€8.75m for D2 retail investment

Commercial Property Editor Three shops including a SuperValu store and a fitness centre overlooking Dublin’s O’Connell Bridge are to be offered for sale from today through DTZ Sherry FitzGerald.

Clive Roche from that agency is quoting in excess of €8.75 million for the four business premises at 14-18 Aston Quay which offers new owners a net return of 8.04 per cent.

The parade of shops occupy the ground floor of a four-storey over basement period building which was redeveloped a decade ago by Garret Kelleher’s Shelbourne Developments.

He subsequently sold on 11 apartments in the upper floors as well as the retail units and the fitness centre. The three retailers are locked in to 25-year leases from 2004 while Crunch Fitness is trading on a 35-year lease.

The lettings are currently producing a rental income of €735,000, with 75 per cent of the income coming from SuperValu and Boots. The UK chemist chain only traded for a short period after signing the lease and is attempting to sub-let the premises.

Musgrave-owned SuperValu is paying €385,000 for 700 sq m (7,535 sq ft) on the ground floor and 167 sq m (1,798 sq ft) at basement level. The Boots unit accounts for a rent of €175,000 and covers a ground floor area of 164 sq m (1,765 sq ft).

Café Sol is paying a rent of €35,000 for 62 sq m (667 sq ft) while Crunch Fitness contributes €140,000 for 1,950 sq m (almost 21,000 sq ft) at basement and first floor levels.

Roche describes the investment as a "high-yielding, well-located landmark property generating significant long dated secure income." He predicts that it will be of interest to both domestic and international investors.

The Aston Quay block traded from the early 1900s up to 1984 as McBirney’s department store and subsequently as the Virgin Megastore before it was acquired by Shelbourne Developments. It is one of the busiest stretches in the city centre.