26acre holding sold near Killenaule

Yesterday, March 26th, 2013, at the P F Quirke & Co Ltd offices in Clonmel, we offered 26 acres, all in tillage for sale at Cattaganstown, Killenaule, Co Tipperary.

The land is under a crop of Oats and in great condition. It is all in one field,  has good road frontage to a tertiary road, close to the Fethard/Killenaule road. It is approx. 4km from Moyglass, 4km from Killenaule and 8km from Fethard. While elevated, it is productive land and has been ploughed annually for some time.

There were 9 parties at the auction and 3 active bidders.

The property was withdrawn at €182,500 and sold subsequently to the highest bidder at an increased figure.

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Councils may pursue householders for levies unpaid by developers - The Irish Times - Mon, Feb 11, 2013

TIM O'BRIEN

Local authorities are examining development schemes to see if almost €300 million in unpaid levies can be passed on to householders.

The move follows the revelation that Wicklow County Council is pursuing homeowners near Avoca for sums of up to €4,800 after the developer failed to pay.

While the move has caused distress to householders, many of whom question the validity of the move, Wicklow County Council has proven successful at recouping outstanding levies.

A recent audit by chief planner Des O’Brien revealed 98 per cent of all levies due in the last 10 years had been paid, leaving an outstanding amount of €2.5million.

Yesterday Mr O’Brien said the council was pursuing householders and developers for the outstanding contributions.

Levies imposed as a condition of planning permission are generally required to be paid before construction work begins, or at least on a phased basis, with a significant up-front payment.

Wicklow council used to inspect each site to ascertain if construction had begun but in recent times had adopted a more cost-effective approach using Google Earth and other searches.

The council’s press agent yesterday issued a statement saying development levies were “a charge on the property itself, not on an individual or a developer”, and there was was “an obligation to pay these contributions”.

The Department of Environment said the question of levies was a matter for the planning authority itself.

But a spokesman noted it did not believe Wicklow was “first off the block in this regard”.

Dublin City Council said its policy was not to pursue householders but it was pursuing developers for outstanding levies.

Other councils including Fingal and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown said they were unable to be definitive about their approaches to the issue but they were doubtful if the charges were passed on to householders in the event of default by developers.

Cork City Council was owed €9.2 million in development levies as of January 1st, 2012. Fine Gael councillor Jim Corr said the city council, like many others, was watching what was happening in Wicklow “with interest”.

Since the Planning and Development Act 2000, which overhauled development contributions, such funding has become increasingly important to local authorities.

Contributions are mostly levied for use of roads, water and waste services, among others.

via irishtimes.com

McDonald's to pay €300,000 in Temple Bar - The Irish Times - Wed, Feb 06, 2013

JACK FAGAN

Fast-food chain McDonald’s is to pay a rent of about €300,000 for a new restaurant to open shortly in Dublin’s Temple Bar. The multiple has begun fitting out the former Frankie’s steak house and bar at Temple Bar Square which is owned by the restaurant group, Fitzers Holdings Ltd.

Agreement on the new rent comes only weeks before McDonald’s expects to secure a substantial reduction on the €1.15 million rent it is paying for its Grafton Street branch. The outcome will be closely watched by other traders on the street also hoping to have their rents reduced.

The controversial decision by An Bord Pleanála overruling objections by Dublin City Council, Temple Bar Cultural Trust and An Taisce took the property market by surprise because of the number of fast- food outlets already operating in Temple Bar. An Taisce has contended that the decision will reinforce negative perceptions of Temple Bar as a “drinking/fast-food quarter”.

One of the conditions of the planning permission is that the restaurant cannot trade between midnight and 7.30am, unlike the McDonald’s branch on Grafton Street which is free to open 24 hours a day.

The Temple Bar permission was granted for an initial period of three years in order to allow a reassessment of the development on the “character and dignity of the area”.

McDonald’s plans to use the entire 228sq m (2,454sq ft) on the ground floor as a restaurant and takeaway and a further 198 sq m (2,131 sq ft) at first-floor level as restaurant space. Both the basement and the top floor will be used for ancillary services. The two upper floors of the 1880s period building have been in residential use up to now.

Simon Cooper of Savills handled the lease and rent negotiations for Fitzers Holdings while Jack Devlin of O Buachalla advised McDonald’s.

Scarcity value 

McDonald’s has been looking for a 50 per cent reduction on its Grafton Street rent following the ending of its 35-year lease on the former Hospitals Trust headquarters. It is entitled to a new lease at open market value.

