REMEMBERING NAMA’RAMA

Former British Prime Minister Harold Wilson once quipped that “a week is a long time in politics”. While not a politician I can personally attest to the fact that 20 years is most definitely a long time in the commercial property profession. Having commenced employment with Bannon in the heady days of January 2005, there have been many ups, downs and ‘back-up agains’ in between.

The initial years of my career in Bannon, and the development land department specifically, were filled with developer flyovers via helicopter, seven figure deposit cheques, foreign Christmas parties (!) and a general ‘the only way is up’ attitude fuelled by copious Kool-Aid consumption long before the phrase became fashionable on this side of the Atlantic. By the Autumn of 2008 the seismic collapse of Lehman Brothers heralded the onslaught of the great financial crash and the development land sector in Ireland (as in most parts of the world) ground to a crushing halt. Thoughts of ‘what now?’ quickly took hold amongst property professionals and the answer came in the form of four letters which would dominate the sector for many subsequent years, NAMA.

The National Asset Management Agency was founded in 2009 and valuers were contracted to conduct asset valuations by either the lending institution transferring loans over to NAMA or by NAMA itself to provide checks and second opinions. And so ensued a colossal nationwide valuation exercise of every conceivable property asset ranging from abattoirs to retail parks and everything in-between. Overnight, investment agents and leasing teams who were largely at a loose-end due to inactivity in their sectors were seconded to put their shoulder to the wheel and reacquaint themselves with ‘The Red Book’. It’s unlikely that we’ll ever experience a valuation exercise on such a scale in this country again with property assets worth an estimated €50 billion valued over the space of three years in the depths of a recession.

While valuations could never claim to be the sexy side of the profession, the NAMA valuation process kept the lights on, wages paid and demonstrated the resilience and flexibility of the fledgling Bannon brand which not only weathered the storm but flourished in the post-apocalyptic commercial property market. Niall Brereton is a Director of the Professional Services & Land Department in Bannon.

Image taken from NAMA