North Bank’s 124 apartments go on sale for €33m

New owner can count on rent roll to top €2.3m at Liam Carroll-built docklands block


One of the last remaining large-scale Dublin city centre apartment developments due to be offered for sale in a single lot by Nama goes on the market today in the north docklands.

Agents Hooke & MacDonald are guiding €33 million for 124 apartments at the North Bank, which were built before the property crash in 2007 by Liam Carroll's Zoe Developments.

Most of the apartments have been upgraded at this stage, and the remaining units are also due to be refurbished before they are sold on the instructions of David Carson of Deloitte, who was appointed receiver by Nama.

The next large-scale sale of apartments expected later this year or early in 2018 will involve the Grange development in Stillorgan. More than 200 of of the 560 apartments built by Ray Grehan's Glenkerrin Homes will be offered for sale either individually or in a single lot. The sale will also include a further development site.

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The North Bank portfolio is expected to be of interest to Irish Life and several overseas funds because of its close proximity to a new generation of office blocks in the docklands as well as the original buildings in the International Financial Services Centre. The location isalso benefiting from the recent opening of the nearby Central Bank headquarters and the ongoing development of a vast office and apartment complex at Dublin Landings by Ballymore and Oxley.

The 124 apartments in North Bank comprise 31 one-bedroom units, 64 two-bedroom homes and 29 three-bedroom apartments. There are also 85 car-parking spaces and a vacant ground floor commercial building (in shell and core condition) extending to 1,530sq m (16,468sq ft), which Hooke & MacDonald estimate will eventually bring in a rent of around €150,000 per annum.

Rent roll over €2m

The combined rent from existing tenancies and the estimated rental value of the last of the apartments being upgraded is expected to bring the rent roll to about €2.325 million. Rents in the immediate area are about €1,600 per month for one-bedroom apartments, €2,000 for two-bedroom layouts and €2,500 for three-bed units.

Additional revenue comes from the car park, where 25 spaces are let on a long-term licence at €107,700 per annum; another 25 are rented to residential tenants and the remaining 35 will be available to the next round of residential tenants. In all, the car park is expected to contribute about €156,000 per month.

Hooke & MacDonald estimate that, when fully let, the residential development will bring in about €2.63 million, equating to a gross yield of 7.09 per cent.

North Bank has two large rooftop terraces offering superb views across the city. There is also a landscaped courtyard at ground-floor level. The apartments are within a short walk of the Luas stop at Spencer Dock in the IFSC and the Odeon Cinema and other facilities at Point Village.