Danske Bank are to put a number of distressed assets up for sale over the coming months, through estate agents DTZ Sherry FitzGerald.
Successful retail parks in Tallaght, Dublin 24, Naas, Co Kildare and Limerick City will be amongst the properties sold.
Fintan Tierney of DTZ Sherry FitzGerald is handling the sale of up to a dozen property investments for the bank which, according to one report, had advanced loans of €1.8 billion to the commercial property sector when the market collapsed.
The carrying value is shown at €710 million with the balance – €820 million – reflecting impairments already taken by the bank. Danske’s exposure to the Irish property market stemmed from aggressive marketing and excessive funding by its subsidiary, National Irish Bank.
Private investors will be particularly interested in the forthcoming sale of a highly successful serviced office centre overlooking the Grand Canal at Leeson Street Bridge in Dublin 2 which has a guide price of €10 million. The modern Georgian-style building at 25-26 Fitzwilliam Place has 60 office workplaces and is producing a rent roll of €800,000.
The business and a similar operation in Belfast have been operated for many years by property developer Michael Kelly who took a severe hit a year ago when he sold Dublin’s former Hume Street Hospital off St Stephen’s Green for about €3 million – a long way from the €30 million paid for it six years earlier.
The 90 per cent fall in the value of six 250-year-old Georgian houses at the front of the hospital was due not only to the property crash but also to the fact that severe water damages was caused after thieves stripped the roof of much of its protective lead flashing.
DTZ has put a €7 million valuation on Mr Kelly’s business and retail complex at 41 Arthur Street/20 Callender Street, Belfast, which are producing rents of €700,000 per annum.
The highest value segment of the Danske Bank portfolio going for sale is the €40 million-plus expected for the Arena Centre in Tallaght which is jointly owned by Cavan developer P Elliott and the Kildare-based Queally Group, one of Ireland’s largest and most successful privately owned agri-businesses. The two partners also control the Globe retail park in Naas which is expected to make about €15 million when it is sold by private treaty.
The Arena is producing €4 million in rents from a range of retail, office and residential tenants. The 27,870sq m (300,000sq ft) complex was developed in 2007 at the busy junction of Whitestown Way and the Tallaght bypass (N81) close to Tallaght town centre. The extensive building also includes a basement car park and the 119-bedroom Maldron Hotel, which is paying a rent of €200,000 per annum.
The highest rent of €1 million comes from Woodies which operates a DIY store extending to 5,109sq m (55,000sq ft). Lidl is paying €620,000 per annum for 1,858sq m (20,000sq ft). Riva Bingo contributes €110,000 for 1,207sq m (13,0900sq ft), while Maxi Zoo pays €80,000 for 743 sq m (8,000sq ft). Three further retail outlets are currently vacant.
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Source: Jack Fagan/The Irish Times.
