Bannon will close Tuesday 23rd December 2014 and will reopen on Monday 5th January 2015
Best wishes for the festive season from all the staff at Bannon
The Quarterly report released from the Central Statistics Office today show Ireland’s quarterly international investment position (IIP) an overall stocks of foreign financial assets of €3,374.7bn – an increase of €250bn on the end-June 2014 level, while the corresponding stocks of foreign financial liabilities increased by €248.5bn to €3,551.2bn over the quarter. Irish residents had an overall net foreign liability of €177bn at end-September 2014, a decrease of €1bn on the net foreign liability level at end-June 2014
Within the commercial financial sector (i.e. MFI and OFI), IFSC enterprises accounted for a very high proportion of the sector’s overall foreign assets and liabilities. IFSC assets abroad increased by €205.4bn to €2,689.2bn at end-September 2014, or 95% of the sector’s foreign assets; IFSC liabilities at €2,725bn, an increase of €208.1bn, represented 97% of the commercial financial sector aggregate liability (and 77% of Ireland’s total foreign liabilities). IFSC enterprises showed a net liability position of €35.8bn.
Royal Bank of Scotland Group, Ulster Bank’s parent company, has announced this morning that Cerberus has paid €1.38bn for the Project Aran, which had an unpaid loan balance of €5.6bn and gross liabilities of €6bn. Fending off still competition from Lone Star and a consortium comprised of CarVal Investors, Goldman Sachs’ special situations fund and Apollo Global Management.
Project Aran was comprised of approximately 1,300 borrower groups, over 6,200 loans with around 5,400 properties. More than 75% by loan balance is secured by Irish assets and about 20% in Northern Ireland, with more than 90% of the loan portfolio in default.
Project Aran was upsized from an initial circa €1.7bn portfolio, back in October – View Previous Article
Dublin City Council will officially launch The North Lotts and Grand Canal Dock Planning Scheme on Wednesday 10th December at 11am at the Dublin Docklands Development Authority Offices at Custom House Quay, Dublin 1. The scheme was adopted by Dublin City Council in November 2013 and approved by An Bord Pleanala on 16th May 2014. Councillor Paddy Bourke, representing the Lord Mayor of Dublin, officially launched the scheme.
The publication marks the beginning of a new process of implementation of the Docklands Strategic Development Zone (SDZ) Scheme for the City, and a new era of investment and development in the Docklands area. The fast track planning for the Docklands (SDZ) has already seen the lodgement of its first major planning application at the Bolands Mill site with a decision due on this application in February 2015.
The Docklands SDZ is recognised as an area which is of city, region and national economic and social importance, not least due to the pro-active role the most significant land holder, NAMA, will play in its delivery.
Circa 22 Hectares are available for development in the North Lotts and Grand Canal Dock Scheme, an area roughly equivalent in scale to the entire Custom House Docks / IFSC Area. Under the scheme, the floorspace to be delivered amounts to almost 2,600 residential units and about 305,000 – 366,000 square metres of commercial floorspace. This potential would deliver an additional residential population of 5,800 and employment of 23,000 people.
This planning scheme under the Docklands SDZ seeks to meet the future needs of the City, by creating a vibrant living urban quarter and an economic cluster, capable of competing on an international level. The Docklands area has the potential to support real economic recovery and provide for a critical mass of development; to foster investment and innovation and sustain the growth of key sectors, such as financial services and the services economy.
This scheme provides a clear blueprint for new development, by requiring each major site to provide a mix of commercial and housing plus a range of services, new public spaces, parks and community and arts facilities. This mix of uses is key to the vision of the Docklands SDZ.
Dublin City Council, as the designated Development Agency for the SDZ, has already commenced work on essential elements to the success of the Scheme. A new unit of Dublin City Council is now on the ground in Docklands delivering the SDZ and working with all key stakeholders and community leaders. A community audit has commenced, in relation to a new public realm strategy for the district and for preparatory designs for key new bridges.
Irish shops are bracing themselves for their best Christmas since the nadir of the economic collapse, with a new report suggesting consumers are set to spend €4 billion between now and the new year.
The upbeat forecast is contained in Retail Ireland’s Christmas Monitor, which tracks key trends across the economy and the retail sector to give an insight into how they are likely affect the crucial Christmas trading period.
The monitor shows that €3.96 billion is likely to be spent in shops this December, up from €3.88 billion last year, with Irish households set to spend between €650 and €750 more in shops this month, than other months of the year.
The monitor, from Ibec’s retail division, shows that sales in the first nine months of this year are up 1.5% in value terms on the same period last year and it pointed to rising employment as a key driver of greater spending.
