February 12, 2009By: admin Category: NewsComments Off
Sales of Irish farmland fell significantly in 2008 for the second year running as expected and were more or less in line with the fall experienced in the overall Irish property market, reports independent global property consultants Knight Frank.
In a national agricultural land price survey, carried out annually by Knight Frank in Ireland (formerly Ganly Walters*) and published today (Thursday 12 February), it was found that in the past 12 months prices have fallen nationally by 16.8% on average.
They declined significantly countrywide in 2008, but the biggest fall occurred in Dublin and surrounding counties of Kildare and Wicklow, as would be expected. The national average price for farmland was €21,145 per acre in 2008, representing the drop of 16.8%.
In the Dublin hinterland, (counties Dublin, Kildare and Wicklow), which are analysed separately because of the significantly higher prices paid for farmland, they fell on average by 17.5%. The average price dropped to €25,210 per acre last year from €30,543 per acre in 2007. This was an overall drop of €5,333 per acre, giving a fall of 17.5%.
The rest of the country fell slightly less, by an average of 16.1%, with prices averaging €17,081 per acre in 2008, down from the previous year’s average of €20,367 per acre, representing an overall reduction of €2,750 per acre.
The vast majority of the survey’s reported sales were achieved in the first 9 months of 2008, prior to the credit crunch of last autumn. These findings constitute the 16th agricultural land price survey commissioned by Knight Frank in Ireland, which specialises in farm, agricultural land, stud farms, estates and country house sales.
Commenting on the agricultural land market survey results for 2008, Knight Frank partner and Head of Ireland Residential, Robert Ganly, stated that the overall decrease in values was only to have been expected in the current property market downturn.
“The decline in farmland prices over the past two years mirrors the decline across property markets in Ireland and internationally. The global credit crunch has accentuated this trend and is obviously stalling any kind of investment. The slowdown of the building industry means that there has been less money generated from land sold for development”.
“The agricultural land market has been propped up over the last 5 years by farmers and land owners who were replacing land as a result of development sales. So we believe that 2009 is likely to see further erosion in agricultural land values as there can be little doubt that the current crisis in development land will have a further knock-on affect on agricultural land values over the next couple of years”.
However, Robert Ganly added that at the moment one may assume that values may not fall much below 2004 levels. “Overall, the Irish property market would now seem to be tracking 2004 levels and we see no reason why agricultural land will not follow this trend.”
2008 was also notable for a further decline in the amount of successful sales. Knight Frank found that the volume of farmland sold nationally last year fell dramatically, by as much as 42%. In all there were 110 reported sales in 2008, representing a 41% decrease from the previous year’s 154. The total area of land sold in 2008 was just 5,743 acres, compared to 9,933 acres in 2007.
The survey also showed the average plot size to be much smaller, having decreased to 52.2 acres in 2008 from 64.5 acres in the previous year. Interestingly, this figure is only slightly less than that for 2006, when the average plot size was 54 acres. Two other trends were also noticeable in 2008 – the large number of land parcels put up for sale that failed to reach their guide price and, secondly, there were very few farms for sale in the 200 acres plus category.
Looking ahead to 2009, Robert Ganly urged those farmers and landowners considering selling land in the coming year to be sensible about pricing, saying that he predicts a good demand in 2009 for realistically priced land. He points out that “one of the benefits of last year’s reductions in agricultural land prices is that it is an optimum time to consider transferring the family asset”.
January 14, 2009By: admin Category: NewsComments Off
We have produced our report on the development land market in Ireland for 2008. This market has probably been more dramatically affected by the economic crisis than any other sector of the property market, yet because so few transactions have occurred, it is difficult to say with any degree of certainty how far land values have actually fallen.
The report (which you can download in pdf form by clicking here >>> PW 2008 Development Land Market report) presents a summary of over 200 key sites right around the country, as well as a detailed analysis of all the data available from 2007 & 2008 by independent research economist, Geoff Tucker. You can browse around the country and see the location of a large selection of these sites on our interactive map - just click on the tab above.
Some of the key findings in the report are as follows:
*Though based on advertised prices, overall the data available from the sellers’ side of the market appears to confirm a dramatic drop in development land values almost right across the market.
*The average advertised price per hectare for sites with commercial buildings with planning permission fell by more than half from 2007 to 2008, and commercial buildings without planning permission fell by more than three-quarters.
*The average price per hectare for mixed-use sites fell by around two-thirds, while sites with industrial buildings fell by around 40%.
