Heavy hitters move to Kennedy Wilson

The current turmoil in Dublin’s commercial property market is opening up new job opportunities all over the place.

In the latest round of changes, two key players, Ali Rohan, asset manager with Nama, and Stefan Foster, property director with Warren Private, are moving to Kennedy Wilson to help the Beverly Hills company manage its newly acquired property portfolios in Ireland.

Kennedy Wilson recently paid €306 million for 16 commercial properties including Stillorgan shopping centre (above) formerly owned by Treasury Holdings. It has also paid over €80 million for Clancy Quay beside the Phoenix Park where 420 apartments have been completed and there is planning consent for a further 232 homes.

In recent times, Rohan has been one of the key asset managers at Nama where she has had responsibility for Seán Mulryan’s Ballymore loan book which, incidentally, looks like being one of the first to work out to everyone’s satisfaction.

Meanwhile, Foster has spent the best part of a decade with Warren Private, one of the biggest investors in Irish and overseas property markets. The company’s most profitable deal was possibly the purchase of the Goldman Sachs London HQ in 2002 for £240 million. The same building was sold 18 months later for £280 million.