Retail Ireland’s most recent forecasts said there would be about 35,000 more people at work since last Christmas and almost 96,000 more than there were in Christmas 2012.
Disposable income has continued to climb. It increased by 3.3% in 2013 and Retail Ireland said it expected it to grow by a similar percentage this year after significant falls between 2008 and 2012.
Consumer sentiment is at its highest since 2007, with the annualised average of the ESRI/KBC consumer sentiment index 30% higher than in 2013 and 70% higher than in 2008 and 2009.
Retail Ireland said competition remained intense across the retail sector and it anticipated that prices would be kept down. At present, goods inflation is at minus 2% annually as shops battle for footfall.
Sales period
Goods prices this December are on course to be at their lowest level since December 2002, with downward pressure expected to continue into the post-Christmas sales period.
However, he warned that retailers were still paying “unsustainable high rents” and called on the Government to back Senator Feargal Quinn’s Bill on upward-only rent reviews.
View Media Article by Conor Pope
The Irish Residential Properties (I-RES) REIT has agreed a deal with the Canadian Apartment Properties Real Estate Investment Trust (CAPREIT) that will provide it with an additional €150m in acquisition funding which is to be used for expanding its portfolio of high-quality properties.
CAPREIT has also been selected as the preferred bidder to acquire the “Rockbrook” property portfolio for approximately €88.9m, which is the first proposed transaction to utilise the pipeline facility.
Since its establishment, IRES has deployed all of the €192m net proceeds from its IPO and utilised €125m of the €130m credit facility it agreed with Barclays.
The centre is for sale by private treaty from Joint selling agents Bannon and Bundoran-based Sean Meehan & Co. The property is being sold on the instructions of receiver Tom Kavanagh of Deloitte.
The shopping centre is located right in the town centre and features significant amounts of on-site parking. It includes an anchor store of 734.3 sq.m and twelve retail units over two levels comprising 649 sq.m. There are three well-proportioned office suites on the first floor.
The current rent roll is €37,580 with an immediate opportunity for potential purchasers to increase revenues through active lettings.
There are 12 retail units and an anchor store with a further 3 office suites on the first floor.
At present three of the retail units are occupied with the anchor store also under offer.
The three office suites are occupied two of which are held under a short term tenancy with the HSE.
The agents expect strong interest with the quoted price level at an attractive €650,000, given the centre’s proximity to the seaside resort of Bundoran, the commercial centre of Donegal Town and the adjoining County Fermanagh hinterland.
The anchor store was formally occupied by a Mace supermarket. The supermarket closed in May last year.
Please contact Jennifer Mulholland of Bannon today for further information on 01 6477900
Five relatively small provincial shopping centre are to be offered for sale on the instructions of Nama.
Joint agents Bannon and Lisney are to seek in excess of €50 million for the grocery-led centres in Dungarvan, Thurles, Mullingar, Navan and Cashel which are to be sold in a single lot.
The Harvest Portfolio is producing a combined rent of €4.8 million which will give the purchaser an initial yield of just over 9%. Deloitte, the professional services group, is co-coordinating the sale of the various centres which are anchored by leading multiples Dunnes Stores, Supervalu and Tesco. In only one case – Cashel – the anchor store rented by Tesco is included in the sale. There are more than 100 traders in all in the various centres which have an overall floor area of 24,154 sq.m (260,000 sq.ft) and a vacancy rate of 2,787 sq.m (30,000 sq.ft).
The portfolio also includes more than five acres of development land, much of which is expected to be used if the pick up in the retail market continues. Whoever buys the centres will inevitably press to have the vacant commercial space let.
The overall rent is about €1.5 million and the weighted average unexpired leases work out at 11 years. One of the attractions here is that the sale includes 4.5 acres which are zoned for “town centre” use. Dunnes Stores Thurles Shopping Centre has an overall retail area of 4,645 sq.m (50,000 sq.ft) apart altogether from the main supermarket which is owned by Dunnes Stores.
The centre is producing a rental income of €1.15 million and with an average of 6.9 years still unexpired on the various leases the centre could well be valued at about €12 million. Dunnes are also the principal player in Harbour Place Shopping Centre in Mullingar which is trading well and is valued at about €10 million. The line of tenants includes Boots, Holland & Barrett and Peter Mark and the rental income comes to €970,000. Typical leases have another 5.44 years to run. Cashel Town Shopping Centre is the only purpose built retail complex in town and with Tesco contributing most of the rental income of €730,000 on a long term lease the overall value of the complex is likely to be at least €8 million. The average unexpired lease term is 12 years.