*Green-field sites with planning permission fell by one-quarter, though the figures indicate a one-third increase in the average price of green-field sites without planning permission.
*In 2008, 13.0% of all listings with prices were under €1 million and just 2.3% had a price tag in excess of €20 million. This contrasts to the much higher 8.9% in 2007 with a quoting price in excess of €20 million, and the much lower 8.9% under €1m in 2007.
*For 2008, mixed-use sites with planning permission had the highest average advertised price per hectare at €18.3 million, compared to an average of just €1.5 for sites without planning permission, which underlines the substantial price premium a site with planning permission can obtain versus a site without permission.
*The planning permission price premium is not nearly as high for development sites already occupied by commercial buildings (€12.7 million per hectare with planning permission versus €7.8 million per hectare without planning permission) or existing residences (€11.1 million per hectare with planning permission and €8.0 million per hectare without planning permission), though this is due to higher existing use value on these sites compared to that on the sites for mixed-use developments.
*In 2007, Dublin 18 was the post code with the second highest number of sites for Dublin (7.0% of the listings), but this has fallen dramatically in 2008 to 10th place at only 3.7% of the listings.
UK interest rates were cut by 0.5%, taking them to 1.5% - the ECB will cut this week by 0.5% at least – which will mean that interest rates have been more than halved in the last 6 months…
Ireland
•Believe it or not consumer sentiment improved in December with the KBC/ESRI index rising to 50.2 from 44.8 in November.
•The improvement was primarily driven by a more positive perception by consumers of the buying climate given significant interest rate cuts and the pre-Christmas sales…the index for January will be closely watched to see if bad news on the jobs front have cancelled out this more positive December tone.
•Unemployment rose by 121,000 in 2008, the numbers on the dole rose by almost 23,000 in December alone, the largest monthly increase on record.
•The unemployment rate has increased from 4.9% in January 2008 to 8.3% in December.
•The government has published a five year plan for the public finances, which involves implementing €2 billion of spending cuts in the next few weeks, with savings of €4 billion per annum for 2010 and 2011 required, either via tax increases and public sector cuts or both.
Europe
•Eurozone inflation continued its decline in December falling to 1.6%, down from 2.1% in November.
•The fall was largely down to the decline in oil prices, compared with the same month in 2007.
•The 26-month low figure justifies further rate cuts at the ECB’s meeting next week.
•Economic confidence in the 16-country eurozone collapsed to levels not seen in continental Europe for at least 24 years as German industry reels from tumbling global demand.
•Spanish industrial output fell by 15.1% in November, compared to the same month in 2007, the largest fall on record and a sign of the deepening woes hitting the Spanish economy.
UK
•The Bank of England continued its aggressive action to support the UK economy by further cutting interest rates by 50 basis points bringing the base rate down to 1.5%, their lowest level in the banks 315-year history.
•House prices in the UK fell by 15.9% in 2008, according to Nationwide building society, with the average house price now down at £153,048 - £29,000 less than a year ago.
US
•US private sector employment plunged by 693,000 in December.
•Sharply falling employment at medium- and small-size businesses indicates that the turmoil has now spread beyond the manufacturing and housing-related sectors. Non-farm payrolls fell by 2.6m in 2008, their biggest annual drop since 1945.
•The jobless rate increased in December to 7.2% from 6.8% in November.
•US factory orders plunged in November, while the service sector contracted in December.
IRELAND
•The KBC Ireland/ESRI Consumer Sentiment Index improved in December with the index rising to 50.2 from 44.8 in November. The improvement in the consumer sentiment index brings the index to its’ highest level since April 2008. The improvement was primarily driven by a more positive perception by consumers of their current conditions given that there was an improvement in the buying climate following interest rate cuts and pre-Christmas sales. Lower inflation may also have played a role. Nevertheless, consumers remain pessimistic about the outlook for the economy and the outlook for the labour markets and job security, which will be consolidated by forecasts from the Department of Finance that the jobless rate may reach 9.25% in 2009.
•A US investment fund that specialises in buying bankrupt and troubled companies was reported to be preparing a bid for the crystal manufacturer Waterford Wedgewood last week. Waterford’s liabilities exceed its assets by €337 million. It is said to owe Bank of America approximately £120 million as well as a shortfall of €111 million in its workers pension fund.
