Four parties remain in the running to acquire Spencer Place, the high-end residential scheme developed by Johnny Ronan’s Ronan Group Real Estate (RGRE) in Dublin’s north docklands.
Offers for the portfolio of 393 apartments are understood to have come in between €160 million and €170 million in the first round of bidding, with seven parties either bidding or expressing their interest in the scheme. While the sums offered are understood to be below what had been expected by the scheme’s owner, US-headquartered Fortress Investment Group, this Friday’s second round may yet result in a higher bid.
US real-estate investor Hines, Irish investment manager Carysfort Capital, German investor MEAG and one other party are understood to have tabled bids in the first round of the sales process while Ares Management, Ardstone Capital and Axa are each said to have expressed their interest in the portfolio.
Whatever price is achieved ultimately however, is likely to fall far short of the levels that had been mooted about two potential forward sales of variations of the Spencer Place scheme in 2020 and 2021.
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In the first instance US real estate investor Cortland is understood to have been prepared to pay some €315 million in early 2020 to fund and acquire a larger scheme of 550 apartments and coliving units RGRE had been proposing for the site. The proposed deal with Cortland was abandoned, however, following repeated legal challenges from Dublin City Council in relation to An Bord Pleanála’s approval of RGRE’s plan to accommodate the additional units by increasing the height of the two blocks within the development from seven to 11 and 13 storeys respectively.
In July 2021 the UK-headquartered property investor Round Hill Capital engaged in discussions with RGRE in relation to the potential purchase for about €220 million of a development comprising 349 apartments and a 100-bed aparthotel on the Spencer Place site.
The portfolio, which is now for sale, comprises 393 apartments arranged across three blocks along with a range of facilities that include a 24-hour concierge, coworking area, bookable kitchen, gym, cinema, top-floor communal areas with views over the city, 78 car-parking spaces and 828 bicycle parking spaces.