Tesco also operate a petrol filling station between the centre and junction 9 of the M8 motorway. Whoever buys the portfolio will undoubtedly launch a renewed marketing campaign to find tenants for about 20 shops lying vacant in what is an impressive looking centre.
The fifth retail complex in the portfolio, Johnstown, is located more than two miles from Navan on the edge of a string of housing estates owned mainly by Dublin workers attracted by cheaper house prices during the boom. Best-run supermarket The centre has what many shoppers acknowledge is the best-run supermarket in town – Supervalu.
The remaining tenants, including Hickeys pharmacy and Boyle Sports, contribute to the overall rental income of €425,000. The average lease term remaining here is 13.5 years and a new owner could increase the rental return if a tenant can be found for around 929 sq.m (10,000 sq.ft) of office space over the complex. The Johnstown centre is thought to have a valuation of about €4 million.
Rod Nowlan of Bannon and Duncan Lyster of Lisney said the sale provided investors with an opportunity to access “the improving Irish economy through a resilient collection of grocery-led retail schemes which are embedded in strong regional towns.”
The various assets provided strong cash flows from tenants that were largely paying rebased rents. Each of the schemes offered significant asset enhancement opportunities to improve their position in their respective markets and enhance returns.
For more details please contact Rod Nowlan of Bannon today on 01 6477900 or for more information visit www.harvestportfolio.com
Regatta, the high performance outdoor wear brand, is opening a flagship store at the Pavilions Shopping Centre today, with another store to follow in Athlone Town Centre soon. Congrats to the Bannon letting team.
Regatta is the UK’s largest supplier of outdoor and leisure clothing and a leading player in the European market. The chain currently operates a €10 million-a-year wholesaling business and 10 concession outlets based in Shaws department stores, together with a standalone retail outlet in the Crescent shopping centre in Limerick.
Ardstone Capital, the private investment manager, and CBRE Global Investment Partners, have bought 2 Harbourmaster Place for €37.85 million in a deal that will show a net initial yield of 5.4%.
The 5,688 sq.m (61,012 sq.ft) multi-let building close to the main entrance of the IFSC and Connolly Station has a mix of tenants in the block including KPMG, Wells Fargo, Bank of Montreal, Kleinworth Benson, Aspen Reinsurance and United Health Group.
Ardstone was advised by the Bannon agency while JLL acted for Irish Life.
2 Harbourmaster Place is the seventh office investment in the area to have changed hands this year as long-term investors availed of the pick-up in the market to offload assets on which they claimed 100 per cent capital allowances over a 10-year period.
The Central Bank is expected to submit a planning application for its new headquarters which will be built on the Dublin Docklands site once earmarked as a head office for the former Anglo Irish Bank, which will cost an estimated €140 million, reports the Irish Times.
The application seeks approval for an eight-storey office block. The 30,000 sq.m building can house approximately 1,400 staff and will contain a range of open floor office areas and meeting rooms. Its energy rating of A2 will make it one of the most power-efficient buildings in the country.
If it gets the go-ahead, the building will create 350 jobs during the construction phase until its target completion date in 2016.
The Ulster Bank construction purchasing managers’ index (PMI), which monitors the health of the sector, rose from 61.5 in September to 64.9 last month with commercial activity expanding at a strong pace from 62.7 to 66.8 and the civil engineering facet of the index rising from 45.1 to 50.6. This was the second highest reading since the survey began in June 2000, only behind the reading seen in November 2004.
The index examines three areas of construction – civil engineering, housing and commercial and for the first time since October 2006, each of the three sectors posted rises in construction activity.
IPUT plc has completed the acquisition via sale and leaseback of a high specification logistics facility at Blanchardstown Corporate Park for approximately € 10.5 million in an off market transaction that will see Musgrave’s remain in occupation of the building under a long term lease and provide IPUT with an income yield of 7.75%.
The property which was purpose built for Superquinn in 2001 is regarded as an international class logistics facility comprising distribution and offices extending to 185,946 sq.ft. The facility includes ambient warehousing of approximately 136,432 sq.ft, chill room of approximately 39,826 sq.ft and office accommodation of approximately 9,688 sq.ft on a site of 4.45 hectares (11 acres). Planning permission was granted in 2004 for a 70,207 sq.ft warehouse extension which offers potential for further development on the site in the future.
Musgrave Group is Ireland’s leading retail and food service wholesaler with an annual turnover in excess of €4.5 billion.
