
Dublin office space offers value
A new survey of business leaders in Europe indicates that Dublin office space is relatively good value. On a value for money basis, Dublin comes 12th with seven of the top 10 positions occupied by east European and Mediterranean cities. On availability of space, Dublin has fallen into the bottom half of the league table. There is now a scarcity of prime office space in the traditional city centre office locations with the vacancy rates standing at 9.3 per cent. Berlin, London and Leeds head the list of cities with most space available. The study was carried out by Cushman & Wakefield to which Lisney is affiliated.
