One of Ireland's biggest landlords has snapped up more than 100 Dublin apartments
Kennedy Wilson is spending €45m to buy the homes in the city’s north docks.
KENNEDY WILSON, one of Ireland’s biggest landlords, has snapped up more than 100 apartments in Dublin city centre.
The company has paid €45 million to acquire Northbank Apartments, a 124-unit development in the capital’s north docks near the IFSC.
Northbank is located just 50 meters from Kennedy Wilson’s existing 84-unit Liffey Trust apartments. It includes 31 one-bedroom, 64 two-bedroom and 29 three-bedroom apartments, of which 75% are occupied or with leases agreed.
It also has underground car parking and 16,000 sq ft of retail space that is currently vacant.
Mary Ricks, the president and CEO of Kennedy Wilson Europe, said that the deal represented a good opportunity for the company.
She said that the two complexes located so closely together “allows us to leverage our existing presence and implement our value-add asset management strategy”.
Ricks added that this would include “adding on-site management and amenities to serve both properties”.
“We believe we have a great opportunity to grow our near-term NOI (net operating income) by undertaking additional refurbishments to enhance Northbank’s rental growth prospects,” she said.
The complex was constructed in the boom by builder Liam Carroll’s Zoe Developments. The company behind the complex went into receivership, and its loans were controlled by Nama.
New developments
Nama recently purchased several of the apartments in the complex that it did not control to make the development more attractive to potential buyers.
The sale of the apartments was criticised by Independent TD Mick Wallace. In October, he claimed that they would be sold to a “US vulture fund and rented out for outrageous prices”.
Kennedy Wilson owns hundreds of housing units in Dublin in addition to a vast commercial property portfolio around the country.
The company recently launched the newest phase of one of its largest residential developments in Dublin, called Clancy Quay, on the southern banks of the River Liffey.
The cost to rent a one-bed apartment at the new Clancy Quay development is €1,750 a month, while a two-bed apartment ranges between €1,950 and €2,100.
Peter Collins, Kennedy Wilson Europe’s chief operating officer, said that this represented good value for money given that the rental costs also covered a range of utilities.