IPUT property fund is to take over ownership of Carrickmines Retail Park in south Dublin as part of a successful tender by the New York-based Marathon Asset Management for the Irish retail parks portfolio. IPUT offered around €78 million for just the Carrickmines retail Park in the first round of bidding but Nama thought it should not be sold on its own but rather as part of the Parks Portfolio which also included four lesser-known parks in Drogheda, Mullingar, Clonmel and Carlow.
IPUT then joined forces with New York-based Marathon Asset Management who had survived the first round after pitching for the entire portfolio – a final bid of approximately €157 million for all five parks – €47 million above the guide price.
Carrickmines Retail Park is currently producing a rental income of €4.4 million which will rise by another €300,000-plus if, as expected, a leading furniture retailer rents a vacant building on site extending to 974 sq.m (10,500 sq.ft). Woodies DIY and garden centre is the anchor tenant paying a rent of €1.8 million for 6,038 sq.m (65,000 sq.ft).
According to the 2014 Autumn Economic forecast published today, Ireland is expected to have the fastest growth in the EU in 2014 with real GDP growth forecast at 4.6%.
The European Commission’s autumn forecast projects weak economic growth for the rest of this year in both the EU and the euro area. Real GDP growth is expected to reach 1.3% in the EU and 0.8% in the euro area for 2014 as a whole. Growth is expected to rise slowly in the course of 2015, to 1.5% and 1.1% respectively, on the back of improving foreign and domestic demand. An acceleration of economic activity to 2.0% and 1.7% respectively in 2016 is expected to be driven by the strengthening of the financial sector (following the comprehensive assessment by the European Central Bank and further progress towards the Banking Union).
A total of €800m is being made available for lending to small and medium businesses by a new State-backed Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI), which is being launched today. SBCI loans will aim to help fill that financing gap with longer-duration loans tailored for company needs. SCBI’s lending rates are expected to come in at 1% lower than the market rate – as well as longer durations.
The scheme will be financed initially with €150 million from the German Promotional Bank KfW, with the other €650 million coming from the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF), formerly the National Pension Reserve Fund.
The volume of retail sales increased for the 11th month in a row this year, September edging 0.1% higher compared with August, and there was an increase of 5.9% for the year, according to the CSO report. If Motor Trades are excluded, there was a decrease of 0.6% in the volume of retail sales in September 2014 when compared with August 2014 and there was an increase of 3.1% in the annual figure.
There was a decrease of 0.2% in the value of retail sales in September 2014 when compared with August 2014 and there was an annual increase of 3.8% when compared with September 2013. If Motor Trades are excluded, there was a monthly decrease of 1.1% in the value of retail sales and an annual increase of 1.0%.
Approximately 12.9 ha. (31.87 acres) of development land for sale in Newtown, Drogheda, Co. Louth. Planning permission is until July 2017 on part of the site for 260 units. One of the last major greenfield development sites in Drogheda.
Located close to Drogheda Grammer School, Scotch Hall Shopping Centre and other amenities. Drogheda is the largest town in Ireland with a population of 38,578 people (Census 2011).
For further details please contact Bannon on 01 6477900.
Bannon are guiding €4 million for 49 Lower O’Connell Street, a Georgian retail building rented by Footlocker at €240,000 a year. The investment will show an initial return of just under 6%.
The five-storey over basement building is located at the southern end of the street close to Penneys, McDonald’s and Schuh. It has an overall floor area of 483 sq.m (5,205 sq.ft) and previously had retail use on the first floor as well as at street level.
Footlocker concentrates all its selling efforts on the ground floor and uses the additional space for offices and storage.
There are 13 years remaining on the lease with the next upwards only review due in 2017.
David Carroll of Bannon, who is handling the sale, said the building had a “great profile” beside what would be a very busy intersection of the Luas cross-city service and the Luas red line. The €4 million sale would appeal particularly to cash buyers and debt-backed investors.
Royal Bank of Scotland has increased its Irish non-performing real estate loan portfolio, Project Aran, by €4.3bn to approximately €6.0bn, with the same three-strong finalists now to bid across the enlarged NPL.
Project Aran, derived from RBS’ subsidiary Ulster Bank’s loan book, launched at the turn of September initially with a nominal balance of €1.6bn, secured by 411 borrower connections and 315 properties, which was quickly increased by around €100m to €1.7bn.
The increase to approximately €6.0bn was taken prior to selection of the three finalists; Lone Star, Cerberus and a consortium comprised of CarVal Investors, Goldman Sachs’ special situations fund and Apollo Global Management.
Final, binding bids are expected by early December.
