With residential occupancy levels in the third and final phase of Clancy Quay approaching 50 per cent notwithstanding its launch in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, Kennedy Wilson has now agreed two long-term commercial leases at the scheme.
The first of these will see Safari Childcare take 8,500sq ft in the Ridge building on a 20-year lease, while the second deal will see BWG, trading as Eurospar, taking a 20-year lease on 6,400sq ft of space on the ground floor of the Watchtower building.
In the case of Safari Childcare, fit-out works on its unit are under way, with opening expected this August. Eurospar meanwhile is adding to its convenience offer and will incorporate a deli counter, bakery and internal Insomnia coffee dock and seating area in its unit.
Jason Byers, head of residential Ireland at Kennedy Wilson Europe, said: “These tenants will enhance the existing food offerings of Storyboard and The Yard food market and add to the already vibrant Clancy Quay community.”
Kennedy Wilson’s completion of 246 apartments at Clancy Quay last July marked the conclusion of a seven-year development programme at the Islandbridge scheme involving the construction of a total of 422 new units alongside the restoration and conservation of the former Clancy Barracks.
Kennedy Wilson acquired the Dublin 8 development in a partially-completed state in 2013, paying just over €80 million for the scheme’s first phase of 420 apartments and commercial space, and 8.46 acres of undeveloped land set aside for the delivery of residential units in phases two and three.
Studio apartments
Some 46 per cent of the 246 apartments offered to the rental market last July have now been let according to the company, while 20 new studio apartments in the final six-storey Stevens House building are due to be marketed later this year.
Clancy Quay is the largest private rented sector (PRS) development in Ireland with 875 units. Kennedy Wilson owns a 50 per cent interest in the scheme, while the remaining interest is owned by Axa Investment Managers as part of a joint venture between the parties involving 1,173 units across three of Kennedy Wilson's Dublin PRS schemes – Clancy Quay, the Alliance building on South Lotts Road in Dublin 4, and Sandford Lodge in Ranelagh, Dublin 6.
Relatively lucrative
Kennedy Wilson’s investment to date in Ireland’s private rented sector has proven to be relatively lucrative compared with its larger and longer-established home market of the United States.
An examination of a recent supplemental financial statement released by the company and covering the three-month period to the end of last September shows the average monthly rent for its apartments in Ireland came in at $2,493, compared to an average of $1,591 across its units in the US.
Kennedy Wilson currently owns and operates more than 2,500 units in the Irish market. That figure is set to grow to about 3,300 units by the end of 2023, including sites under development.
