US investor set to pay €120m for three of Ireland's leading retail parks
Having paid €220 million in March for the Oaktree portfolio, a collection of eight of Ireland's best-known retail parks,
Realty Income Reit
is set to deepen its involvement in the Irish market with the purchase of three additional schemes.
While the transaction has yet to be completed, The Irish Times understands that the US investment giant is poised to move in the coming days from being preferred bidder into exclusivity in relation to the acquisition of the Trinity Collection, a portfolio comprising Belgard Retail Park in Tallaght, Dublin 24, the M1 Retail Park in Drogheda, Co Louth, and Poppyfield Retail Park in Clonmel, Co Tipperary. The proposed purchase price is said to be in line with the €120 million guided by agent Cushman & Wakefield when it offered the portfolio to the market formally in April.
Should the sale complete at the agreed level, the Trinity Collection's owners would be in line for a significant return on their original investment. Developer Pat Crean's Marlet Property Group and its funding partner M&G paid €78 million to secure ownership of the schemes from US investor Marathon Asset Management in September 2021.
Since acquiring the portfolio, Marlet has engaged in an intensive asset management programme at all three locations. All three schemes have benefited from ESG initiatives and had work undertaken to improve their overall aesthetics and presentation. The overall rent roll, meanwhile, has been increased from €7 million to more than €9 million.
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Belgard Retail Park has long been regarded as one of the foremost retail parks in the capital. Outside of its more recent addition of its new EZ Living unit, the scheme is occupied by a range of leading retailers including B&Q, Home Store & More, Dealz, Carpet Right, Halfords, Right Style Furniture, Burger King and Starbucks.
The total current rent is about €3.45 million per annum, or some €320,000 more than the €3.13 million it had been generating in 2021.
The M1 Retail Park comprises a mix of retail, office and leisure accommodation extending to a total of 24,805sq m (267,000sq ft), along with 600 car-parking spaces. The addition of the new Tesco supermarket will increase the scheme's overall footprint to 28,986sq m (312,000sq ft). The park is already anchored by Woodie's DIY and its other tenants include Smyths Toys, Sports Direct/Brand Max, Dealz, Equipet and EZ Living.
The total current rent is now €4 million per annum, an increase of €1.56 million on the €2.44 million it had been generating in 2021.
The M1 scheme also includes Mellview House, a four-storey building comprising office space, a gym operated by Gym Plus and a number of other smaller retail units. Another building known as the Pavilion is home to Costa Coffee, TC Matthews and Lanu Medi Spa.
M1 Retail Park also includes lands extending to 11 hectares (27 acres) and comprises three adjoining plots with proposed zoning under the Draft Louth County Development Plan 2021-2027 for three uses, namely A2 New Residential, C1 Mixed Use and B4 District Centre.
Poppyfield Retail Park extends to 12,821sq m (138,000sq ft) and comprises a mix of 14 retail warehousing units, a neighbourhood centre and 393 car-parking spaces.
The park is 99 per cent occupied and anchored by Woodie's DIY and SuperValu. Other tenants include Harry Corry, Maxi Zoo, EZ Living, World of Wonder and DID Electrical. The neighbourhood centre is occupied by Costa Coffee and Sam McCauley, along with a hair and beauty studio and fish-and-chips operator.
The total current rental income is €1.6 million per annum, an increase of €170,000 on the €1.43 million it had been generating in 2021.
The Trinity Collection will be Realty Income Reit's third investment in Ireland to date. The US investor made its first acquisition here in 2023, when it paid Eden Capital €45.9 million for CityEast Retail Park in Limerick and Blackwater Retail Park in Navan, Co Meath. Its second and most valuable acquisition (the Oaktree portfolio) took place earlier this year, and saw it secure ownership of an eight-strong portfolio of retail parks comprising Navan Retail Park; Bray Retail Park; Sligo Retail Park; Waterford Retail Park; Naas Retail Park; Drogheda Retail Park, Gateway Retail Park in Galway, and Parkway Retail Park in Limerick.
Oaktree had acquired the retail parks through its subsidiary, Targeted Investment Opportunities (TIO), in a series of transactions between 2015 and 2017.
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