IBRC, the former Anglo Irish Bank, has set up a joint venture with Russian investment company A1 to recoup real estate assets in Russia and Ukraine accumulated by Quinn family. The assets include a skyscraper in Russia, a DIY chain and various logistics parks.
A1 will hold a public auction on December 5th on the sale of “Q-Park” in Kazan, called “b” in the investment company. The starting price for property, which exceeds 99.500 sq.m, is 2.575 billion rubles (€40 million). Tenants include Efes, Bosch and Schneider Electric.
In the year to September, residential property prices at a national level, increased by 15% the CSO reported yesterday. This compares with an increase of 14.9% in August and an increase of 3.6% recorded in the twelve months to September 2013.
In Dublin residential property prices grew by 2.5% in September and were 23.4% higher than a year ago. The price of residential properties in the Rest of Ireland (i.e. excluding Dublin) rose by 1.1% in September compared with a decrease of 0.1% in September of last year.
Nama made a profit of €102m for the first six months of this year, and has guided that it will complete its work by the end of 2017 or mid-2018, according to its annual statement, published yesterday. This was almost double the €55 million surplus achieved in the same period of 2013. The report shows that Nama’s cash generation accelerated in the six-month period, generating cash of €5.4 billion during the first half of this year compared with €2 billion in the same period of 2013.
NAMA is also focusing on the completion of a number of residential properties in London in 2015 and 2016, while it is also planning and facilitating the delivery of office accommodation in Dublin with a special focus on the city’s Docklands Strategic Development Zone. The agency has committed to ensuring that a pipeline of large portfolios of mainly Irish property assets will be put up for sale, adding that packaged deals for properties with a minimum value of 250m will be offered for sale every four months.
The 25th Welcome Home Wexford Cycle took place on Saturday, 20th September and our fellow colleagues did us proud.
In support of the Peter McVerry Trust, which was established in 1983 by Fr Peter McVerry to tackle homelessness, drug misuse and social disadvantage.
Google is understood to be in discussions to buy the historic Boland’s Mills site in Dublin’s Docklands.
The landmark building, which was at the centre of fighting during the 1916 Easter Rising, is controlled by Nama. The Boland’s Mill site was bought by developer Sean Kelly for €42m during the boom, with plans to build apartments, offices and retail unit on the 1.7-acre site. Treasury Holdings owned adjacent sites to the mills.
So far Google has spent around €1bn in Ireland over the last decade between buildings and staffing costs.
Read the official summaries of the key budget measures and the detailed analysis from leading accountancy firms.
View Department of Finance Summary
A report from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) shows at end Q2 2014, Ireland’s Government deficit fell to 3.8% of gross domestic product in the second quarter of 2014 with Government Debt at 116.7% of GDP.
Government Deficit of 5.7 % of GDP in 2013
General Government experienced a deficit of €9,967 million (5.7% of GDP) in 2013 – an improvement on the 2012 position of €13,901 million (8.0% of GDP). Government revenue increased from €59,083 million in 2012 to €60,837 million in 2013 driven by increased tax and social contribution revenues, while expenditure decreased from €72,984 million to €70,804 million over the same period with decreases observable in most expenditure categories except interest and current transfers. Taxes and social contributions, the largest component of revenue over the period, represented just under 87% of total government revenue in 2013. Social benefits, the biggest expenditure category, accounted for just over 40% of government spending in 2013.
Government Debt at 123.3% of GDP in 2013
The gross debt of General Government stood at €215,550 million at the end of 2013, or 123.3% of GDP, up from €210,226 million at the end of 2012, or 121.7 % of GDP. General Government Net Debt for 2013 amounted to €160,962 million or 92.1% of GDP. This net debt figure is obtained by deducting the values of the financial assets from the corresponding categories of financial liabilities in General Government Gross Debt
The September construction PMI (purchasing managers’ index) shows house-building activity grew at its fastest rate since 2000.
The PMI report – a seasonally adjusted index designed to track changes in total construction activity – posted 61.5 in September, broadly unchanged from the reading of 61.4 in August and thereby signalling a further strong rise in activity at Irish construction firms.
New business and employment both rose at sharper rates than in August. Commercial construction also rose at a sharp pace, although growth was at a slightly slower rate than in August. The commercial index read 62.7 in September, below the previous month’s figure of 63.2.
The Small Firms Association (SFA) has called for a cut in capital gains tax as part of next week’s Budget.
At a meeting with Minister Simon Harris, TD in Leinster House, Director of the Small Firms Association, Patricia Callan, stated that “small businesses around the country are effectively being prohibited from tendering for public contracts, in the move to centralise government procurement into large-scale contracts that they are ineligible to apply for.”