However, the owners of the 1,858sq m (20,000sq ft) building, Royal London mutual life and pension fund, were expected to seek premiums of at least 30 per cent on the rent to take account of the scarcity value of having a round-the-clock food business on the city’s premier high street. Both sides expect to reach agreement in the coming weeks.

via irishtimes.com

REIT legislation could be start of new era in Irish property - The Irish Times - Wed, Feb 06, 2013

Bill Nowlan

“A REIT is a tax efficient way to enjoy the benefits of owning investment properties without the hassles of being a landlord” is the most succinct definition to emerge from the first REITs conference organised by the REITs Forum a week or so ago.

The capacity crowd of 487 was twice initial expectations and from the quality of the presentations and the level of interest, it was clear the property gene is alive and well not only in the Irish DNA but also in the 10 per cent overseas participants at the conference.

John Moran, secretary general of the Department of Finance, spoke about his ambitions to make Ireland a base for international REITs in much the same way as Dublin is now an international centre for aircraft leasing. John Mulcahy of Nama spoke about the potential role of the agency and its borrowers in providing a significant supply of quality property for REITs.

The CEO of EPRA (European Public Real Estate Association) Philip Charls described the various indices in place to benchmark investment performance of REITs against each other and also equities and bonds.

He pointed out that over the past five years REITs have significantly outperformed income yield on equities and bonds around the globe. He also noted the average market capitalisation of REITs in Europe was more than €1 billion with one of 14 billion (Unibail).

There was much focus on the minimum size of the first Irish REIT and the potential size of the Irish market. The conclusion from Alan Carter, specialist REIT analyst with Investec in London, was that it would be difficult to attract international interest at a level below €250 million.

According to EPRA, the potential in the Irish market could reach €5 billion within five years, supporting earlier estimates from NCB of a potential market in three to five years north of €2.5 billion.

So how do we get from here to there? The first thing is the legislation which should be enacted by early April in the Finance Act. Then there will be the work by the Stock Exchange in preparing listing rules. After that it is over to the market to make it all happen.

In Ireland, with the exception of Nama there are probably only one or two existing property businesses that could get to the minimum €250 million threshold, so the assembly of portfolios to reach this size will be the first challenge.

The second challenge will be in attracting international investors to Irish REITs. This will be the measure of success or failure in the long term. Ireland now has had virtually no long-term international investors in property. The property bubble was financed almost exclusively by Irish banking balance sheets with borrowings – national and international.

Property ownership is essentially an equity play and in the noughties we lost that plot. Before then and now again, Ireland has had to rely almost entirely on local equity in its property industry. Historically this mainly came from high net worth individuals or from the pension funds and financial institutions. This is unlike most European countries where international equity owns investment property – for example more than 50 per cent of the buildings in London City are owned by non-UK investors. In Dublin the factor would have been less than 1 per cent.

Hopefully this conference and the emerging REIT legislation will signal the start of a new era in Irish property that brings us into the world property investment scene. But we will have to play by international rules. Rating agencies such as EPRA will be reporting on the level of performance and quality of governance on a totally objective basis and not on the basis of local rules which were open to abuse.

via irishtimes.com

Council rates to be cut as reform leads to savings - Independent.ie

STRUGGLING Irish retailers can expect cuts in commercial rates of up to 5pc next year as multi-million-euro savings from local government reforms are delivered.

Finance Minister Michael Noonan has said that council mergers and abolitions will go ahead to deliver greater cost-efficiency and value for money for taxpayers.

His vow came despite several town councils putting funds aside for a potential legal challenge to their abolition.

"There has been a total change in the way local government is to be run. In Limerick, for instance, we have merged (the) city and county councils. There are huge benefits to the public when you reduce the cost base by doing things like that," Mr Noonan told the Irish Independent.

"For instance, the commercial rate in Limerick has been cut by 5pc – it is the biggest cut in the country. It just would not be possible to do that if we hadn't put the two local authorities together."

Mr Noonan said the benefits for the taxpayer and retailers will be apparent from next year.

"I think that there will be more cuts in the commercial rate next year because the full savings have not yet been realised. There are a whole series of organisations around the country which are being merged to make them more efficient and more cost-effective."

Under the 'Putting People First' initiative, Environment Minister Phil Hogan plans to achieve cost savings of €420m through the abolition of town councils and mergers of other councils.

- Ralph Riegel

via independent.ie