A round-up of today's other commercial property news in brief ...
€2.75m for Dun Laoghaire site
An infill site in Dún Laoghaire with potential for about 30 apartments is for sale through Jones Lang LaSalle with an asking price of €2.75 million. The site of 0.24 of a hectare (0.6 of an acre) is in the middle of a residential area at Dunedin Terrace on Mounttown Road Lower in Dún Laoghaire. Dunedin Terrace is off Oliver Plunkett Road, about 2kms from the centre of Dún Laoghaire.
Sole agent for industry body
Retail industry body Retail Excellence Ireland (REI) has appointed Dublin agent GVA Donal O Buachalla as the sole agent to handle rent reviews and negotiations for its 1,500 retail member stores. The move follows a REI survey last month which found that 70 per cent of Irish retailers have sought a rent reduction but only a small percentage had been successful despite difficult market conditions. Over 30 agencies were invited to tender for the two-year contract to represent REI members.
David Fitzsimons, chief executive of REI, said the decision to appoint a single agent was motivated by a lack of consistency and transparency displayed by many landlords in setting rents. Excessive rents were a major reason why many businesses were being forced to close. He said the appointment of a single agent would create a level playing field and prevent retailers being pitted against each other by landlords in “a cheap bid to raise revenue”.
Value in Europe says report
The latest investment report from Savills suggests that property is beginning to look better value throughout Europe, especially where re-pricing has been strongest such as the office markets of Dublin, London, Paris and Madrid. “The euro-sterling exchange rates makes London particularly attractive,” says Joan Henry, head of research at Savills Ireland. She said loan-to-value rates through 2008 dropped from more than 80 per cent to 60/65 per cent. Debt-backed buyers remained constrained by liquidity issues while equity buyers were continuing to seek true market value. The Savills report was otherwise quite pessimistic, suggesting that occupier demand will weaken; there will be continued downward pressure on capital values where pricing had been slow to adjust; and further pressure on rents and highly incentivised leasing terms.
€50,000 rent in Ranelagh
Lisney is seeking rental offers over €50,000 per annum for a takeaway restaurant in Ranelagh village in Dublin 6. The premises, at number 92 Ranelagh Road, forms part of a two-storey mid-terrace commercial and residential building and has a floor area of 64sq m (689sq ft), with 51sq m (549sq ft) on the ground floor.
€730,000 rent on Henry St
One of the best located shops on Dublin’s Henry Street has come on the letting market through agent DTZ Sherry FitzGerald.
Number 45 Henry Street, opposite Arnotts, traded as Oasis up to recently when the lease ran out. The owner, Irish Property Unit Trust, is now offering it for letting on a new long term lease at a rent of €730,000 per annum. Its layout and trading space is likely to appeal to several large multiples, according to Karl Stewart of DTZ. There is a total trading area of 337sq m (3,627sq ft) with 197sq m (2,120sq ft) at street level and a further 106sq m (1,141sq ft) in the basement.
Dublin third dearest location
Dublin has fallen one place to third in a ranking of the world’s most expensive locations for renting industrial buildings. The area around Heathrow topped the list with an occupancy cost of €185 per sq m (€17.2 per sq ft). Next was Tokyo at €179 per sq m (€16.63 per sq ft) and then Dublin at €157 per sq m (€14.6 per sq ft). The study by Lisney alliance partners Cushman Wakefield showed that industrial markets deteriorated around the world in all but a handful of cities in 2008. Cathal Daughton of Lisney said the supply of industrial space in the greater Dublin area will increase significantly this year, putting downward pressure on rents. A trend towards shorter leases would continue as tenants demanded flexibility and were generally unwilling to sign up to leases for more than one to four years.
New lettings at Nutgrove
There has been a number of new lettings at Nutgrove shopping centre in Rathfarnham, D14. Carphone Warehouse, the mobile phone retailer, has moved to a large new unit on the central mall while Holland Barrett, a specialist trader in vitamins and herbal supplements, has opened a store of 100sq m (1,076sq ft). Other newcomers include Pizza Hut, Pretzel Express and Irish retailer Notionz which sells fashion accessories. Jones Lang LaSalle is letting agent for Nutgrove which celebrates its 25th birthday next October.
