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US-owned Bain Capital is understood to have secured about €40 million from the sale of 72 high-end homes in the south Dublin suburb of Clonskeagh to a fund controlled by German investor Real IS.
The deal, which was completed in recent days, sees the fund secure ownership of 63 two to four-bedroom apartments and nine penthouses developed by Bain and its partners Regency Homes at the exclusive Knockrabo scheme on Mount Anville Road.
Completed in September 2020, the portfolio is distributed across four apartment blocks ranging in height from four to five storeys. The scheme, which is almost fully let, has 93 parking spaces. The €40 million price paid by Real IS represents an average of €555,555 per unit.
Commenting on the deal, Axel Schulz, global head of investment management at Real IS, said: “There is still excess demand for residential properties in Dublin. This is one of the reasons why we have chosen Dublin for our first acquisition for the investment fund [Real IS Wohnen I] outside Germany.
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“Compared with other European markets, rental yields are higher in Ireland. This too makes the location interesting for our investors. Additional benefits are the high quality and the attractive position of the modern residential complex.”
Portfolio
While the Knockrabo portfolio represents the Wohnen I fund’s first acquisition outside Germany, Real IS has been active in the Irish property market since 2019.
Earlier this year it paid Glenveagh Properties about €60 million to secure ownership of more than 100 apartments at the publicly-listed builder's Marina Village scheme in Greystones, Co Wicklow.
In October 2019 the German-headquartered fund made its first acquisition in Dublin with an agreement to pay €46 million for 56 private rented sector (PRS) apartments developed at Ropemaker Place in the city’s south docklands by Pat Crean’s Marlet Property Group.
Its second deal took place just over one month later, when it paid more than €55 million to secure ownership of 87 high-end apartments Glenveagh was developing at its Herbert Hill scheme next to Dundrum Town Centre in south Dublin.
As first revealed by The Irish Times in June 2019, the Dundrum scheme was offered for sale quietly on Glenveagh's behalf by Davy Corporate Finance with the option for the purchaser of entering into an agreement with Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council on the long-term lease of all 87 apartments for use as social housing.
Real IS has since pursued this option and is understood to be in receipt of about €2.1 million in guaranteed annual rental income from the council.
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