Following the recent reopening of The Unicorn, one of Dublin’s most storied venues, the restaurant’s premises are being offered for sale as part of a wider portfolio of prime investment properties known as The Merrion Collection for a total of €5.5 million.
The portfolio comprises a mix of retail, food and beverage and residential uses distributed across Merrion Row and Merrion Court, and within a short walk of St Stephen’s Green, Grafton Street, and Government Buildings.
The sale, which is being handled by Michele McGarry of Colliers, offers the prospective purchaser the combination of immediate rental income along with the opportunity to pursue the development in the medium term of a new office-led mixed-use scheme on the site. The existing portfolio has potential to generate further rental income from a number of residential units which are being sold with vacant possession.
The Merrion Collection covers a total floor area of 797sq m (8,584sq ft) and generates a combined annual rent of €235,000 from the commercial element, which includes a diverse tenant base comprising TOMI House Ltd (trading as Tomi House), Dublet Ltd (trading as the Herbert & Lansdowne Estate Agency), and Kristan Burness and Shybu Varghese operating as The Unicorn restaurant.
The Unicorn restaurant and wine bar, comprising a 233sq m (2,510sq ft) premises at 12B Merrion Row and 12A-D Merrion Court, is held under a 10-year lease from August 2024, producing €80,000 per annum for the first three years, increasing to €85,000 per annum for years four and five, with open-market rent reviews thereafter. The lease allows for a landlord break option in January 2029. The landmark restaurant reopened its doors in 2024, having been closed for some time, with leading restaurateur and executive chef Kristian Burness at the helm.
13A Merrion Row comprises a 276sq m (2,975sq ft) premises and fit-out works are currently under way in preparation for the opening of a new sushi restaurant to be known as Tomi House. The lease commenced in September 2024 at a passing rent of €100,000 per annum. As is the case with The Unicorn lease, there is a landlord break option in January 2029, giving the new owners flexibility to secure full vacant possession of the entire property at that point to allow for redevelopment in line with planning permission granted in October 2024 for a new office-led mixed-use scheme on the site.
The approved development provides for 186sq m (2,000sq ft) of ground-floor retail/restaurant space with 1,022sq m (11,000sq ft) of offices across four floors accessed from Merrion Row, together with a 19-space bike store. The planning permission also includes the refurbishment, restoration and part change of use of the existing buildings at 12C and D, and 5 Merrion Court from restaurant/residential use to three, two-storey townhouses on Merrion Court.
13 Merrion Row comprises 86sq m (923sq ft) of space over ground and first-floor levels, and trades as Herbert & Lansdowne Estate Agents. The property is held under a licence agreement from December 2021 and is producing €55,000 in annual rental income.
There are five residential units located on the first floor of 12A-D Merrion Court, and these have recently been fully refurbished and are being sold with full vacant possession. The estimated rental value on the residential units is in the order of €140,000 per annum.
Michele McGarry of Colliers says: “The sale of The Merrion Collection will attract strong interest from a variety of buyers. This is a high-quality investment opportunity in an unrivalled location, just minutes from St Stephen’s Green. The planning permission provides a viable redevelopment opportunity, with office floor plates of about 2,700sq ft in high demand in this prime, central business district location particularly.”