•Unemployment rose by 121,000 in 2008 representing a jump of 71% in the year - the largest increase in the history of the live register. The figures show that the numbers on the dole rose by almost 23,000 in December alone, the largest monthly increase on record. This brought the unemployment total to 291,363. As a result of the surge the unemployment rate in Ireland increased from 4.9% in January to 8.3% in December.
A RECORD number of objections for a tourism-related development on Lough Derg have been lodged against plans to construct a €60 million marina scheme in Ballina. - Visit
A DEVELOPER who was ordered to demolish 52 holiday homes near the Rock of Cashel because they did not comply with planning permission has won his legal battle to retain them. - Visit
Banks have begun offering struggling developers’ overseas assets to the few remaining cash-rich developers. One source, who was offered a scheme in Italy, said the banks were initially concentrating - Visit
PROPERTY developer Bernard McNamara is seeking damages of tens of millions of euro from Dublin City Council after it turned houses that McNamara wanted to develop into protected structures. - Visit
Developer and entrepreneur Niall Mellon of Knockrabo Developments has applied for further changes to the proposed development on part of the former Bank of Ireland sports grounds in Knockrabo, Goatsto - Visit
DEVELOPER SEÁN Dunne has made clear to the High Court that he is pressing ahead with his bid to have an €83 million rival development on Dublin’s north quays demolished following a court decision tha - Visit
Developer Liam Carroll has received the green light for a €24m development at Smithfield, in Dublin 7. Dublin City Council approved plans by Mr Carroll’s company Danninger for the 10-storey building - Visit
Treasury Holdings has been given the go-ahead to develop its Sligo Town Centre scheme by An Bord Pleanala. The €80 million scheme, which will provide a new focus for retailing in Sligo, - Read
SEVERAL MAJOR office developments planned for Dublin city now seem certain to be cancelled because of a reluctance by banks and large professional firms to relocate to more spacious headquarter buildi - Visit
PROPERTY DEVELOPER Peter Curistan has accepted about £50,000 (€57,000) in damages to settle a libel action he took over allegations in a tabloid newspaper. - Visit
A COURT action aimed at compelling developer Bernard McNamara to pay €7.5 million to five fellow shareholders in a company has been resolved, the Commercial Court was told yesterday. - Visit
A BUILDER has taken proceedings in the Commercial Court for €2.8 million allegedly due from €12.2 million refurbishment works at a property developer’s home, including an underground swimming pool, g - Visit
A chartered accountant, he rose through the ranks of a property development firm in Meath, eventually becoming its financial director. The money rolled in, the business expanded and the only way was u - Visit
Developer Séamus Ross sold almost €24m worth of houses and sites last year through one of his companies, Drumloe Properties, an increase in turnover of almost 50% on the previous year. - Visit
One of Ireland’s largest property advisers has lodged High Court proceedings against developer Sean Dunne in a dispute that is understood to be over fees. - Visit
CONTROVERSIAL plans for a €60m marina development overlooking the River Shannon in the heritage town of Ballina are expected to attract significant opposition. - Visit
Dublin property company Harcourt Developments has told the government of the Bahamas that it will have to put a €250 million resort on hold because of the financial crisis. - Visit
Property developer Liam Carroll is believed to have rebuffed an approach from Davy to acquire his 29.5pc stake in food group Greencore in recent weeks on behalf of clients. - Visit
Affordability conditions have been further improved with today’s (4th December) decision by the ECB to slash official interest rates by another 0.75%. This is the third substantial rate cut in as many - Read
A Dublin property developer has acquired the Canadian embassy residence on nine acres opposite Bono’s house in Killiney in exchange for a D6 home - and €3m - Visit
MOUNT CARMEL Medical Group is submitting a planning application to Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council to redevelop Mount CarmelHospital in Churchtown, Dublin 14 - Visit
DEVELOPER PAMERETTE Ltd is making another attempt to redevelop the former Jefferson Smurfit headquarters at Beech Hill in Clonskeagh, Dublin 6, into a mixed-use scheme - Visit
More than 1,000 people including, developers, agents, bankers and senior executives, from the property industry north and south attended this year’s Irish Property Awards. - Visit
A company controlled by one of the country’s biggest developers will have to shell out over €100,000 following a High Court judgment made against it. - Visit
WHY HAS THE value of development land fallen so precipitously, by over 50 per cent in the past 12 months, when residential and other property values have only fallen by 25 per cent or 30 per cent? - Visit
