Portfolios: One of the largest provincial property portfolios ever to come on the market is expected to generate substantial interest from investors. The portfolio, which could be worth around €500 million, features residential, commercial and industrial property, and development sites in several of the Republic's main cities.
The portfolio is controlled by the Kenny Development Group based in Galway, and includes properties in Dublin, Limerick, Galway and Cork. The sale is being handled by Merrion Capital and DTZ Sherry FitzGerald. Known as the "Project West" property portfolio, a substantial amount of it is based in Galway. The Galway properties comprise 10 development sites of almost 78 acres, four mixed-use commercial sites, 118 Section 50 apartments and houses, and a mix of 22 townhouses, apartments and penthouses. Around 25 per cent of this element of the portfolio comprises Section 50 investments.
The majority of these are at the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT) student village and Cuirt na Coiribe. The latter is a self-contained residential and services campus on the Headford Road.
Coiribe has 86 fully furnished apartments and 135 car-parking spaces. It also includes offices, shops, a restaurant and launderette. The vendors estimate the total receivable income at almost €1.61 million per year. The residential income, based on letting all the apartments to students, is €1.5 million a year. There is a commitment with NUI Galway to accommodate students for 10 years and the development is full for the coming academic year.
The GMIT student village on the Ballybane Road, close to Merlin Park Hospital and opposite the GMIT, comprises 34 Section 50 residential units within a 170-unit development. The units are let on short term 39-week leases and, at 100 per cent occupancy, produce €424,000 per annum.
Among a number of development sites in the portfolio in Galway is land on Cappagh Road, at the junction of the planned Galway outer bypass and at the end of the Western Distributor Road. Comprising two sites, they are zoned partly residential and part amenity. The larger site is 8.8 acres and the small site is almost 1.7 acres.
Also on Cappagh Road at Ros Ard is a residential development site, comprising around half an acre with full planning permission for a development of 12 two-bedroom and three one-bedroom apartments in a three-storey block with on-site car-parking for 23 cars.
The portfolio also includes a 20-acre site on the Western Distributor Road. There is quite a planning history on the site but existing planning permission is redundant on foot of rezoning in the Galway city development plan. The vendors say there is very strong interest from major retailers and commercial occupiers under the revised zoning (there is commercially zoned land beside the site which had previously got permission for offices and shops and a petrol station).
The Limerick property portfolio comprises a 44-acre development site, a hotel, a bar and restaurant, an office property, 10 apartments and seven industrial warehouse units which are partly let and partly vacant. There is also a residential hostel.
More than half the value of this part of the portfolio is contained in the development site at Castletroy, on the Dublin Road. The site is about 4.5kms from the city centre with extensive frontage to the Dublin Road. The 44-acre site is zoned residential (44 per cent), 41 per cent is zoned education/open space and 15 per cent is zoned commercial.
There are also a number of industrial units at the Eastway Business Park.
The portfolio also includes the Sarsfield Bridge Hotel on Sarsfield Street, in Limerick city. The three-star hotel has 54 bedrooms, bar and restaurant, and is currently let at €300,000 per annum.
The vendors are also selling the Mill Bar, Annacotty, in Limerick as an investment property. There is a bar, restaurant and residential accommodation. The bar has vacant possession and turnover to end December last was €1.07 million. The restaurant is currently let for just under €70,000 per year.
The residential accommodation is producing €16,500 per annum and the retail/office element is earning a rent roll of €22,500 per annum.
The Cork portfolio comprises four development sites comprising 7.76 acres, and three commercial investments. The bulk of the value of this portfolio relates to two development sites at Grand Parade and Patrick's Quay. The Grand Parade site is currently a car-park producing a rent roll of €200,000 per annum. It is understood that the buyers will get vacant possession.
Another site at 37/38 Patrick's Quay is close to Patrick Street with frontage to St Patrick's Quay and Ship Street. It comprises a large block of low rise buildings and a car-park. Gross income, including revenue from the car-park, is around €327,000 per annum. The property has planning permission for offices, retail and car-parking, and the total site area is almost an acre.
In Dublin, the main property on offer is a 2.25-acre site with full planning permission on the Taney Road, Dundrum, near the village and Dundrum Town Centre. The permission is for 50 dwellings, comprising a mix of bungalows, townhouses and apartments, as well as 92 car-parking spaces.
