Iput planning logistics hub for 64-acre site near Dublin Airport

Iput Real Estate, the Irish property developer and investment group, has paid more than €25 million to acquire 64 acres of land close to Dublin Airport, which it plans to develop as a logistics hub for large retailers.

Currently operating as a farm, the site is located at the Cherryhound interchange of the M2 motorway, and increases Iput’s logistics land holdings in Dublin to more than 100 acres. It is situated beside a large distribution centre operated by Pallas Foods.

Iput chief executive Niall Gaffney told The Irish Times that it plans to build four large units on the land, which it will seek to let to “large-scale retailers and distributors” who are seeking to deal with supply-chain issues around Brexit and the “explosion” in ecommerce since the pandemic-related lockdown restrictions were introduced in March 2020 .

“The level of demand for logistics has exploded from international retailers and distributors looking to supply the Irish market in a more efficient way,” he said.

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He said “active discussions” were under way but declined to identity the parties that might be interested in the site.

Iput plans to seek planning permission for the site and is happy to begin construction without having lettings in place. Mr Gaffney said the group had been seeking to boost its logistics portfolio for some time to grow its income stream.

Iput was previously invested in shopping centres but gradually withdrew from the sector due to concerns about the viability of bricks-and-mortar retailing. Its past investments included Nutgrove in Rathfarnham, a shopping centre in Dundrum and the Pavilions in Swords, where it sold its 25 per cent stake in 2019 for €71 million.

Logistics assets

Iput currently has 2.5 million square feet of logistics assets, which it says is the largest such portfolio in Ireland. It also has a pipeline of 870,000sq ft of logistics space, with full planning permission, under development at both Aerodrome Business Park in southwest Dublin and Quantum Distribution Park near Dublin Airport.

The Cherryhound site has the potential to add 600,000 to 700,000 square feet of space, to bring Iput’s total to more than four million square feet.

Iput plans to put a running track around the perimeter of the site, and will look to include a multi-use game areas, and hard-standing electricity points that would allow mobile food units to operate. The units are also likely to feature electric-vehicle charging points, solar panels, efficient lighting systems and modern occupancy controls.

According to its 2020 annual report, Iput owns 95 assets with about 250 tenancies in Dublin. In logistics, it had 32 assets last year with contracted rent of €18 million. Tenants included BWG Foods, Dunnes Stores, DHL, Tesla, Uniphar and Vodafone.