DLR Properties Ltd, which has more then €60 million in assets, is to make its first interest payment to its sole shareholder, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, this year.
DLR Properties owns and manages 180,000 sq ft of offices in two buildings in Cherrywood in south Dublin, where it also has a further 20 acres of land, most of which is earmarked for a new town centre.
The buildings and land within the Cherrywood Strategic Development Zone were acquired by the independent property company from the county council at the height of the boom.
DLR Properties was set up in 2009 as “an independent private limited company fulfilling its brief to maximise value for its shareholder”, according to its website.
According to the company, some €285,000 in interest will be paid to the council this year, and by 2020 it is envisaged the company will have paid the council €2.2 million in interest.
‘Excellent infrastructure’
In a report to the council for the period June 2016 to August 2017, DLR Properties said it owned “one quadrant”, or 14 acres, of the overall site for the proposed Cherrywood Town Centre. The site is located beside the existing business park, the Bride’s Glen Luas stop, and is “bounded by the excellent infrastructure provided by the M50 and the N11”, the report said.
DLR Properties’ land is earmarked for a mixed-use scheme in excess of 1.3 million sq ft, comprising high-intensity employment, retail, non-retail, community and residential uses. Its value is expected to rise significantly as that development progresses.
The report also noted DLR properties made an after-tax profit of €3.612 million in 2016. The balance sheet shows assets of €61.77 million, of which €58.18 are land and buildings.
However, the company notes “indebtedness of €68.3 million to the council which arose principally on the transfer of the assets to the company at full market value at the height of the boom”.
Chairwoman Pam Kearney said the making of the first interest payment to the county council was “a very exciting time” and “a major milestone” for DLR Properties. She said the board had appointed Conor Dalton as chief operating officer and Kathryn Hanney as financial accountant.
