Database shows poor uptake of shop leases

Only one lease has been signed for a retail property on Dublin’s Grafton Street since the beginning of 2010, according to the new commercial lease database that opened for business yesterday.

The database, operated by the Property Services Regulatory Authority, shows that only two retail leases were signed on Henry Street, Dublin, the busiest shopping street in the Republic.

No new retail leases were registered for Shop Street in Galway or Patrick Street in Cork, and only one for Henry Street in Limerick.

A 15-year lease, for the basement, ground floor and first, second and third floors of 43 Grafton Street, was signed in November of last year and involves an annual rent of €305,000, to be paid quarterly.

No capital consideration or premium was paid or received at the outset of the lease, which comes up for review every five years.

The floor area for the lease is 411sq m, with 216 of that being on the ground floor. The tenants are 100 per cent responsible for the fit-out.

Danish fashion business Only runs an outlet at 43 Grafton Street.

The database does not disclose the identities of the tenants or the landlords for the leases listed. It is understood the previous tenant of this property paid a rent of €445,000 per annum.

As this newspaper reported recently, Spanish clothing group Inditex is to open a Massimo Dutti store later this year in the former HMV outlet on Grafton Street.

This lease does not appear as yet on the PSRA database. The owners of the store at 65/66 Grafton Street dropped the rent from €1.7 million to €865,000 to attract Zara’s sister brand, Massimo Dutti. The company has taken a 10-year lease of the building.

A number of retail outlets on Grafton Street have seen new businesses take on the premises on short-term arrangements since the economic crisis began, and these have not involved registered leases.

A 16-year lease for 52 Henry Street, Dublin, was signed in October of last year, at an annual rent of €250,000. The lease is for retail space in the basement, ground floor and first floor, with office space on another two floors.

The total floorspace is 405sq m, but the 127sq m in the basement is described as “unused”. The rent is up for review after five years.

Brown Thomas opened a Mac cosmetics outlet in 52 Henry Street last year.

A 10-year lease for 1 Post Office Buildings, Henry Street, Dublin, for an annual rent of €175,000, was signed on April of this year.

The property has slightly more than 90sq m of retail space on the ground floor and the mezzanine, with a further 83sq m of storage space in the basement. There is an agreement to review the rent after five years.

A four-year lease for 90 Henry Street, Limerick, was signed in April of last year, with an annual rent of €15,000, according to the database.