Latest news with #PatCrean
Irish Times
4 days ago
- Business
- Irish Times
Ruling on controversial development beside St Anne's Park due after legal action withdrawn
A 10-year planning saga over the development of land beside St Anne's Park in Raheny, Dublin, could be brought to a close next month with confirmation by An Coimisiún Pleanála that it can now rule on a controversial 580 apartment and nursing home scheme. A High Court challenge taken by developer Pat Crean in relation to the validity of the Dublin City Development Plan, that had effectively blocked residential development on his land, has been dropped. Mr Crean's company Marlet hopes a recent intervention by Minister for Housing James Browne , directing councils to zone more land for housing, will result in a reversal of the 'dezoning' of the land. The withdrawal of the legal challenge against Dublin City Council, Ireland and the Attorney General, means a stay on the commission ruling on Mr Crean's housing scheme has been lifted, and it intends to deliver its decision next month, it has told the council. READ MORE The 16.5-acre site, formerly part of St Paul's College at Sybil Hill, beside the park, has become one of the most contentious land banks in Dublin since it was bought by Mr Crean in 2015. Multiple planning applications for apartments, which have been the subject of several judicial review hearings, have been made by Marlet and associated development companies. The most recent was submitted in September 2022 to the city council under the new large-scale residential development (LRD) system for 580 apartments and a 100-bed nursing home. The following month the council refused permission for the scheme due to concerns about the use of the land by light-bellied Brent geese which migrate from Canada for the winter months. The council had received more than 230 objections to Marlet's plans. Just days later, city councillors voted to block any further applications for large-scale housing developments on the site by zoning it for open space under the new Dublin City Development Plan. Mr Crean's Raheny 3 Limited Partnership in November 2022 appealed the refusal of permission for the LRD scheme to An Bord Pleanála. Then, in January 2023 it initiated a separate judicial review against the validity of the development plan. The zoning change, it said, amounted to an 'unjust and disproportionate attack' on the company's constitutionally protected property rights. A stay was put on the planning appeal, pending an outcome of the High Court challenge. However, Mr Crean's company has recently withdrawn its judicial review proceedings, which will allow An Coimisúin Pleanála, formerly An Bord Pleanála, to issue a decision on the case. In a letter to the council in recent days the commission said it intended to issue its decision by September 29th. A spokesman for Marlet said the company had withdrawn the High Court case in anticipation of 'positive changes' in relation to the zoning of land for housing in the city. In recent weeks Mr Browne issued new guidelines to local authorities telling them to zone more land for housing. It is expected councils will be asked to first focus on any land which is already serviced by infrastructure such as water and sewerage, or are close to public transport. The Raheny land, which has previously secured planning permission, would fall into this category, Marlet believes. 'The positive changes around land uses and zoning, encouraging councils to rezone lands that are serviced and where homes can be built, was a key decision why we felt these lands now have a more straightforward path to follow' than the High Court route, it said. Local Green Party councillor Donna Cooney said she welcomed the developer's decision to abandon the court challenge and anticipated the planning commission would uphold the council's decision to refuse permission for the 580 apartments and nursing home. She acknowledged the need for housing and said the 'possibility of a land swap' between the council and the developer could be considered, but she said: 'I hope that these lands will go back to their original purpose as playing fields.'
Irish Independent
03-07-2025
- Business
- Irish Independent
Optimism for investment outlook despite dip in second-quarter deals
Nevertheless, that brought the first-half investment figure to almost €940.4m which, while down on the €1.74bn of the previous six months, was ahead of the €671.7m in the first half of 2024. Meanwhile, the number of deals in the first half of 2025 fell to 47 which was the lowest number of first-half deals in more than five years and compares with 59 in the second half of 2024. US investor Realty Income Corporation was a major player in both the first and second quarters of this year. In Q1 it bought a portfolio of eight retail parks from Oaktree Capital Management for €220m. In Q2, Realty purchased another portfolio of retail parks from Pat Crean's Marlet group for €123.5m. That trio comprised Belgard Retail Park in Tallaght, Dublin 24; the M1 Retail Park in Drogheda, Co Louth; and Poppyfield Retail Park in Clonmel, Co Tipperary. Realty's purchases helped to bring retail's share of the investment market to 46pc, up from 41pc in the first half of 2024 and well over the low single-digit market shares seen in both first halves of 2021 and 2022. Giorgio Ferrari of Colliers says that retail accounted for €437m of the deals in the first six months of this year, offices for €270m and hospitality for €86m. The office sector also saw a recovery in market share, up from 19pc in the first half of 2024 to 30pc in the corresponding period of this year, boosted by a €394m spend in Q2. The largest office deal of the quarter saw German investor Deka Immobilien acquiring 20 Kildare Street from US real estate firm Kennedy Wilson for €74.5m. A second office deal saw Pontegadea, the investor arm of Zara founder Amancio Ortega, acquire Ten Hanover Quay in Dublin docklands from Kennedy Wilson and Nama for €69m. Looking forward, Stephen Aherne of TWM estimates that there are about €1.3bn worth of deals currently available, with approximately €400m under offer. 'It is anticipated that bids will soon be solicited for a number of transactions, suggesting a potentially strong conclusion to the year,' he said. 'Steady momentum is gathering. We expect to see strong performance in other sectors in the market for H2.' Niall Gargan of JLL acknowledges that the weak second quarter was due to tariff announcements causing uncertainty. 'As financial markets regain stability and a trade agreement between the EU and the US appears imminent, optimism is growing that the recovery anticipated at the start of 2025 can begin in earnest in the second half,' he added.
