The recent upsurge in development across Donnybrook’s commercial core should see heightened interest in the sale of the landmark Donnybrook Mall.
Acquired by developer Sean Dunne for €17 million at the height of the last boom, the complex is being offered to the market by agent Lisney at a guide price of €6.8 million. The mall last changed hands in 2014, with its current owner, a private Irish investor, paying €6.6 million to secure ownership of the 1,448 sq m (15,590 sq ft) property.
While the sale of Donnybrook Mall offers the prospective purchaser the opportunity to secure immediate rental income of €450,343 annually (6 per cent net initial yield) from a strong tenant line-up which includes Tesco, Lloyds Pharmacy, the well-known dry cleaners Lyknu, Abrakebabra, and the long-established bridalwear boutique Marian Gale, investors will be interested in the complex’s longer-term development potential.
The property comes for sale with a positive planning history with one of Mr Dunne’s companies, Padholme, securing permission from Dublin City Council in 2008 for a three-storey over-basement mixed-use development of 3,455 sq m (37,189 sq ft) comprising six retail units, two office units, one restaurant/takeaway, one bank unit and four two-bedroom apartments as well as 15 car spaces. The permission was subsequently extended in 2014 to 2019.
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Donnybrook has recently seen a significant uptick in new high-density residential schemes, aimed for the most part towards the upper end of Dublin’s private rented sector (PRS) market. Richmond Homes is currently at an advanced stage of building 139 apartments at Eglington Place on the corner of Eglington Road and Donnybrook Road, while more recently, Red Rock Donnybrook Ltd obtained planning permission for a 10-storey 84-apartment Build-to-Rent (BTR) scheme on the Circle K petrol station site opposite Bective Rangers’ rugby grounds.
Developer Shane Whelan’s Westridge Real Estate meanwhile has recently demolished the former Kiely’s public house where it has permission to build a 91-unit co-living scheme across seven storeys. At Donnybrook Crescent, construction is under way of Lovett House which is an eight-storey mixed-used development containing 49 BTR apartments.