A NEW central access road proposed for Kilkenny city which incorporates a cable-stayed bridge across the river Nore would unlock considerable city-centre redevelopment potential, including that of the - Visit
DEVELOPER DEREK Quinlan has brought a legal action to overturn a decision by An Bord Pleanála that a house on Ailesbury Road, Dublin, which was bought by him for €8.5 million may only be used as an em - Visit
DUBLIN CITY Council is to spend €95 million to regenerate three major inner city flat complexes which were to have been rebuilt by developer Bernard McNamara under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) - Visit
IRELAND IS in danger of following Iceland into financial crisis within six months if a solution is not found to our current banking problems, according to developer Seán Dunne. - Visit
Private equity vehicle RQB, which was set up by developer Paddy Kelly’s family vehicle Redquartz and corporate financier Niall McFadden of Boundary Capital, is in talks with investors and banks to ne - Visit
Developer Sean Mulryan’s Ballymore Properties is likely to see its asset values in London take a significant hit after BritishLand wrote down the value of its investment in the CanaryWharf estate i - Visit
A €30 million legal action taken by Dublin lawyer Thomas Byrne against Wicklow property developer John Kelly over a property deal has been struck out by the High Court. - Visit
As best we could we have pulled together a summary table of all the winners of the Property Week Irish Property Awards since it began in 2003. We apologise in advance if we have made any errors - just - Read
A GROUP representing residents in the Tipperary-Clare border towns of Ballina and Killaloe on the banks of the River Shannon say that a €60 million residential and commercial development planned for t - Visit
THE growing debts of struggling builders and developers is crowding out lending to the rest of the economy, especially small business, one analyst said yesterday. - Visit
A SPIN-OFF of civil engineering firm Liffey Developments is spending €100 million on building a system that will use geothermal energy to provide heating and hot water to 60,000 homes. - Visit
LENDING to the property sector rose by over €5bn in the three months to September as the stock of unsold buildings increased and builders and developer were unable to pay off their bank loans. - Visit
THE FORMER offices of the Commissioners of Irish Lights at Lower Pembroke Street in Dublin 2 is to be redeveloped and enlarged to include a large office building and two spacious penthouse apartments - Visit
The National Consumer Agency (NCA) today published a study on the home construction industry and the consumer in Ireland. This is the first time that such an exercise has been conducted from - Read
The three developers who paid €315m for MillenniumPark and adjoining land near Naas in 2006 gave AIB a letter of guarantee for €130m as part of the finance deal. - Visit
CanaryWharf may be feeling the effects of the recession, but developers like Ballymore, Grattan and Glenkerrin have major projects planned for the area. - Visit
SOLICITOR IVOR Fitzpatrick and property developer Pat Doherty have settled their long-running High Court dispute over whether there existed a property partnership in connection with British property p - Visit
PERMISSION GRANTED to a trio of high profile developers to redevelop the 1960s office block, McConnell House, and to add a seven-storey extension to the Hilton Hotel, both on Charlemont Place, Dublin - Visit
DEVELOPER MARK Piggott is looking to demolish the fire damaged Redcourt House in Clontarf, Dublin 3 to make way for apartments, despite a previous planning permission to convert it into apartments. - Visit
A JOINT venture between private clients of Dublin stockbroker Goodbody and troubled Belfast developer Taggart Holdings has been given court protection in Northern Ireland from its creditors. - Visit
THE DUBLIN Docklands Development Authority has said it will face no compensation claims following a High Court ruling which overturned its granting of fast-track planning permission for a €200 million - Visit
We will be publishing our end of year 2008 development land market report in mid December. “What market?” says you! And true enough, there has not been a whole lot going on. But we have recorded 219 n - Visit
It has been reported this week that Monaco Properties’ high profile ShamrockPlaza development in Carlow is approaching completion and offices are now open for viewing by interested parties. One - Read
PLANS BY Tesco to develop a new foodstore and off-licence along the floodplain of the River Barrow in Portarlington, Co Laoise, have been blocked by An Bord Pleanála. - Visit
While UK representation was smaller than usual at the annual showcase organised by the British Council of Shopping Centres, there was no shortage of Irish developers. - Visit
THE SPENCER Dock Development Company has settled its court proceedings in which it alleged there was a “covert contract” between the Dublin Docklands Development Authority (DDDA) and developer Liam Ca - Visit
Amidst great glamour and excitement, with the new BMW 7 Series present for exclusive previewing, Treasury Holdings yesterday launched Montevetro, its new 15-storey office tower adjacent to the Dart st - Read
