London-based Tristan Capital Partners is to buy 372 apartments that will be built in Clongriffin, north Dublin, by developer Twinlite.
The apartments (pictured in artist's impression) will be spread over three blocks, with 408 parking spaces and facilities including a gym, exercise studio, cinema and concierge.
Director Kristian Smyth commented: “The Dublin private rental sector (PRS) is still experiencing significant undersupply at a time when demand is growing. Local population growth coupled with restrictive Central Bank mortgage rules have resulted in the number of PRS households increasing by over 60% in the last decade. As demand intensifies, tenants are looking for more affordable locations like Clongriffin.”
Tristan Capital Partners is an employee-controlled investment management boutique specialising in real estate investment strategies in Britain and continental Europe. Its headquarters are in London and it has offices in Luxembourg, Milan, Paris, Stockholm, Frankfurt, Madrid and Warsaw.
Twinlite will hold a minority equity stake in the development under the terms of the deal. Executive director Rick Larkin said: “We’re delighted to work with Tristan Capital Partners. We greatly appreciate their confidence in our team, who are working hard to deliver what will be a best-in-class PRS product and we are excited to continue working with Tristan in the future to further increase housing supply.”
In Association with
Tristan was advised by Maples Calder, PWC, Hooke & MacDonald and Malcom Hollis. Twinlite was advised by Byrne Wallace and Matheson. Activate Capital is financing the development phase and was advised by McCann Fitzgerald.
Tristan Capital Partners is joining in the trend for institutions to snap up apartment accommodation in Dublin for rental purposes, reducing the purchase supply for individuals.
In May 2018, Irish Life Investment Managers swooped to buy a development of 262 new apartments in Churchtown from Park Developments. That €100m deal enabled the developer to leave Nama’s embrace but dashed the hopes of prospective first time buyers in D16.
In June, Kennedy Wilson acquired 274 of the 507 apartments at the Grange development on Brewery Road in Stillorgan, including 174 new-builds. The job lot sale is convenient for the vendor, state-owned Nama, but may disappoint empty nesters in the area who prefer to purchase rather than rent.
Also in June, Cairn Homes plc offloaded 120 apartments on Hanover Quay in the city centre which are due for completion next year. The buyer was Carysfort Capital, which says it has another 400 units under management. Headed by Michael Looney, the Carysfort game-plan is to attract private capital to fund the apartment scheme buys, with the promise that the tenant rental income will deliver a better return than deposits or Irish bonds.
Glenveagh Properties plc, which raised €550m in its IPO in October 2017, also sees opportunity in bulk sales to investors rather than individual buyers, at least in areas where people actually want to live. The company is completing a 90-apartment scheme in Dundrum, D16, and signalled recently that it is mulling a block sale.
Glenveagh also envisages bulk sales for its Castleforbes scheme in North Docklands, which is at the drawing board stage but has the potential for 650 units. Meanwhile, individual buyers are welcome at Glenveagh’s 380 new houses being built at two developments in Navan.
