Stillorgan centre set for €15m revamp by US firm

Los Angeles-based property company Kennedy Wilson plans to spend €15 million this year revamping the Stillorgan Shopping Centre, the oldest retail mall in the country.

In an interview with Business This Week, Peter Collins, head of Kennedy Wilson's operation in Ireland, said it would be a "significant refurbishment" that would add some 1,400sq m (15,000sq ft) of space.

“We’re going to get rid of those low canopies, which are reaching the end of their useful life, and will put in a big canopy over the centre to weatherproof it and change the facade,” he said.

“We’ll add a little bit of space beside the Tesco unit on the Kilmacud Road. It will be a very significant refurbishment of the centre. Our vision is to make it the best neighbourhood centre in Ireland.”

Kennedy Wilson acquired the centre in 2013 as part of a €306 million portfolio acquisition. It recently completed the €15 million acquisition of the neighbouring Leisureplex bowling alley, which was rented out by Bruce Springsteen in May.

“That gives us the ability to extend the centre in the next year or two,” Mr Collins said.

New planning

Will it be demolished? “Yeah. It’s a pretty old bowling alley. Ultimately we’ll go for new planning on that site. We’ve started discussions with Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown,” he said.

The company also has plans for a €4 million refurbishment of the best bedrooms and suites in the Shelbourne Hotel on St Stephen's Green, mirroring its recent investment in carefully restoring the facade of the five-star property.

“We’ll do a lot of work in the corridors as well, which haven’t been touched for a while and will address some of the common areas that could be improved on,” Mr Collins said.

Kennedy Wilson acquired the Shelbourne in 2014 for €112 million.

The listed US company established a business in Ireland in 2011 and has spent about €1.2 billion buying residential, office, retail and hotel assets, mostly in Dublin. It spent more than €100 million in the past three months buying a mix of assets, including offices in Blackrock and the Chase Building in Sandyford.

Vulture fund

The company is sometimes characterised as a so-called vulture fund, a label Kennedy Wilson’s global chief executive Bill McMorrow took issue with in a call from Los Angeles.

“It would make me ill to my stomach if anybody thought that’s what we were about. I view those types of investors [vulture funds] as carpetbaggers,” he said.

“They fly in to take advantage of what I call a temporary situation, and when times are good they leave. There’s zero chance we’re leaving. We’re in this for decades, not one year or two as it relates to Ireland.

“If anything, you’ll see us adding value to the properties that we own. If there are opportunities that we think make sense economically, then we’ll be adding to the portfolio over time.”