Property developer and investor Real Estate Opportunities (REO), which is 58pc-owned by Treasury Holdings, said recent performance showed it was “well positioned” despite the current market climate. - Visit
Liam Carroll’s North Quay Investments Ltd lodges an application to the Dublin Docklands Development Authority for a “fast-track” exemption certificate to build a major office development on Dublin - Visit
THE Attorney General has been called in to review the law which allows the Dublin Docklands Development Authority to “fast-track” planning permissions, in the wake of a €1bn turf war between develop - Visit
DEVELOPER BERNARD McNamara and his company, Radora Developments Ltd, are standing over their court claim that Dublin City Council acted negligently and improperly in preventing the demolition of sever - Visit
DUBLIN DOCKLANDS Development Authority (DDDA) has been warned that its latest draft master plan, which carries a €4.5 billion price tag, is so flawed that it would be open to challenge in the High Cou - Visit
FBD Holdings and an insurance company that underwrites public bodies are among the investors in Ballymore International Developments, the Seán Mulryan company that is involved in development in Europe - Visit
The collapse in commercial and residential property prices in Ireland and Britain will hit Irish developers hard. Some who got into the property game relatively late will be financially most vulnerabl - Visit
New figures from Homebond, which registers new housing developments, suggest there are 34,000 unsold new homes around the country - a much lower total than previously estimated. - Visit
AN BORD Pleanála has upheld a decision by Waterford City Council to allow a €280 million inner-city development, expected to create 1,900 full-time and temporary jobs, to proceed. - Visit
November 28, 2008By: admin Category: NewsComments Off
As best we could we have pulled together a summary table of all the winners of the Property Week Irish Property Awards since it began in 2003. We apologise in advance if we have made any errors - just let us know if so and we can rectify it immediately.
Please note - The Property Week Limited in Ireland (publishers of Propertyweek.ie; Developer.ie; Jobsinproperty.ie; Propertyweek.blogspot.com) has no connection with Property Week in the UK, publishers of Property Week magazine and PropertyWee.com website etc. We also have nothing to do with the awards that they organise and that are the subject of this table.
·Bank mergers culminating in an enlarged AIB and Bank of Ireland appear likely with speculation mounting that recapitalisation of the sector is imminent, potentially in the form of a private equity deal, similar to the one tabled to Bank of Ireland.
·The second Finance Bill was announced last week which confirmed many of the measures announced on Budget Day but also included an addition of a 3% income levy on incomes in excess of €250,000.
·The number of people in employment fell 1.2% in the third quarter compared to same period last year.
·The unemployment rate jumped from 5.4% in the second quarter to 6.3% in the third quarter.
Europe
·The Eurozone’s manufacturing and service industries contracted in November at the fastest pace in at least a decade and also represented the sixth consecutive monthly contraction in private sector output.
·Spain is likely to slip into recession in the fourth quarter and stay there into 2009 according to comments from the head of the Bank of Spain.
·TheSpanish economy contracted by 0.2% in the third quarter, its first shrinkage since 1993.
·A coordinated EU stimulus package is expected to be announced this week, which will allow for greater flexibility in the budgetary rules as well as increased access to funding.
UK
·Retail sales grew at an annual rate of 1.9% compared with 1.7% in September. The drop in non-food sales suggests that discretionary spending is taking a hit.
·Despite the positive growth many commentators negative growth overall in the fourth quarter.
·UK inflation fell in October from a 16-year high from 5.2% to 4.5%, as oil and transport costs - as well as food prices - fell.
·The monthly fall was the largest fall in 16 years and such an easing in price pressures suggests that interest rates will be lowered further as inflation is likely to come in below target in 2009.
·The number of properties repossessed by mortgage lenders rose by 12% to 11,300 in the third quarter of the year, as more people struggle to meet their mortgage repayments in light of the deterioration in the broader economy and labour market.
US
·Oil prices fell below $50 a barrel for the first time since May 2005 amid fears of a recession and expectations that demand will drop.
·US consumer prices dropped by a record 1% in October compared with September (the largest monthly drop in 61 years), as fuel costs fell for a third month in a row.Citigroup’s crisis deepened last Thursday as its shares continued to slump in spite of a planned investment of about $250m by Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, its largest individual investor. The 26.4% fall in the shares prompted Citi’s directors and executives to look at strategic options, which included selling part or all of the company.
