Davy investors close in on €30m deal for Dundalk’s Marshes Shopping Centre

A fund managed by Davy Real Estate is closing in on the purchase of the Marshes Shopping Centre in Dundalk. Although the deal has yet to be concluded, The Irish Times understands that the Davy investors are on track to secure ownership of the scheme for about €30 million, or €3.5 million less than the €33.5 million Kennedy Wilson had been guiding when it offered the centre to the market through joint agents Bannon and CBRE in June. While the proposed purchase price equates to an approximate 10 per cent discount on that guide, it represents an even steeper discount of 33 per cent on the €44.5 million the US-headquartered real estate firm paid for the Marshes in 2014.

The news of Davy’s proposed acquisition of the Dundalk scheme follows its purchase for €9.575 million earlier this year of Eyre Square Shopping Centre in Galway city centre. In that instance, the Davy investors secured a discount of 33 per cent on the €12.75 million Colliers had been guiding when it brought the shopping centre to the market on behalf of US investment giant Marathon Asset Management in August 2021. While the Galway scheme comprises over 70 retail units and kiosks, the sale was confined to eight retail units and control of the centre together with the freehold common area units. The eight retail units boast a strong tenant line-up, including JD Sports, Great Outdoors, Specsavers, Diesel, Starbucks and Vero Moda.

In November 2020, a fund managed by Davy Real Estate acquired Swords Central Shopping Centre in Dublin for about €11 million. The price paid on that occasion represented a discount of 49 per cent on the €21.5 million agent JLL had been guiding when it put the scheme up for sale in September 2018. Swords Central is anchored by Penneys, which owns its store. The line-up of tenants includes More 4 Less, The Works, An Post, Dealz, Holland & Barrett, Specsavers and Starbucks.

The Marshes Shopping Centre meanwhile is anchored by a 71,600sq ft Penneys and a 116,500sq ft Dunnes Stores (grocery and drapery), and is approaching a 100 per cent occupancy rate with its two remaining vacant units the subject of negotiations with prospective occupiers. Outside of its anchor tenants, the centre is generating a net operational annual income of about €3.4 million from a number of major retailers including Boots, H&M, Eason and JD Sports. Some €400,000 of this income is derived from the scheme’s surface car park, which also offers development potential according to the selling agents.

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Built in 2005 at a cost of €120 million, the Marshes Shopping Centre has a diverse national and international tenant mix including grocery, necessity retail, fashion, and food and beverage distributed across a lettable area (excluding anchors Penneys and Dunnes Stores) of 13,366sq m (144,000sq ft) on a site of 27.6 acres.