Irish Times
29-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Marlet secures €238m refinancing deal for College Square development
Developer Pat Crean's Marlet Property Group and its partner M&G Investments have secured a €238 million refinancing facility with Standard Chartered for College Square, the landmark office scheme they have developed in Dublin city centre. Standard Chartered acted as sole underwriter, mandated lead arranger, and hedging bank for the transaction, which is understood to have been completed late on Wednesday night. It qualifies as a Green Loan under the Green Loan Principles due to College Square being one of the most sustainable buildings in Ireland, having achieved LEED Platinum Certification and targeting WiredScore Platinum and A3 BER ratings. Commenting on the deal, Marlet's CEO Pat Crean said: 'We are delighted to have closed our first financing facility with Standard Chartered. This new facility brings us through the next chapter of the College Square development while Workday completes preparations to occupy the building and our PRS platform, DUBLIV, completes the leasing of the residential units.' READ MORE Ronan O'Dowd, global head of commercial real estate at Standard Chartered said: 'This green loan financing facility underscores our commitment to backing transformative developments that deliver long-term value for communities, investors, and the city itself.' News of the refinancing deal comes just seven weeks after Marlet and M&G completed a deal with US technology giant Workday for some 38,648 sq m (416,000 sq ft) of the office space at College Square. The company's accommodation represents the entirety of College Square's 'super-prime' office space and is the equivalent of five and a half football pitches. The College Square deal is the largest single office letting to have taken place in the European office market since 2021. The US enterprise technology giant's decision to base its operations there was first revealed by The Irish Times in August of last year. Developed on sites occupied formerly by Apollo House and the neighbouring College House, College Square is a major mixed-use scheme comprising a total of 50,170 sq m (540,000 sq ft) of LEED Platinum office accommodation and 1,580 sq m (17,000 sq ft) of retail space distributed over 10 floors. The development has an overall height of 22 storeys owing to the inclusion of 58 high-end apartments on 12 floors above the office element of the scheme.
Irish Independent
29-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Independent
US tech giant Workday earmarks $468m for Dublin HQ in 20-year lease deal
Workday confirmed last month that it had inked an agreement with M&G Real Estate and Pat Crean's Marlet Property Group to lease the entire space at the new city centre College Square development. It's being constructed on the site of the former Apollo House and is almost complete. The deal for the 416,000sqft of super-prime office space marked the single largest transaction in the sector in Europe since the pandemic. In its first quarter results released this month, Workday confirmed the amount it has set aside for the lease of the new Dublin office. Dublin's office market is poised for 'significant recovery' this year 'During the first quarter of fiscal 2026, we entered into a new operating lease agreement for our European headquarters in Dublin, Ireland which has not yet commenced, with total undiscounted lease payments of $468m,' it told investors. 'The operating lease is expected to commence in the second quarter of fiscal 2026 with a lease term of 20 years.' The lease deal was a major coup for Marlet and the broader office market. Workday had originally intended to construct its own 550,000sqft European headquarters on a site in Grangegorman in the capital. However, it abandoned that plan earlier this year, opting instead to move its staff to the development on Tara Street. Workday will move its 2,000 staff, currently at two separate locations in Dublin, to the new location. Mr Crean, who is Marlet's chief executive, described the lease agreement as a 'significant milestone' for Dublin's office market. Construction of College Square, which also features 54 apartments, is expected to be completed next month, with Workday commencing its fit-out programme soon after. Real estate firm Savills said in March that Dublin's office market is poised for 'significant recovery' this year, driven by rapidly falling vacancy rates, major corporate commitments and strong demand for prime office spaces. It said that the office vacancy rate in the Dublin 2 area is expected to fall sharply by the end of 2025, due to strong occupier interest and substantial pre-let activity. Savills said that prime office rents in Dublin's central business district have already begun to recover, having risen 4pc year-on-year to €65 per square foot in the final quarter of 2024. That's the highest figure on record.