November 19, 2008By: admin Category: NewsComments Off
We will be publishing our end of year 2008 development land market report in mid December. “What market?” says you! And true enough, there has not been a whole lot going on. But we have recorded 219 new development land sites on the market so far for 2008 (only 66 since June). And we will be tracking as many of those as we can over the next few weeks to see what has been happening.
We will also be talking to agents about the market to see what changes have been happening in terms of how the sites are prepared for marketing and what new strategies have been tried in order to make them more attractive to developers or investors.
The report will be available for property professionals to download for free from www.propertyweek.ie and from here on Developer.IE. It will also be emailed to the entire trade as reflected in our email database including developers, property investment companies, financial institutions, state bodies and estate agents. It will also be posted out to all the main property development companies on our database. If you wish to sign up for a copy to be sent to you, email paul@propertyweek.ie.
If you are a subscriber to PropertyWeek you will be entitled to some free advertising in the report, so get in touch with Paul on paul@propertyweek.ie. If you are not a subscriber (for some odd reason) but wish to advertise, the costs are minimal for such a targeted medium.
If you wish to comment on the development land market and be featured in the report, again just contact Paul to discuss it, either via email or on 01-4151229.
DEVELOPER Liam Carroll has moved to protect a €200m office development following legal action by rival developer, Sean Dunne, who is seeking the demolition of the building work that has already been u - Visit
AN BORD Pleanála has overturned planning permission granted to developer Seán Dunne for a residential, retail and office development at the Zed Candy factory site in Kilcock, Co Kildare because it wou - Visit
DEVELOPER efforts to extend the DublinCity office market into the Dublin 12 area met with mixed success last week as DublinCity council gave the green light for one development but refused two other - Visit
Property developers Treasury Holdings and Owen O’Callaghan expect to issue planning applications next year for their share of a new €4bn town at the Clonburris Strategic Development Zone (SDZ). - Visit
Banks have stepped up talks with the few remaining cash-rich developers about future options on stricken sites they will have to repossess in the coming months. The banks are worried about how they wi - Visit
Property developer Ray Grehan has said he is not worried about the impact of falling property values on his €171 million site at the former VeterinaryCollege in Ballsbridge in Dublin, but admitted th - Visit
The value of the property assets owned by developer Sean Dunne’s main trading company is now ‘‘subject to uncertainty’’ in light of the economic downturn. - Visit
AN BORD Pleanála has rejected a proposal by developer Liam Carroll of Zoe Developments to demolish a late-1990s apartment block and replace it with a six-storey office building on the corner of Island - Visit
DEVELOPERS OF 70 separate building schemes are facing legal action from Dublin City Council for their failure to pay development contributions levied as a condition of planning permission. - Visit
PLANS TO redevelop the Carlton cinema site on Dublin’s O’Connell Street have been substantially revised by CharteredLand to meet concerns expressed by city council planners - particularly about a - Visit
THE PROPERTY companies jointly backed by troubled developer, Taggart Holdings, and stockbroker Goodbody’s private clients, are maintaining their interest and loan repayments to the banks. - Visit
THE MEATH county manager has not recommended any change in the zoning of lands that developer Bill Doyle says he needs zoned for housing so he can fund the building of Drogheda United’s proposed new - Visit
Property developer Liam Carroll has suffered a significant blow with planners blocking a major expansion of the building he owns which houses the Irish headquarters of Google. - Visit
IIB Bank has initiated a multimillion-euro legal action against John Kelly, a Wicklow property developer, arising from his dealings with Dublin solicitor Thomas Byrne. - Visit
Dublin developer Bill Doyle has claimed that, if the land on which he wants to build houses in Bryanstown is not zoned “residential”, he will not be able to finance the building of Drogheda United’ - Visit
FOXROCK AREA Development Limited is appealing planning permission to redevelop Clonbur, a property owned by developer Michael McNamara in Foxrock, Dublin 18 into an apartment complex. - Visit
Some developers are slashing prices in a desperate bid to sell off their remaining housing stock. Castle Manor Homes has cut prices by more than a third at the Belvedere Hills estate in Mullingar, Co - Visit
Developer Liam Carroll is understood to have laid off 20 of his staff last week, writes Neil Callanan. Employees were informed of the decision midweek. Carroll is one of the country’s largest develop - Visit
