Gulliver’s Retail Park in Santry went for €29.5m
Commercial property investment volumes are expected to be considerably higher in the latter half of this year after they dropped to €162m on the first quarter of this year – the lowest quarter spend since 2012.
This is the view of CBRE’s Colin Richardson, who says several notable sales processes are progressing well across the shopping centre, supermarket, residential and industrial sectors, alongside prime and secondary Dublin office sales.
“Feedback from investors across Europe indicates that second-hand offices, on a selective basis, are now pricing attractively. Many investors, particularly those with equity, believe that now is the right time to be acquisitive,” he adds.
“We continue to see renewed investor interest in the retail sector, with retail assets attracting the most capital in Q1 (43pc of spend).
“The sale of two retail parks completed in the last quarter, included that of Kilkenny Retail Park to Iroko Zen for about €25m. Considering ongoing sales processes, retail is on course to be the most invested sector in 2024, for the first year since 2016.”
A notable retail deal saw Minaun Capital, an investment vehicle of entrepreneur Tom Kelly, acquire Gulliver’s Retail Park in Santry for €29.5m. It was developed by the Cosgrave family, one of Dublin’s longest established developers.
Indeed Minaun’s purchase reflected how private investors were particularly active, accounting for at least 25pc of investment in Q1. They have mainly been focussed on retail assets.