€120 million worth of investment properties, ranging from an office block on Pembroke Street, Dublin 2, to two retail investments in Limerick, are being offered for sale. Jack Fagan reports

Twelve Irish investment properties worth at least €120 million are to be offered for sale by Scottish Provident as part of a much larger disposal of its property interests.

It is the most important sale here since Green Property Company sold off a range of investments more than two years ago.

Simultaneously, Scottish Provident and its sister company, Scottish Mutual, are also about to unload a huge property portfolio in the UK which is expected to make over £1.4 billion (€2.047 billion). Several Irish groups are likely to pitch for these investments which are being marketed by CBRE.

The two life assurance companies owned by the UK bank, Abbey National, are apparently withdrawing from direct investment in the property markets in both Britain and Ireland.

CBRE Gunne in Dublin has circulated details of the Irish properties to a small number of Irish agents who have identified clients interested in bidding for the 12 properties, which will be sold in one lot.

The secretive nature of the marketing campaign suggests that the two life assurance companies are anxious to avoid publicity over the sale.

The most interesting Irish property going on the market is Hambleden House, a recently upgraded office block formerly owned by Irish Cement at Pembroke Street in Dublin 2. The 3,716sq m (40,000sq ft) multi-tenanted building is producing a rent roll of €1.25 million from a number of leading companies including McCann Erickson Ltd, Anglo Irish Assurance, fund managers Morgan Stanley Quilter & Co and estate agents Bannon Commercial.

There are about 60 car-parking spaces in a nearby surface car- park. With rental values in the building around €430 per sq m (€40 per sq ft) the value of Hambleden House based on a yield of 5 per cent, should be around €20 million.

Another high profile building going for sale, 25 St Stephen's Green, is close to the Shelbourne Hotel and is known as Scottish Provident House. Compustore traded out of the ground floor until it folded last year. The 120.7 sq m (13,000sq ft) modern block is producing a rent roll of €600,000 from several tenants, including Friends First General Insurance Company, Northern Telecom and Briston Myers Squibb.

The investment is probably valued at least around €13.5 million given that rents are around €376 per sq m (€35 per sq ft) and the yield is likely to be 4.5 per cent. The building is noted for its high service charges.

Also for sale is a block at Eastpoint Business Park in the Dublin docklands where Oracle is paying a rent of €1 million for 3,901sq m (40,000sq ft) of space. The lease provides for two break options but, even though the modern building might take some time to relet were it to become vacant, investors would probably value it around €16 million, based on a yield of 6 per cent.

Number 4 Henry Street, Dublin 1, would probably fetch a top price if sold separately but is more likely to be valued around €6.75 million as part of a larger portfolio.

It is rented by Style Menswear at just under €300,000 per annum and has an overall floor area of 464.5sq m (5,000sq ft). The shop trades as Envy. Around the corner in Upper Liffey Street, the portfolio also includes a Specsavers store which is rented at €75,000.

Two retail investments at Cruises Street in Limerick are producing a combined rent of around €200,000 mainly from Stylo Barratt. The combined investments at number 5 and 6a are probably worth around €5 million.

Scottish Provident also owned two buildings in Richview Business Park in Clonskeagh, each of around 603.8sq m (6,500sq ft). One is let to Tilman Asset Management at €220,000 and the other is vacant.

On the opposite side of the city at Ashtown Gate, two relatively new office buildings with a combined space of 3,158sq m (34,000sq ft) are less than 50 per cent occupied and producing €380,000.

Also on the market is Westlink Industrial Estate on the Kylemore Road in west Dublin which was originally developed on a joint venture basis with Monarch Properties.

The complex has 30 individual buildings with a floor area of 18,580sq m (200,000sq ft) and is producing a rent of €1.2 million. Rents generally are understood to be around €86 per sq m (€8 per sq ft).

The sale also includes Wooford Business Park at Santry which has a rent roll of €1 million. The tenants include Zomax, which is on a long lease. The park should be worth at least €17 million. The only residential element in the portfolio are four apartments in a Georgian building at Kildare Street.