Where: The Shelbourne Hotel on St Stephen’s Green in Dublin
When: from 10am (note the earlier time, most previous auctions commenced at 11am) on Tuesday, 4th December 2012
What: 109 Lots in total of which 55 are commercial – this is being billed by Allsop Space as “the largest number of commercial properties to be offered on a single day in Ireland” Overall maximum reserves of €13.6m comprising commercial €13.6m and residential €4.6m. The commercial Lots include 26 retail, 7 offices, 3 pubs, 13 land and 6 industrial. The online catalogue is here.
It seems that Allsop Space is growing with at least five auctions pencilled in for 2013 – some possibly with 200 Lots – but before that, we will have the last auction of 2012 on 4th December, as usual in Dublin’s Shelbourne Hotel. The catalogue was published last night and there are 109 Lots up for grabs with a strong emphasis on commercial property.
Of the 109 Lots, 37% are tenanted and 63% are vacant. Of the 54 residential properties offered there are 30 houses, 21 aparments and 3 so-called “houses of Multiple Occupancy” (i.e. split into residential units). As with previous Allsop Space auction, properties are offered from the four corners of the country with 44 Lots in Dublin and 65 Lots in the regions outside Dublin.
Properties of note.
Dartmouth Square, Ranelagh, Dublin 6 – 2 acre Georgian Garden Square, entire freehold interest. It is being sold on the instructions of Tom Murray of Friel Stafford Corporate Recovery, the court appointed liquidator over Marble and Granite Tiles Ltd – Reserve not to Exceed €140,000
Market Place, Clonmel, Co. Tipperary (pictured above) – Almost an entire shopping district being sold as one lot. Retail portfolio of 18 units and buildings, on both sides of the street. 9 of the units are tenanted, with tenants including Specsavers, Elverys and Xtravision. Rents reserved at €231,645 per annum. – Reserve not to Exceed €900,000
Block of apartments in Fearann Ri, Doughiska, Galway City – Freehold block of 9 apartments, whereby one apartment has been sold off on a long lease. Fully rented at €61,000 per annum. – Reserve not to Exceed €310,000
Moonduster Bar, Restaurant and Apartment, Crosshaven, Co. Cork – Seaside bar and restaurant with apartment overlooking the water. The bar and restaurant are vacant with the two bedroom apartment currently tenanted producing €5,500 per annum. The 7 day publican’s licence is currently in place and will be transferred to the new purchaser – Reserve not to Exceed of €225,000.
As you would expect , the properties are again pitched with tantalising maximum reserves but remember that the average hammer price on the day has tended to be 30-40% above the maximum reserves quoted, but there are investments on offer here with maximum reserves indicating 20%-plus yields. The “maximum reserve” is an Allsop Space innovation and is the highest reserve for the specific property – the actual reserve might be lower; what the “maximum reserve” means is that if your’s is the highest bid at or above the maximum reserve, you are guaranteed to get the property.
This will be the ninth Allsop Space auction and the partnership seems to be pleased with its position as Ireland’s Number One property auction company by a country mile. Apparently there were sellers of over 400 properties chasing a slot in the December 2012 catalogue, which was whittled down to 109 (actually 108 as I see Lot 29 has now been WITHDRAWN). The sellers are a mix of receivers and private sellers.
Allsop Space recently drew attention to its success in getting better prices than in private treaty sales. Their operation is certainly transparent and unlike Osborne King, they don’t accept offers before the actual auction which is broadcast live.
This sale will be of particular interest to NAMA which controls loans on €6bn-plus of Irish commercial property. The investment commercial property market in particular has collapsed from a high of €3bn transactions in 2006 to just €180m in 2011 (2012 looks like heading to €500m).
UPDATE: 27th November, 2012. Speaking this morning, the Director of Auctions at Allsop Space, Robert Hoban said there has been a notable difference in advance of this auction in the profile of investor contacting the office, with a larger proportion being commercial buyers reflecting the make-up of the catalogue, with commercial investors focussing more on due diligence and investigations into legals, tenancies etc. Allsop Space has advised that buyers considering buying the property at Dartmouth Square, that this Lot will be open to registered bidders only on the day of the auction. “Those parties wishing to bid will have to pre-register involving cleared funds being lodged as deposit, with a bidding number being assigned. While this is a regular procedure in the UK, it is our first time to use it in the Irish auctions.” Given the prevalence of commercial property in this auction, there will be keen interest in the auction from latent sellers of commercial property including NAMA which has Irish commercial property worth about €6bn underpinning its loans. But IBRC, AIB, Bank of Ireland, Ulster, ACC and BoSI/Certus also have large commercial portfolios.
