Avestus lines up €214m purchase of south Dublin apartments

Irish real estate investor Avestus Capital Partners is set to pay around €214 million for a portfolio of 382 rental apartments distributed across two high-end developments in south Dublin.

Agent CBRE offered the Vert platform, an established and fully-operational private rented sector (PRS) portfolio comprising 197 units at Honeypark in Dún Laoghaire, and 185 units at the Elmfield scheme in Leopardstown for sale last September at a guide price of €200 million on behalf of European real estate investment specialists Tristan Capital Partners and its Irish operating partners, SW3 Capital. The sale process was confidential and targeted towards a number of institutional investors.

While CBRE declined to comment on the sale of the Vert platform, the €214 million being paid by Avestus represents a premium of €73 million, or just under 52 per cent, on the €141 million Tristan spent in assembling the portfolio.

In 2016, the company paid €72.5 million to acquire 197 apartments at the Neptune block at the Cosgrave Group’s Honeypark scheme. The completion of the transaction was notable for being the first of its kind where an entire multi-family development aimed at the rental market was sold when it was still under construction.

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Tristan and its Irish operating partners, SW3, moved to secure the units in advance of their scheduled February 2017 completion, with a view to offering them for rent under the Vert platform once they were delivered.

Located within the wider 1,400-home Honeypark development, the Neptune block includes 129 two-bedroom apartments, 41 three-bedroom units, and 27 one-bedroom units.

In October 2017, Tristan and SW3 added to the Vert platform when they completed the first of two purchases at Dwyer Nolan Developments’ Elmfield apartment scheme in Leopardstown, paying €51 million for 138 PRS units distributed across three standalone buildings . In June 2018, the company paid €17.5 million for a further 47 apartments at Elmfield, bringing its overall investment at the development to €68.5 million.

Avestus Capital Partners’ acquisition of the Vert platform represents its most significant investment in Dublin’s private rented sector to date.

In July 2018, the company signalled its intentions in relation to the PRS market when it raised an initial €160 million of equity for a new fund dedicated to investing in the sector.

Outside of its acquisition of existing residential rental schemes, Avestus Capital Partners’ housebuilding arm, Richmond Homes, is involved in the construction of residential units for both the rental and owner-occupier market. The developer has plans to deliver a total of 5,000 homes across the numerous sites it owns in Dublin and the Greater Dublin Area (GDA).