A Canadian real estate company specialising in multi-family housing has completed the acquisition of the Rockbrook property portfolio in Dublin for €87.3 million.
CAPREIT, a publicly-quoted investment trust with more than 30,000 apartments and townhouses across Canada, has a pipeline agreement with Irish Residential Properties Reit (Ires Reit) that allows it to acquire the portfolio at a later date when funding options have been finalised.
Ires Reit, an Irish multi-unit residential property investment company that floated on the Irish Stock Exchange last year, acquired 63 apartments that form part of the Rockbrook scheme last year.
The remaining part of the portfolio consists of 270 residential suites and approximately 4,665 s. m (50,214 sq ft) of mixed-use commercial space located in Sandyford. The portfolio also includes a development site of approximately 1.13 hectares (2.8 acres) which has planning permission for 467 residential suites, 5,976 sq m (64,325 sq ft) of commercial space and associated basement car parking.
The portfolio is currently approximately 95 per cent occupied and has a gross residential passing rent of approximately €4.4 million per annum and commercial rent of approximately €0.3 million, representing an initial gross rental yield of 5.4 per cent. Approximately 81 of the residential suites comprising the Rockbrook Portfolio are located in buildings at Grande Central in which Ires Reit’s apartments are situated.
This is the first portfolio to be acquired by CAPREIT on behalf of Ires Reit under the pipeline arrangement.
"We are very pleased CAPREIT has acquired this high-quality portfolio under the pipeline agreement, which allows Ires Reit the opportunity to acquire this portfolio at the right time, when we have completed our assessment of the funding options available to the company. As our external manager, this shows CAPREIT's continued commitment to the success of Ires Reit," said chief executive David Ehrlich.
Ires Reit, which raised €200 million in its initial public offering (IPO) last April, currently owns 1,204 residential suites, approximately 7,699 sq m (82,865 sq ft) of commercial space and ancillary development land at 10 locations in the greater Dublin area.