This newspaper has consistently said that two midlevel developers were expected to go to the wall before the end of the year. Taggart Holdings was one of them, although it has so far managed to avoid - Visit
Dublin-based Ciarán Maguire said he intended to build a development of six-star hotels and villas on Boa Vista island. His plans for the so-called Palm View Resort include a championship golf course, - Visit
Several major property developers have made preparations enabling them to apply to the High Court for examinership protection at short notice if their banks seek to appoint receivers to their business - Visit
Property developers and builders are coming under mounting pressure from their lenders, with the government ordering Irish banks to revalue their loans book in light of the deepening economic crisis. - Visit
BANK OF Scotland Ireland (BOSI) is no longer a creditor of the troubled Taggart group as a result of the sale of the one of the developer’s British subsidiaries. - Visit
DEVELOPER SEÁN Dunne is pursuing an application for a High Court injunction requiring rival developer Liam Carroll to pull down an €83 million office block development on Dublin’s north quays that th - Visit
ONE OF the State’s biggest developers has sidestepped a bid to have his main trading company wound up by settling a six-figure debt with a photographic agency. - Visit
Banking Crisis : THE FINANCIAL regulator is curbing lending practices on mortgages where borrowers have accepted interest-free loans from developers. - Visit
THE HIGH Court has fixed November 4th for the hearing of a dispute between solicitor Ivor Fitzpatrick and property developer Paddy McKillen about the conduct of the affairs of a large property develop - Visit
PLANS TO create a major new town at Belmayne in north Dublin are in disarray after the developer pulled out of the purchase of lands earmarked for the town centre. - Visit
THE HIGH Court has begun hearing a dispute between Ivor Fitzpatrick and property developer Pat Doherty over whether there existed a property partnership in connection with British property projects wo - Visit
DEVELOPERS MICHAEL and John Taggart’s business became the first high-profile victim of the property slump when banks owed a reported €150 million took control of their group yesterday. - Visit
DEVELOPER BERNARD McNamara and his company Radora Developments Ltd have claimed that an “unjustifiable” decision by Dublin City Council, to list as protected structures a number of early 19th-centur - Visit
THREE BUSINESSMEN, a tax consultant and a banker have brought legal proceedings to compel developer Bernard McNamara to pay them more than €7.5 million for their shareholdings in a property company in - Visit
The development of the super-prison at Thornton Hall will be delayed by at least 18 months if the developers continue to insist they cannot proceed without another €80 million from government. - Visit
LAWYERS acting for property developer Bernard McNamara were last night locked in “deep discussions” to prevent a multi-million euro legal dispute by five high-profile businessmen being entered into - Visit
CAVAN-DEVELOPER P Elliott has come back with another major planning application to Dublin City Council for the Windmill site in the Digital Hub in Dublin’s Liberties - Visit
The six main Irish banks and building societies currently have €39.1bn loaned out to property developers, the Financial Regulator revealed yesterday. - Visit
Irish banks summoned a number of leading developers into meetings last week to discuss their debt situations and get an overview of the extent of the downturn of the property market. - Visit
David Daly, the developer who set an Irish land price record when he paid the equivalent of €120m an acre for Franklin House on Pembroke Road in Ballsbridge, Dublin 4, has secured permission to demoli - Visit
A little-known Revenue provision has revealed that property developers are entitled to “refunds on their tax payments” on the basis that the value of land or property stocks has reduced. - Visit
Commercial developer David Agar has come up with his own novel package of incentives for his €1 billion office development at Grangecastle in Clondalkin, Dublin. - Visit
DUBLIN DOCKLANDS Development Authority (DDDA) faces the possibility of a multimillion euro compensation claim from developer Liam Carroll following a High Court judgment yesterday, according to a well - Visit
Interest rate cuts are the order of the day, with the UK base rate now lower than the euro-zone rate, at 3% and 3.25% respectively.More rate cuts are to follow, with another 0.5% in Dec to give some Christmas cheer! Obama’s victory signals the beginning of much needed change in US policy, as he indicates that he will tackle the economic crisis “head-on”.
Ireland
·The number of people claiming unemployment benefits rose by 11,734 for the month to a total of 251,951 - the most since August 1997.
·AIB in its Interim statement said that the effect of the economic downturn is most material in its Irish residential development book and it has increased the groups bad debt charge to 0.75% of average loans in 2008 - about €950m.
·Most banks have agreed to pass on the interest rate cuts to customers with variable rate mortgages.
Europe
·The ECB reduced their base rate by 0.5% to 3.25% - representing the lowest level since October 2006.
