The owner and CEO of Core Capital, Derek McGrath, is seeking a buyer for a high-profile mixed-use investment on Dawson Street in Dublin city centre. The buildings at numbers 22, 23 and 23C Dawson Street, which are owned by Mr McGrath in a personal capacity, are being offered for sale on an off-market basis by agent Bannon at a guide price of €5.8 million.
The subject property will still be known to older generations of Dubliners as the former premises of the late Harry Moore’s electrical goods store, thanks in no small part to the long-running radio advert in which Mr Moore completed the jingle “Harry Moore’s, at the top of Dawson Street” by saying: “For more years than I care to remember.”
With the Harry Moore store at number 22 Dawson Street long since gone, today the property and the adjoining premises at numbers 23 and 23C are occupied under three separate leases and generating an overall rental income of €311,000 per annum. Should a sale proceed at the guide price of €5.8 million, the prospective purchaser would stand to secure a yield of around 5 per cent.
The ground floor and basement level of number 22 Dawson Street is let to the popular Italian restaurant Nannetti’s, on a 10-year lease that commenced on June 1, 2020. The passing rent per annum is €80,000, with a rent review linked to the consumer price index (CPI) due in 2025.
The ground floor and basement level of number 23 is occupied by Robert Lamb, trading as Sunglasses.ie, on a 10-year lease dating from April 1, 2018. The rent here is €35,000 per annum with a rent review based on market rates due around now.
The investment’s current owner, Derek McGrath, is best known as the chief executive and owner of Core Capital
23C Dawson Street is let to Rateridge Ltd, trading as the well-known café Tang, on a 20-year lease commencing on June 1, 2010. The rent is €40,000 per annum, and there are five-yearly rent reviews based on market rates with the next one of these due on May 31, 2025.
Quite apart from the €155,000 in annual rental income being derived from these three leases, the investment is generating a further €156,000 in rent from its four apartments. These are being let for €3,250 per unit per month at present.
The investment’s current owner, Derek McGrath, is best known as the chief executive and owner of Core Capital. Established in 2007, his company acts as a specialist advisor to private investors in Dublin and alongside private and institutional investors in the acquisition and development of commercial real estate in Ireland, the UK, the US and in Germany.
In Dublin alone, Core Capital is currently involved in development and investment transactions in offices, retail and hospitality with a combined value of some €900 million.
Arguably the most high-profile of these projects is Core’s partnership with Europa Capital and Paddy McKillen jnr’s Oakmount in the restoration and redevelopment of the former Clerys department store on O’Connell Street in Dublin. Clerys Quarter, as it will now be known, is due to open later this year and will comprise a mix of retail, offices, a hotel and a rooftop bar.