The body said the rate should drop to 10% for entrepreneurs selling businesses, which would bring it in line with Britain’s levy. It also wants the general GCT rate to fall to 20%.
In 2013, the published data suggests that 28% of tenders are being awarded to countries outside of Ireland, up from a previous high of 18% recorded. Ireland frequently tops the list of countries most likely to award to non-national countries and this trend is increasing all the time.
Irish property investment company, Hibernia Reit has said yesterday it intends to raise €300 million in a placing and open offer of shares to fund further commercial property deals. The company plans to fund further property investments comprising both new acquisitions and capital expenditure on its existing portfolio from the funds raised.
Hibernia said it will issue 285,317,459 new ordinary shares at a price of €1.05. The issue price represents a discount of 8.5c (7.5%) on yesterday’s closing price of €113.5 per existing ordinary share on the Irish Stock Exchange.
Ibec, the group that represents Irish business, today published its new Quarterly Economic Outlook which is forecasting GDP growth to reach 6.1% on the back of a broad-based recovery in the economy, which includes a 1.5% increase in consumer spending, a 14.2% increase in investment and a 12.2% increase in exports this year.
According to Ibec, there is no need for the Government to do an austerity budget as the level of growth in the economy will reduce the fiscal deficit down to 2.5%,
In the Q3 Economic Outlook, Ibec also raised its 2015 GDP growth forecast to 4.5% (up from 3.9%), and this year’s GNP growth forecast to 5.4% (up from 2.5%).
Key issues highlighted in the forecast include:
The BWG group, the owners of SPAR, are to invest €100m in store development over the next five years. The investment will see 50 new stores open around the country between now and 2016 with the creation of approximately 1,000 jobs.
The announcement was made at a SPAR retailer convention in Killarney this morning. It follows the recent investment by BWG South Africa, which saw it take an 80% holding in the group.
The European Union’s statistics office Eurostat has reported that retail sales in the euro zone rose 1.2% month-on-month in August with 1.9% year-on-year gain.
The 1.2% increase in the volume of retail trade in the euro area in August 2014, compared with July 2014, is due to rises of 1.7% for automotive fuel, of 1.5% for the non-food sector and of 0.6% for “Food, drinks and tobacco”.
Monthly Comparison
The highest increases in total retail trade were registered in Germany and Luxembourg (both +2.5%), Portugal and Sweden (both +2.3%) and Poland (+2.2%), and the largest decreases in Romania and Slovakia (both -0.6%).
Annual Comparison
The 1.9% increase in the volume of retail trade in the euro area in August 2014, compared with August 2013, is due to a rise of 3.6% for the non-food sector, while both “Food, drinks and tobacco” and automotive fuel fell by 0.2%. Total retail trade rose in all Member States for which data are available, with the highest increases observed in Luxembourg (+12.5%), Estonia (+6.7%) and the United Kingdom (+5.6%).
The National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) has announced that it will bring five Irish property portfolios, with a combined value of approximately €600m, to the market in Q4 2014. The portfolios will comprise offices, shopping centres, hotels and apartments. This announcement is in line with NAMA’s publicly stated intention to bring property portfolio sales with a minimum value of €250m to the market each quarter.
The portfolios for sale will consist of:
The social media giant, Facebook is doubling the size of its European headquarters in the Dublin Docklands with an adjoining office to take its total space up to 250,000 sq.ft. The deal includes the standard landlord fit-out including ceilings, floors, light fittings and air conditioning.
It is reported that the lease which will be for 25 years will see Facebook pay the new standard city centre rent of approximately €45 per sq.ft, but the deal does include the option to break the lease after a period of 13 years. Facebook is understood to have negotiated a rent of no more than €376 per sq.m (€35 per sq.ft) for its first block at 4 Grand Canal Square at the end of 2011.
The Central Statistics Office report released yesterday shows the volume of retail sales (i.e. excluding price effects) decreased by 2.9% in August 2014 when compared with July 2014 and there was an increase of 6.8% in the annual figure. If Motor Trades are excluded, there was an increase of 0.3% in the volume of retail sales in August 2014 when compared with July 2014.
There was a decrease of 1.3% in the value of retail sales in August 2014 when compared with July 2014 and there was an annual increase of 5.3% when compared with August 2013. If Motor Trades are excluded, there was a monthly increase of 0.1% in the value of retail sales and an annual increase of 2.2%.