·Jean-Claude Trichet said he couldn’t rule out a further reduction in interest rates given that “the intensification and broadening of the financial turmoil is likely to dampen global and euro-area demand for a rather protracted period’’.
·EU leaders met on Friday, ahead of this week’s G20 meeting in Washington to agree a strategy for sweeping reform of the global financial system and have set a 100 day deadline for others to follow.
·Retail spending across the 15 nations of the eurozone fell in September by 1.6%.
·Demand for German goods fell 8% between August and September. With Germany showing such signs of distress this will provide the ECB with manoeuvring room in easing interest rates further.
UK
·The Bank of England made a surprising but decisive 1.5% cut in UK interest rates to 3% last week, the lowest level since 1955.
·The size of the cut - the most dramatic since 1981 - signalled the Bank’s concern that the UK is heading for a recession as they outlined that there had been a ‘very marked deterioration in the outlook’.
US
·A historic week in the US, with Barack Obama becoming President elect.
·US manufacturing activity fell in October to its lowest level for 26 years.
·The International Monetary Fund has downgraded prospects for the world’s economies, predicting that developed economies as a whole will shrink by 0.3% next year.
·Worst hit will be the UK, shrinking 1.3%, followed by Germany at 0.8% and the US and Spain contracting by 0.7%.
·The IMF has also cut its 2009 forecast for average oil prices from $100 to $68 a barrel, reflecting the recent slump in prices. The IMF also commented that “the forceful policy responses in many countries have contained the risks of a systemic financial meltdown”.
November 06, 2008By: admin Category: NewsComments Off
Chartered Land has announced that it has agreed heads of terms with John Lewis for the retailer to open its first John Lewis department store outside of the UK in Dublin. The department store will be the first John Lewis shop in the Republic of Ireland and will be located in Chartered Land’s proposed O’Connell Street scheme, ‘Dublin Central’.
The move represents an investment of EUR50m for the John Lewis Partnership in Ireland and is expected to create over 800 new jobs for Dublin when the scheme opens in 2013. John Lewis will trade from a 250,000 sq ft space spread over five levels. The Dublin department store will form part of the company’s existing expansion plans to double the size of its business in the next ten years.
Speaking at today’s announcement, Dominic Deeny, Chief Executive, Chartered Land said: “We are delighted to welcome John Lewis as the anchor tenant for our proposed Dublin Central scheme. The John Lewis Partnership is renowned for its pioneering business model and will make a significant contribution to the Henry Street retail mix and further strengthen the city-centre retail offer.”
Gareth Thomas, Director of Retail Design and Development, John Lewis said:
“Today’s announcement is significant for John Lewis in that it marks the first move by John Lewis to a location outside the United Kingdom. We are delighted to have the opportunity to open John Lewis in Dublin – a city full of vitality and vibrancy. We believe that we will add a fresh and new dimension to the Irish retail market. We have a strong track record of commitment to sympathetic city centre regeneration and are very excited about trading on Dublin’s O’Connell Street. We look forward to developing our presence in the Irish market and in due course, delivering our unique and exciting product range and service offering to Irish shoppers.”
The John Lewis Partnership was founded in 1929 and has established a leading reputation as a trusted retailer and a progressive employer. It currently operates 27 John Lewis department stores across the UK, John Lewis Direct, a website and catalogue business; 193 Waitrose supermarkets and Greenbee – a new direct services company. The business has an annual turnover of over €7.6bn (£6bn) and employs over 69,000 staff - all of whom are Partners in the business. Profits are shared fairly among Partners, and everyone receives an equal percentage of their salary as an annual bonus in addition to there being a non-contributory final salary pension scheme and subsidised leisure activities. The business model will apply equally to Partners who join John Lewis in Ireland.
John Lewis department stores are widely recognised in the UK as a one-stop shop for everything from home furnishings, furniture, fashion, audio visual equipment and home technology to haberdashery. A typical store carries over 350,000 separate product lines with products at every price point all backed up by exemplary customer service.
Another John Lewis department store on the island of Ireland is planned for the Sprucefield Centre near Lisburn.
Chartered Land has announced that it has agreed heads of terms with John Lewis for the retailer to open its first John Lewis department store outside of the UK in Dublin. The department store will be the first John Lewis shop in the Republic of Ireland and will be located in Chartered Land’s proposed O’Connell Street scheme, ‘Dublin Central’.