A round-up of today's other commercial property news in brief
Paddy Kelly's office sold
THE FORMER offices of property developer Paddy Kelly at 128 Lower Baggot Street, Dublin 2, have been sold on the instructions of Bank of Ireland for €2 million. The impressive four-storey over basement Georgian house, which was bought by a professional practice, had been tastefully refurbished and extended in recent years by Kelly’s Redquartz company. It has a floor area of 330sq m (3,552sq ft) and a large southwest facing rear garden.
Sandra McHale of HT Meagher O’Reilly, who handled the sale on behalf of the receiver, Michael McAteer of Grant Thornton, said the Baggot Street house was one of the very few Georgian properties sold in the city this year.
She expects further sales and lettings of these houses this year as companies move to take advantage of the weak market and the excellent value available.
Developer's farm sells
ANOTHER DUBLIN property developer, Larry O’Mahony, also saw one of his property assets sold this week on the instructions of receiver Martin Ferris of Ferris Associates.
A 37.6-acre farm at Walterstown, Dunboyne, Co Meath was sold by private treaty for over €550,000. There were a number of farm buildings on the property but it did not have a house. Evan Lonergan of HT Meagher O’Reilly handled the sale for ACC.
New traders at Drury Street
FOUR NEW TRADERS are about to move into Dublin’s Drury Street. One of them is specialising in vintage fashion and furniture, another will be retailing ladies fashion, a third is setting up a hairdressing business and the fourth will specialise in high-end chocolate products. Simon Stokes of North estate agents is handling three of the four lettings.
Restaurants for Pavilions
WITH DUNDRUM Town Centre benefiting from an extensive range of restaurants and cafés, businessman Joe O’Reilly has decided to follow the same winning formula in the Pavilions in Swords where he is also a major shareholder.
Nandos, the flame-grilling chicken restaurant group, is fitting out a new 286sq m (3,078sq ft) restaurant in the phase two mall opposite Tommy Hilfiger and Esprit. It will be the company’s second outlet in Ireland, having traded successfully in Dundrum since 2008. The company operates in 37 countries around the world. KFC, the global fried chicken restaurant group, is also gearing up to open a new store in the Pavilions in August. It will be adjacent to Penneys and opposite Elverys Sports. The new outlet will extend to 240sq m (2,583sq ft) and will add to the group’s 700 other stores across Ireland and the UK.
Kung Fu Buffet, a Chinese restaurant, opened in March and is trading at first floor level above Gourmet Burger Kitchen. The 316sq m (3,401sq ft) restaurant can accommodate 100 diners and is the third in the chain. Kung Fu Buffet’s “all you can eat” offer is proving highly successful in the current economic climate.
Around 90 jobs are being created by the new food outlets. Ian Hunter, centre director of Swords pavilions, said the three new restaurants would strengthen the existing food mix which also included GBK, Kylemore, Brambles and Pavilions Food Fair. Bannon acted for the landlord in the three most recent lettings.
Rosslare hotel for €1.75m
ONE OF THE best known hotels in the southeast – Crosbie Cedars Hotel at Rosslare Strand, Co Wexford – is for sale at €1.75m. Wexford agent Kehoe and Associates is handling the sale of the three-star hotel for owners Tom and Ann Crosbie who are retiring from the business. The 34-bed hotel is on three acres fronting Strand Road, a short walk from the beach. Most of the buildings are single storey, apart from the three-storey bedroom block. The hotel has two bars, the 90-seat Lemon Tree restaurant, a function room for 280, a club room for 50 and a nightclub in need of refurbishment. Agent Robert McCormack says the nightclub could easily be used to accommodate a spa and leisure centre. The hotel closes each year from the middle of December until early in February.
AOL for HSQ
AOL is recruiting up to 50 software development engineers who will be based in its new Dublin HQ at Heuston South Quarter. The company has asked us to point out that it does not carry out testing and localisation as reported in last week’s edition. AOL develops services and technologies for its advertising services, ADTECH and AOL advertising, which allows publishers engage with their audiences easily and directly. It also develops technologies to drive AOL applications, including AOL Search and AOL money and finance.