The sectors with the largest month on month volume increases were Furniture and Lighting (+11.0%), Bars (+2.6%) and Electrical Goods (+2.2%). The sectors with the largest monthly decreases were Motor Trades (-4.4%), Hardware, Paints & Glass (-2.6%) and Food, Beverages & Tobacco (-2.4%).
UK-listed discount retailer Poundland is planning to open six new Dealz stores in Ireland over the next year. The new openings will bring to 41 the number of shops in the Republic for Dealz, which opened here three years ago.
To date, the UK company has invested approximately €53 million in its Irish network with about €4.5 million being spent this year on its expansion. It attracts about 200,000 customers a week to its Irish stores. The group’s revenues from the Republic amounted to £55 million for the year to the end of March 2014.
An Bord Pleanála has given the go ahead to a €40 million extension of The Square shopping centre,Tallaght. A development that is being supported by the National Asset Management Agency. Permission was granted to Indego, which owns about 70% of the units at The Square, following an appeal by Dunnes Stores in April.
The project will create about 300 jobs during construction, which is due to begin in spring 2017. It will add about 200,000 sq.ft of retail space, creating 400 jobs. A multi-storey car park over six levels with approximately 800 spaces is also planned.
Bannon have recently let two units to Starbucks, the American coffee chain, namely at no. 8 North Earl Street, Dublin 1 and the Marshes Shopping Centre, Dundalk which was acquired by Kenny Wilson earlier this month.
Starbucks have taken the ground and basement of 8 North Earl Street under a sub-lease with 7 years unexpired lease term from Carphone Warehouse. The unit measures 129.5 sq.m with a ground floor retail area of 72.5 sq.m, Starbucks are believed to be paying a rent of €70,000 per annum with a minimal limited rent free period provided.
Starbucks have also agreed to take a unit at Marshes Shopping Centre, Dundalk which is understood to be a 20 year lease for 1,800 sq.ft at a rent of €60,000 p.a.
Daniel McLaughlin of Bannon who dealt with the lettings commented “there were a number of offers from established retailers for the property given the profile and high levels of passing footfall. We are witnessing demand for well-located city centre properties which far outstrips the availability currently within the market. We see this trend continuing for the foreseeable future as consumer spends recovers coupled with a lack of new stock being redeveloped.”
The Quarterly report released from the Central Statistics Office today show Ireland’s quarterly international investment position (IIP) results overall stocks of foreign financial assets of €3,124.9bn – an increase of €81.1bn on the end-March 2014 level, while the corresponding stocks of foreign financial liabilities increased by €82.9bn to €3,302.7bn over the quarter.
Irish residents had an overall net foreign liability of €178bn at end-June 2014, an increase of €2bn on the net foreign liability level at end-March 2014. Excluding investment funds, Irish controlled enterprises account for 29% of the remaining external assets and 31% of external liabilities.
Within the commercial financial sector (i.e. MFI and OFI), IFSC enterprises accounted for a very high proportion of the sector’s overall foreign assets and liabilities. IFSC assets abroad increased by €48.9bn to €2,483.8bn at end-June 2014, or 94% of the sector’s foreign assets; IFSC liabilities at €2,517bn, an increase of €69.4bn, represented 96% of the commercial financial sector aggregate liability (and 76% of Ireland’s total foreign liabilities). IFSC enterprises showed a net liability position of €33.1bn
A report, which has been commissioned by the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI), explores the capacity of lands zoned for residential development within the Dublin Region to deliver the requisite housing units for the projected population of the Dublin Region between 2014-2018.
The key findings in the report are:
Recently refurbished upper floor accommodation to let on Middle Abbey Street.
Extending to net internal area of 127 sq.m (1,367 sq.ft). Excellent high profile location.
For further details please contact Louise Doherty or Katie Williams of Bannon on 01 6477900
Allianz Real Estate, the international real estate division of Allianz Group with €30bn in assets under management, has committed to invest €140m in IPUT, the largest unlisted debt-free property fund in Ireland. IPUT currently manages over 90 portfolios, valued at more than €1bn, including 43 prime office property in Dublin’s central business district valued at €775m. Most recently, it acquired a portfolio of Dublin-based assets, known as the Salix portfolio, from the Bank of Ireland staff pension fund for an all cash payment of €115m.
Today is E-day, the date from which central Government, local authorities and State agencies stop issuing and accepting cheques from businesses.
The particular focus of e-day is to encourage SMEs to migrate from cheque usage as they are either issuers or receivers of more than 60% of all cheques in Ireland. A shift from cheques to electronic as a preferred method of payment will result in reduced costs and improved cash-flow for the overall business sector.
