A round-up of other commercial property news in brief

Heatons to expand in D15

A new mezzanine floor is to be added to the Heatons store at Westend Retail Park in Blanchardstown, Dublin 15. The extra 1,055sq m (11,356sq ft) of space will open in September and will be used to accommodate the company’s fast expanding range of sports goods. Heatons already has 24 Sportsworld outlets throughout the country.

Westend is now attracting more than four million shoppers per annum, according to letting agent Bernadine Hogan of Savills.

One of the more recent arrivals, New Look, has been trading strongly since it opened last October. Another tenant, Next, recently added a perfume counter and sports section to its 4,000sq m (43,056sq ft) outlet.

Value at REA auction

A two-acre site for a 45-bedroom nursing home in Ballinlough, Co Roscommon, has an advised minimum value (AMV) of only €130,000 when Real Estate Alliance holds an auction of properties from all around the country in Dublin at the end of April. The site, which was valued at €500,000 in 2007, is one of nine going for sale in Dublin’s Shelbourne Hotel on April 30th.

Another site at Grove Street in Roscrea, Co Tipperary with full planning permission for a retail development has an AMV of €350,000 – a long way short of its 2007 value of over €1 million. The permission provides for 517sq m (5,565sq ft) on the ground floor and a further 560sq m (6,028sq ft) overhead.

The highest AMV being quoted is €750,000 for a modern three-storey office building extending to 415sq m (4,467sq ft) at 24 The Courtyard, Kilcarbery Business Park in Dublin 22.

Eimer O’Keeffe, chief executive of Real Estate Alliance, says she has received over 500 requests for sales catalogues.