A SALES campaign gets underway today to find buyers for garages in Galway, Ennis and Clonmel following the recent closure of the Tom Hogan Motor Group. A site with planning permission for a motor centre in Limerick is also included in the portfolio of properties being offered for sale by the liquidator, Gearoid Costello of Grant Thornton.
Tom Hogan Motors, one of the largest Toyota dealers in the State, went into voluntary liquidation last June with the loss of almost 200 jobs. A statement of affairs later showed that over 450 creditors – most of them unsecured – were owed €22.4 million. The company supplied Toyota and Lexus cars and took over the BMW franchise in Galway city from Barry Motors last year.
John Buckley of DTZ Sherry Fitz-Gerald is guiding over €15 million for the various properties which are for sale in one lot or on an individual basis.
He said the sale provided an excellent turnkey opportunity for the motor trade to acquire a portfolio of car showroom buildings and car service and repair workshops in the very best locations. There was also scope to redevelop some or all of the properties because of their strategic locations.
DTZ is expecting around €5 million for the Galway property which fronts on to the N6 (Galway-Dublin-Limerick dual carriageway) at Ballybrit, close to the racecourse. The facility, reached along a slip road, comprises two purpose-built car showrooms extending to 1,500sq m (16,146sq ft). There is ample car-parking to the front and two secure yards – one to the side and the other to the rear. Separately, there is a fully fitted car service workshop nearby in Ballybane which is held under a leasehold title.
A price in the region of €2 million is being sought for the Ennis property which covers 0.6 hectares at Gort Road, about 2kms from the town centre. The facilities, located on the N18 (Galway-Ennis-Limerick road), include a car showroom, convenience store, petrol pumps along with a service workshop and body repair workshop. There is a car display area and customer parking to the front and side of the garage.
DTZ is suggesting a guide price of €3 million for the modern car showroom and service workshop along the Cashel Road, close to the N24 bypass, in Clonmel, Co Tipperary. The buildings stand on a site of 0.44 hectares and have redevelopment potential.
Several developers are likely to be interested in the motor group’s site of 1.9 hectares off the South Ring Road at Raheen in Limerick. The site has full planning permission for a car showroom and service workshop, but a new owner might well opt for an alternative business premises. The guide price in this case is €4.5 million.