The NPP, National Payments Plan, estimates that savings of up to €1 billion per year can be made if Ireland were to match best practice in Europe by migrating away from cheques and cash in favour of electronic payments.
The Tender Indices for the second half of 2014, produced by the SCSI, show construction tender rates continue to rise steadily in 2014, up 4.4% from this time last year. Construction tender prices increased by 2% since the beginning of 2014.
The continued stabilising of tender rates in the first half of 2014 are due to a number of factors. International demand for materials such as steel, metal etc., rising fuel prices and running costs have led to material price increases that can no longer be absorbed within tender rates. The rates also reflect the recent steady increase in construction activity in Dublin.
Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC) has appointed Liam Dowdall and Sean McNamara of Smith & Williamson accountants to take control of HCJV, the property arm of the Caulfield McCarthy retail group, one of the country’s biggest SuperValu franchisees which owns stores and shopping centres in eight locations around the country on foot of unpaid loans totalling more than €80m.
The Caulfield McCarthy group includes outlets at the Hypercentre in Waterford, Loughboy in Kilkenny, Bandon in Cork, Tipperary town, Merchant’s Quay in Cork city, Malahide in Dublin, and Enniscorthy and New Ross in Wexford. The retail side of the business Caulfield McCarthy Group Retail, is not in receivership, and the stores, which employ about 1,000 staff, will continue to trade as normal.
The loans were due to be sold on by IBRC as part of its liquidation, but according to the receivership appointment notices, it was the bank that put in Smith & Williamson, and not any third party loan buyer.
Bannon are delighted to bring to the market the sale of Rosemount Shopping Centre, Rathfarnham, Dublin 14. The shopping centre comprises a two level scheme with 8 retail units situated at ground floor and a further 4 commercial and offices units at first floor. The first floor units are served by two stairwells with a minimum quantum of common area to be maintained. There is an attractive Initial yield excess of 8%.
The scheme extends to 2,215.4 sq.m (23,846 sq.ft) with the benefit of 112 surface car parking spaces. This car park has been taken in charge by South Dublin Co. Council. Key tenants include Supervalu, Shannon’s Pharmacy, Rosemount Meats, Ray’s Catch, Fresh Fruit & Veg Delicatessen and Truly Scrumptious Café amongst other complimentary uses. The shopping centre has full occupancy with excellent income history.
For further details please contact Daniel McLaughlin, Rod Nowlan or Ben Semple of Bannon on 01 6477900
Green REIT Plc today announced its results for the period from incorporation on 24th June 2013 to 30th June 2014 which reported a pre-tax profit of €43 million for its first year of operation, as it re-valued its portfolio upwards by approximately €36 million.
In the 12 months to June 30th 2014, Green Reit reported total passing rents of €28.5 million, an investment income yield of 7%, and a dividend of 0.92 cent. Over 73% of the assets are in offices, 17.5% in retail, 3.6% in development land, 2.4% in industrial and 3% in other investments.
Reit said that it has a further €322 million to invest into new opportunities.
Please view full report – Preliminary Results for the period to 30th June 2014
The network of Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) has joined forces with Microfinance Ireland (MFI) and launched a new type of loan support aimed at Ireland’s small business community called ‘LEO Microfinance’.
Start-ups and small businesses which employ fewer than 10 people can now apply directly to any of the 31 LEOs around the country for the new loan package. It offers loans of between €2,000 and €25,000 at a reduced rate of interest of 7.5% as opposed to 8.5% on a standard loan rate with flexible repayment options. It is expected that up to 250 new applications for the loan support will take place this year alone. Based on an average loan size of €15,500, this would mean €3.8m in lending.
For more information visit www.microfinanceireland.ie
Barrow Valley Retail Park have 9 retail warehouse units for sale on the instructions of the Joint Receivers Michael Madden and Michael Coyle.
Units are available individually or as a single lot.
The units for sale extend to approximately 56,165 sq.ft on ground with mezzanine accommodation of approximately 18,435 sq.ft which forms part of a modern retail park scheme of 20,000 sq.m anchored by the only Dunnes Stores in Carlow. High profile location with over 500 metres frontage to the N80 Northern Relief Road and over 500 car parking spaces. Easily accessible, convenient location 2km from Carlow Town Centre.
Retail occupiers include Lifestyle Sports, Hughie Doyle Furniture, Tenants t/a The Ivy Rooms and Tyndall Clinic and Pharmacy. Leisure occupiers include The Talbot Hotel (80 bedrooms) and The Dome Leisure Centre. Motor occupiers include Ford Motors, Mitsubishi Motors and Meridian Motors.
For more information please contact Cian McMorrow on 01 6477900
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